Healthy and Sober: New Year’s Lifestyle Changes

Setting Realistic Goals and Resolutions in Recovery

New Year’s Eve holds promise for a healthier new year. The path to health starts with a commitment to improving your well-being through consistency and patience. Then, you can join those who evaluate their lives and choose to replace harmful habits with healthy ones. For some, life-changing decisions mean losing weight or stopping the use of substances. However, losing weight or quitting substances requires mindful choices and the ability to commit to long-term routines.

New Year’s Eve Resolutions

December 31st holds so many emotions. For some, watching the new year come in is a way to put the past behind and start fresh. Others may renew their commitment to their goals or create new ones, while some don’t make any resolutions, don’t have plans, and yet are hoping for a change. If you don’t have a goal or resolution, don’t despair. One big problem with resolutions is many expect quick results. Instead of planning on losing weight within a few weeks or becoming sober overnight, set healthy and realistic goals. Most people give up on their goals by mid-February. Despite the potential to put your goals aside, you can learn how to achieve and continue your path to health.

Weight Loss

Forget what you think you know about weight loss. Everyone loses weight at a different rate. How many pounds you lose depends on your age, sex, input and output of calories, and mental health. If you want to achieve weight loss, reconsider drastic or unhealthy dieting gimmicks. Your body needs proper nutrients and the ability to heal itself, don’t cut too many calories or take extreme measures with your exercise routine. Slow and steady will lead to positive results. Losing a pound or two a week is optimal. When you are mindful of your weight loss journey, you find healthy coping skills. Through those skills, you learn lifelong ways to keep the weight off.

For those who want to lose weight, try to break down how much you want to lose into small increments. For example, if you are planning to lose 20 pounds, be realistic. When you commit to a weight loss plan, you must prepare for trial and error. As your weight loss journey continues, you may need to adjust your diet and exercise plan. Sometimes the human body adapts to change and stalls. Also, your body responds to how much sleep you get, metabolic rate, stress levels, and starting weight.

Healthy Ways to Lose Weight

• Keep track of what you eat. Whether you manually write down what you eat or use an app to keep track, you will have a realistic view of what you eat.
• Change your diet. Replace processed food with whole foods. Processed foods are easy and convenient; however, they do not provide you with all the nutrients you need and can have a high-calorie count.
• Fiber, fiber, fiber. Foods high in fiber help keep you full longer.
• Remove or cut back on sugar. Even if you don’t drink soda, watch out for sugar in coffee, juice, tea, or other drinks.
• Drink water. The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found links between how much water you drink and weight loss.

If you are not sure how to begin a weight loss journey, consider making an appointment with a registered dietician, doctor, or a support group. Support and compassion play key roles on a path to good mental and physical health.

Saying Goodbye to Substances

Substances are dangerous to your mental and physical health. Like being overweight, substances can damage your organs and alter your cells. However, the decision to stop using substances is not easy, let alone taking steps to achieve it. A few reasons to quit are:

• Your mental and physical health can improve
• The harm to your organs will stop progressing
• Relationships can begin to heal
• An increase in energy
• You can save money

To stay motivated, you must know why you’re seeking to remove substances from your life. One way is to contact a substance addiction treatment center and make an appointment to speak with a counselor. Your counselor can guide you to make the decision that is right for you.

Those in recovery can tell you how they feel, emotionally or physically, once they have decided to stop using substances. However, it may be best to prepare and commit yourself before quitting substances. Find a substance addiction program that offers medically supervised detoxification services. Your body will experience extreme, potentially deadly changes. For this reason, you should never attempt to detox by yourself. Rather, take inventory of your life, decide if you have a problem, and commit to changing it.

Substance addiction treatment shows how to replace harmful habits with healthy ones that will guide you through life. However, like losing weight, you may fall into old patterns. The beauty of support systems and healthy habits is that they are always there to fall back on in times of need. Just reach out and begin again.

New Year is the chance to shake up your life—for the better. You can replace unhealthy habits with healthy, life-changing alternatives. Deciding to lose weight or remove substances from your life supports your commitment to your well-being. Both substances and weight issues damage the body, and you can sustain long-term mental and physical destruction if continued over time. While Alta Centers knows the decision to change your life and give up substances for the unknown is difficult, we know it’s possible. Our belief in an active lifestyle guides you to positive choices. Your health is an integral part of maintaining sobriety. Your recovery relies on the ability to be mindful of how your environment and choices affect your mental and physical health. Alta Centers works with you by offering comprehensive, educational care. We encourage you to go at your own pace, as long-term lifestyle changes take time. Start your transformation with us today. Call us at +1(888) 202-2583.