2025 is upon us in just a few short weeks! I’m sure like most people you are reflecting on how the past year went in many areas of your life (physical, financial, personal, and family) as you create goals for the new year. You may hear the phrase “what to leave behind” in many different areas as we approach the end of the year. It’s a common video trend on social media at the end of the year. It’s a phrase that applies to many areas of your life (health, financial, personal, etc.). As you reflect on the past year and create health and fitness goals, here are some habits and fads to leave behind in 2024 to set you up for a healthy and successful 2025!
Sleeping less than 7-9 hours per night
In the current hustle culture, there is a lot of pressure to be productive every hour of the day, which leads us to sacrifice sleep. However, the general recommendation for adults is 7-9 hours per night. Inadequate sleep leads to many negative health outcomes1:
- Increase risk for sickness
- Increased cravings for sweets, high fatty food
- Increased risk for nutrient deficiencies
- Increase risk of weight gain
Click here for the blog post that dives into specifics on how health is impacted by sleep.1
An-all-or nothing approach
Two examples of statements that fall under this approach are
- Exercise for x amount of minutes or else it doesn’t count
- Eat a certain way (usually defined as “perfect”) or else you fail OR label foods as good and bad.
This mindset creates a negative perspective around food and restriction, which results in binge eating. It can also prevent us from exercising completely and enjoying the social aspects of food at holiday gatherings. Ditch the all-or-nothing mindset by incorporating the following:
- Be flexible, patient, and forgiving with yourself and your capabilities. Reduce feelings of guilt when you don’t achieve what you planned for.
- Make simple changes the rest of the day to support your health. Examples of what this looks like based on the following examples above include adding a vegetable to a snack or dinner, or completing a 20 minute workout or run
Relying on Takeout Meals
While eating out fits into a healthy lifestyle, cooking meals at home has many benefits:
Cheaper
When you buy a meal from a restaurant, you pay for the food, but you also pay for the labor, storage costs, and other additional fees. Buy the ingredients in bulk to create multiple meals to save time and money.
Family recipe traditions
Does your family make your grandma’s recipe every holiday? Making family recipes are special traditions to remember relatives from past generations, cherish memories, and pass down traditions to younger generations. If you don’t have any family recipes, create your own recipes to share with younger generations!
Stress management2:
The smells when cooking can remind you of special memories of the past, vacations or grandma’s cooking.2 Reliving these memories in your mind help to reduce stress.2
Connection with others
Cooking, preparing a meal, and eating a meal with others builds and fosters connection with others. Share a warm bowl of soup with friends on a cold winter night and talk about your favorite soup.
The opportunity to teach lifelong cooking and nutrition skills to younger generations
Building a lifelong foundation of cooking in childhood can prepare a child when they are on their own. There are many ways to include children with age appropriate tasks into the cooking process. Some examples include:
- Younger children
- Watch the whole process
- Pour the ingredients into the mixing bowl/pot
- Stir ingredients
- Older children
- Assign a cooking task (i.e cook spaghetti)
- Chop veggies and herbs
- Plan a meal
Flexibility to individualize meals and portions
Cooking at home provides easy modification to food preperation to support different nutrient needs, food preferences, and food allergies.
A great opportunity to listen to your favorite podcast, play music, or watch a show show
Keep cooking fun with a podcast or show while cooking. Play your favorite christmas music and sing along while you prepare dinner. Invite family members to join you.
Nutrition information from an unreliable source
We are bombarded with nutrition content (both true and false) regularly. Did you know that a study concluded that only 2% of nutrition information on TikTok is factual?3 Nutrition misinformation unfortunately leads us to make unhealthy habits and can even harm your health. Signs of a reliable post or source of nutrition information on social media:
- Promotes all foods fit and doesn’t encourage restricting food groups
- A nutrition expert (registered dietitian) and lists credentials in bio
- Cites sources for evidence or claims they mention
- Promotes food safety (i.e. not promoting eating raw foods)
- Recognizes nutrition is individualized and is not a one-size-fits-all
Not planning meals
Do your future self a favor and have a complete meal, part of a meal, or quick and easy ingredients to put a meal together when you come from work or practice. Your stomach, muscles, and brain will thank you for fueling when you’re physically and mentally tired. This does not mean that we become obsessed with planning to the point we develop an all-or-nothing approach (see above). If you are looking for some tips to make meals easy during the week, click here for a previous blog post
Spending all your time inside
There are many benefits of being outside for all areas of health, including mental and physical. Take a walk during your lunch break or after your workday, head to a park with your children, or explore a new part of your state. In Northern Virginia, there are many parks and outdoor areas across Northern Virginia. Click here for a list of parks to find a new outdoor place to explore in Northern Virginia.
Only drinking water at mealtimes
Optimal hydration is essential for focus, concentration, and normal functions that occur in our body (such as blood carrying glucose to our brain to help us stay alert). If we are not drinking any fluids between meals, it’s harder to meet fluid needs. A few ideas to make it easier to get fluids include:
- Find a favorite water bottle with a straw to help increase fluid intake
- Tea, seltzer water, and naturally flavored water also counts as fluid and is a helpful way to increase fluid intake
- Set reminders on your phone to drink during the day
- Think about a time(s) during the day when water intake is low and set a reminder on your phone before or at this time(s)
Ignoring any physical and mental abnormalities or not scheduling a regular physical/preventative health appointment
Taking care of your health is first and foremost important to longevity and being able to do all the activities you would like to do. We understand lives are busy, but taking care of yourself is a form of self-care. When was the last time you scheduled an appointment with a healthcare provider? Below is a list of providers you can schedule with for preventative care visits or for minor concerns before they become unmanageable:
- Primary care provider/physician
- Dentist
- OBGYN/gynecologist
- Therapist
- Physical Therapist
- Dietitian
We hope these ideas serve as awareness around health fads that prevent you from achieving your health and fitness goals in 2025 and beyond! What are some things you are leaving behind in 2024?
References:
- Nova Sports Nutrition. (2024, August 29). Sleep: How rest impacts your diet and health. Nova Sports Nutrition. https://novasportsnutrition.com/sleep-how-rest-impacts-your-diet-and-health/
- Dalpiaz, H. (2020, April 23). How cooking can help relieve stress. How Cooking Can Help Relieve Stress. https://blog.dana-farber.org/insight/2020/04/how-cooking-can-help-relieve-stress/#:~:text=Because%20cooking%20engages%20our%20senses,stress%20and%20boost%20your%20mood.
- Helm, J. (2024, October 11). How to Fact-Check Health Information on Social Media. US News. https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/how-to-fact-check-health-information-on-social-media
