With the start of the new year and the return of the cliché ‘new year, new me’
attitude, often at the top of people’s priority lists is improved health and wellness, but
which health and wellness trends are here to stay for 2025 and which are we leaving
behind.
In – Moving your body
It’s widely agreed upon that one of the best things you can do for both your mental
and physical health is to move your body. This doesn’t have to be high intensity
cardio but instead exercise tailored to you, this can include swapping Ubers for
walking and my personal favourites yoga and Pilates. Nottingham is filled with great
exercise classes from David Ross Gym, The Reformer Studio, Hot Pod Yoga and
various run clubs, all of which are worth a try. Although, a gym membership isn’t
necessary with free classes on YouTube, from ‘Yoga with Adrienne’ to ‘Move with
Nicole’, there are plenty of fun and affordable ways to get moving, it’s all about
finding what’s right for you.
Out – Calorie Restriction
Living in a digital world it’s understandable to constantly compare your eating habits
with other when ‘what I eat in a day’ videos are dominating every social media
platform, but the truth is undereating is equally as damaging. No one knows your
body better than you and no one knows how to fuel it better than you, as it’s clear
that eating intuitively and eating foods you love are the secret to a healthy and
balanced lifestyle. Restricting yourself based on highly fabricated diet videos will only
fill you with feelings of despair, true wellness is being happy within yourself and
making food choices that support that.
In – 8+ hours of sleep a night.
I know it seems unrealistic at university to aim for 8+ hours of sleep, between the late
nights out and 9am lectures but even aiming for close to this amount of sleep will
greatly increase your mood and overall well-being. The positive impacts of
prioritising sleep will make up for the small sacrifices of an earlier bedtime including
reduced stress, improved mood, increased focus and fresher looking appearance.
I’m not saying you have to be in bed by 8pm but getting into simple habits of setting
your phone asides 30 minutes before you intend to go to sleep, the easier you will
find it to fall asleep. The more sleep you can get the easier daily life becomes and
the less reliant you will find yourself on caffeine to simply get through the day.
Out – Mindless Scrolling
I think we’re all guilty of telling ourselves ‘5 more minutes’ and then scrolling on
TikTok for another hour, as I understand it’s difficult to not procrastinate when your
phone is sat right in front of you. There is nothing wrong with sitting by yourself and
using your phone to unwind but this shouldn’t eat into your entire day, instead hold
yourself accountable set screen time timers and even delete apps. Watch as your
attention span and productivity increase, as you finally have enough time to do the
things you thought you were too busy to do.
In – Home Cooking
A hobby that is not only great for your health but also your wallet. Restaurants and
takeaways are a great experience from time to time but come with the negatives of a
big bill and the fact you don’t truly know what your eating. By cooking at home, I can
cater my meals to what makes me feel good, which I know from experience is lots of
vegetables and minimal processed ingredients. Once in the habit of cooking for
yourself it becomes a fun activity, especially cooking for others and trying out new
recipes. If cooking all your meals from scratch seems daunting, there are plenty of
ways to help, such as programmes like ‘Hello Fresh’ and ‘Gusto’ which include all
the ingredients and simple to follow menus, making cooking easier than ever.
Out – Overconsumption
With the popularity of social media, we as a society are constantly convinced that we
need to buy into every single micro trend and purchase hundreds of useless items a
year. In reality half of the things we buy are thrown away not long after purchase or
just get added to the pile of clutter. I’m personally a fan of trinkets and objects
bringing you happiness, but I can usually find those myself, and without the help of
TikTok trends. I think people should buy whatever they want to but should purchase
with intent not influence. My approach to online shopping now is the 2-week rule, if
I’m still thinking about something I want to purchase 2 weeks later then I let myself
buy it, but not without searching second-hand sites first. This keeps me accountable
for my spending and impact on the environment, which will definitely be something I
continue in 2025.
Overall, health and wellness are personal and extremely dependent on the
individual, as for one person running a 10k makes them equally as happy as a self-
care evening. In 2025 we should take the time to consider what works for us and
what will make us feel great.