When you want to change your health for the better, your first step doesn’t need to be a long-term goal such as quitting smoking or losing 25 pounds. Those are great goals, but give yourself an easy health win (or two) with a fast payoff.
Try these 10 easy-to-start habits that can have a profound impact on your health and how you feel.
1. Love to load up your plate? Try reducing portion size to facilitate weight loss.
One easy trick to help with this is using a smaller sized plate - it will take less food to fill and provide the same visual cue as a larger plate with more food. This is especially helpful if you tend to eat until your plate is clean.
Read More: Weight-Loss Habits Working Against You
2. It’s timeworn advice but still reliable: Get eight hours of sleep each night.
If you find yourself not feeling rested after consistently getting eight hours of sleep each night, you should speak with your primary care provider. You may need to rule out sleep apnea, which causes frequent night waking and may have other health implications.
Read More: Get Ready for a Good Night's Rest
3. Wake up with enough time to make a protein-rich breakfast.
One idea: an egg white scramble with veggies. But if making time to prep breakfast is just too hard, look at make-ahead options including Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts, boiled eggs or overnight chia pudding.
Read More: Mornings Matter, Start Your Day in a Healthy Way
4. If you’ve been given a diagnosis of heart disease, sign up for cardiac rehabilitation right away.
You'll have access to exercise physiologists, registered nurses, respiratory therapists and registered dietitians who can help with managing your individual risk factors, improving your fitness and adopting healthier lifestyle habits.
Read More: What Makes LifeFit Different from Other Gyms?
5. Feeling down? Try daily affirmations.
Tell yourself that you will have a great day or that you’re capable of amazing things. Positive affirmations can decrease stress, increase feelings of well-being and help you make healthy choices. Tape a message or saying on the mirror in your bathroom or another frequently visited spot and repeat it several times a day.
Read More: Stress SOS, Three Ways to Calm the Chaos
6. New to exercise? Start slowly and work up gradually. Your body will thank you.
Exercise offers so many health benefits that you may feel like going all in. A better approach is starting with small goals and increasing the duration and/or degree of strenuousness over time. You'll be more likely to build a habit that sticks and maintain your motivation as you accomplish the goals you set.
If you aren’t currently active, it is a good idea to speak with your primary care provider before starting a new routine. This can help you avoid possible injury, understand any limitations and create a plan tailored to your needs.
Read More: Plan of Action
7. Practice yoga. It’s great for building strength and preventing falls.
And the benefits don't stop there! Connecting breath and movement, yoga has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety and depression. You're also likely to find that you sleep better.
Yoga, pilates and other types of exercise that focus on core strength and balance can be especially helpful as you age. In addition to toning muscles, which can counteract a slowing metabolism, the weight resistance helps keep your bones strong.
Read More: A Primer on Preventing Bone and Joint Problems
8. Make it a goal to have an advance directive for your health care completed by your next birthday.
This important document is simple to complete but takes some thought. It captures your decisions and wishes for care and comfort should you become terminally ill or have a serious illness and can't speak for yourself. You'll want to consider your definition of quality of life, types of health care decisions that support the quality of life you want, goals you'd have if a condition worsens, your fears and worries about the future, your strengths, what abilities are critical to you, and what you'd want to do to maintain those abilities.
Read More: Advance Directives & Living Wills
9. Talk to your family about your wishes for health care if you become sick, injured or incapacitated.
After you've considered what is important to you and completed an advance directive, the next step is a conversation with your family about your decisions. You'll also want to give copies of the paperwork to your doctors, health care facility and your health care power of attorney.
10. Ask your doctor if you’re up to date on vaccinations. If not, schedule them.
It will hurt for only a minute, and it could prevent major illness. Some illnesses that can be prevented with adult vaccinations are influenza, shingles, pneumonia, tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis, measles/mumps/rubella and human papillomavirus (HPV). Depending on working conditions and individual health needs, you may benefit from additional vaccinations such as chickenpox or hepatitis A.
Read More: Vaccinations Aren't Just for Children
Your primary care provider is an essential resource for maintaining your health. He or she will get to know you, your medical history and health issues that family members have faced. Establishing that relationship helps your provider manage on-going health concerns, determine what preventive measures are needed and select the screenings you need to potentially detect disease in its early and most treatable stage.
Don’t have a primary care provider? See which PCPs are accepting new patients.