12 New Year’s resolutions to boost your health and wealth

Are there New Year’s resolutions that you keep making but last no more than a few weeks or months? If so, let 2023 be the year that you stick to them. We all make a list of things to improve about ourselves and our lives every time the calendar year changes. Yes, of course, we can break bad habits and start good ones any time of the year, but a new year signifies a fresh beginning, a clean slate to start living the healthier, wealthier life we’ve always wanted.

Try to expand your resolutions as well. Don’t make them just about losing weight or saving money—make them about really improving your physical, mental, and financial wellbeing.

Here are our top suggestions to boost your health and wealth, and make 2023 better than the year that has just ended.

1. Eat more whole foods, less processed foods.

Whole or real food is food that is primarily unprocessed, free of chemical additives and rich in nutrients. If your idea of a meal is processed meat or canned fish, then you should be going more to the palengke for meats and fresh produce, and less of the supermarket for ready-to-eat noodles and canned food. One way to stick to this resolution is to cook more at home.

2. Move more, sit less.

We can’t avoid sitting for hours in front of our laptops when we work, but experts agree that for every 30 to 60 minutes of being stationary we need to move at least three minutes. This helps promote our energy, mood and mind.

3. Find a physical activity that you enjoy.

How many annual gym memberships have you purchased, only to use them a few times? The more you enjoy an activity, the more you are likely to keep doing it and find a way to fit it in your schedule. It could be as simple as walking for half an hour while you listen to your favorite podcast or music; sports such as volleyball, swimming, running, tennis, etc.

4. Practice self-care.

The World Health Organization defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider.”

Self-care is part of how we can cope better with the stresses of daily life. Self-care activities could be as simple as taking conscious breaks between work deadlines during the day, doing things that relax you like meditating, listening to music, taking a long shower, being in the outdoors, exercising, being with friends or enjoying your solitude—anything that helps you keep calm and lower your anxiety.

5. Lose excess weight—and keep it off.

It takes commitment to lose weight and an even bigger commitment to maintain it. Behavior modification, diet and exercise are vital strategies to lose weight. Once you’ve lost the weight, stick to the new behaviors you’ve adopted, don’t go back to the old cycle that makes you gain weight. If you’ve always responded to stress by eating, replace it with meditation, exercise or other activities. Also, rally your loved ones for support—they could be your exercise buddies or a shoulder to lean on when you feel stressed and tempted to overeat.

6. Save money.

Saving money is also an act of self-care because it gives you peace of mind. When you know that your emergency and retirement funds are sufficient (or at least getting there), you’re less likely to be stressed or depressed about your financial situation and can sleep better at night.

7. Spend within your means.

To spend less is probably only second to saving money on people’s list of financial resolutions. The only way you can really spend less is to create a personal budget and another budget for your household. This way you can track where you’re overspending. Barring an emergency, anything non-essential (such as snacks not on your grocery list) is considered an impulse buy. You can avoid this better when you have a list of things you need to buy when you go shopping.

8. Use natural remedies and household products.

It’s good for you and it’s good for the environment. You’ll be surprised at how calamansi and lemon can be useful to reduce the severity of your colds—and to clean your kitchen. Ginger tea or salabat is also good to combat inflammation of the nasal passages and sinus area. As for natural household products, scour the internet because many sellers are small businesses and probably not available in your neighborhood supermarket.

9. Buy health insurance.

A health insurance helps prevent you from dipping into the savings you’ve allotted for something else—like mortgage or your children’s educational fund. A health insurance such as FWD Life Insurance’s Vibrant can help ease your worries in case you get sick.

With FWD Vibrant, you can get cash for health screening even before you get sick and for medicines to support your recovery in case you get sick. You can also claim up to 6x for major critical illnesses, and minor critical illness coverage worth 25% of the benefit amount.

10. Map out a plan to quit smoking.

Former smokers can attest that quitting smoking is very hard to do, especially when you’ve been a smoker all your adult life and your body craves nicotine. Some people have the amazing ability to quit cold turkey while others don’t. One of the first steps to stopping is to get support from family, friends and loved ones. Also try to avoid places where you used to smoke like bars that allow this.

11. Get 8 hours of sleep.

Getting enough sleep daily—doctors recommend between 7 and 9 hours—has many health benefits. It can lower your risk for serious health problems like heart disease and diabetes; reduce stress and improve you mood; stay at your ideal weight; and you get sick less often. However, if you find it difficult to sleep due to certain health conditions such as heartburn or untreated sleep disorders like sleep apnea or insomnia, consult your doctor.

12. Get life insurance.

People often cite “peace of mind” when they’re asked what would make them happy. Life insurance lets you live with less worries and gives you and your loved ones income protection should anything untoward happen. FWD’s online shop gives you options, such as KanLive Life Insurance and KanGuard Accidental Death Insurance, for easy purchase.

Visit FWD’s online shop or set an appointment with an FWD financial advisor to get advice on how you can achieve your health and wealth goals in the coming years.