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Happy New Year! The start of each year brings along optimism, hope for the future, and a feeling of possibility. This year, at the start of “the 20’s,” might feel like an especially fresh new beginning. How can we carry these feelings through the year? Although the New Year is a celebration of optimism, sometimes that positive attitude falls flat when we are faced with our own bad habits and bodily limitations. Let’s take a moment to consider some of the strategies to continue a fresh and optimistic perspective through the year, as well as how to overcome our bodily limitations step-by-step. Resolutions can take us only so far, and other healthy habits will have to come alongside our willpower to make lasting life changes.
Healthy Eating Habits
One of the common refrains around the New Year is a desire to change our diet and nutritional habits. Perhaps the decadent eating of the holiday season left us with a little “more to love,” and we’d like to get back to a feeling of high energy and fitness. When it comes to changing our eating habits, it often feels like an uphill battle with each habitual moment we face. One of the many strategies to develop healthy eating habits is to isolate one of the problem areas and to focus on that one change. For instance, you might be in the habit of starting the day well with a healthy breakfast, but afternoons might be a challenge for you. Snacking, going for sweets or candy, and overdoing it with caffeine are all pitfalls of the afternoon energy slump. By the time you get to dinner time, you might be barely hungry after the mid-afternoon sugar rush. Isolating this time of day can be a target for willpower, trying to overcome the habits you have formed over the years. Yet, one of the strategies to break an old habit is to replace it with a new one. Rather than going for a sugary snack in the afternoon, you can replace it with some raw vegetables. You don’t have to do away with sugar altogether but simply change your eating habit at this one time of day.
Active Lifestyles
Others of us might focus on exercise as a New Year’s resolution, deciding to hit the gym every day. Although this ambition might last for a while, it’s hard to maintain a radical life change by starting cold turkey. Another approach to changing your activity is to incorporate active habits into your existing schedule. Taking the stairs rather than the elevator is a way to get your heart rate up a little bit. You might decide to walk to the grocery store if you live close enough, or you could even make it a habit to bike to work on Fridays. Any of these strategies will incorporate activity into your existing way of life. These approaches to life change tend to be more durable than making a big change all at once. Perhaps you can combine these two strategies, replacing a walk around the block for the time when you might have had a sugary afternoon snack!
Hearing without Limits
Another of the bodily limitations that might have been dogging you in the past year is a struggle to hear clearly. Those with hearing loss, even when it is slight, can have trouble carrying on conversations and interacting with the world without confusion. Among the many physical limitations, we face as we grow older, this might be the easiest to remedy! Hearing assistance solutions are out there to make it possible to communicate and enjoy the range of sound the world has to offer.
Palm Beach Hearing Associates
If you are looking for a New Year’s resolution that is easy to complete, scheduling a hearing exam might be the simplest solution yet. No habit or lifestyle change is necessary, and assistance is a phone call away. Why not call Palm Beach Hearing Associates today and set up your appointment. Once you have the hearing exam in your schedule, all you have to do is work with a caring hearing professional to guide you through the process to a better way of life!