25 Habits To Improve Your Health in 2025

This is a list of some of the habits that you could sustain in 2025 to be fitter, stronger and healthier, for the long term both physically and mentally.

Exercise

• Resistance Training 1-3 Time Per Week - If you are starting at ZERO workouts make your non-negotiable 1 time per week and build on that this year. The duration isn't as important as you being consistent so 30 Minutes is perfect.
• Consistency -  Be honest with yourself, will you still be doing this level of activity in December 2025? 3 Workouts a week for the rest of the year is WAY better than 5 a week until mid February and then back to zero.
• Incorporate Some Form Of Cardio - This can be some cycling, running, swimming, hiking, or machines at the gym. We want to aim for 150 Minutes at a moderate intensity every week
• Prioritise Recovery - Sleep, hydration, nutrition, stress they all affect how you not only perform in the gym but also how you feel outside of it! 
• Track Your Progress - Use an app or a notebook to log your workouts. It will keep you accountable to yourself, you should be aiming to make some progress every week, increased weight, reps, or improved execution are all great signs of progress. Every workout check to see how you can improve on last time.

Nutrition

• Prioritise Whole Foods - Aim to eat mostly lean protein, healthy fats, carbohydrates and plenty of fibre (30g per day)
• Limit Ultra Processed Foods - You do not have to cut them out completely but just make sure that your diet is 80% made up of the list above
• Hydrate - Make use of those cool tumblers and refill them regularly throughout the day. Buy your favourite soft drinks and cordials, make sure your pee is the colour of straw!
• Write A Meal Plan - Take the stress out of having to think every day about what you are going to eat! Use a note of write down all your favourite meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner and then plan out when and where you would enjoy eating them. Include those meals out and make sure you plan to have some foods that are in the plan, simply because they taste good!
• Ingredient Prep Weekly - I prefer this to reheating meals from the fridge. So you could cook a huge chilli and free it, cook chicken/beef and store it in the fridge, prepare potatoes ready to heat up, have fruits available. If you write a meal plan it makes this stage even easier!

Mental Health

• Set Clear Goals - Knowing what you want to achieve in 2025 can really help to keep you focused and motivated
• Start Journaling - I find this incredibly helpful, especially when I am going through a tough time, 2024 was very challenging for me personally. I found I had more clarity when I wrote down my thoughts and it helped me to communicate with my partner better.
• Limit Screen Time -This is one of my goals for 2025. I'm planning to read a chapter every night before bed and no screen time in bed. I sleep soundly regardless but this is a habit I want to nail.
• Get Professional Support When You Need It - Your partner/friends/family are good sounding boards but they should not be a replacement for a therapist. For me, counselling was life changing, it's incredibly powerful and very underrated in the UK.
• Reducing Stress - Deal with the core of the problem when it happens, don't ignore it! If you are reaching for unhealthy ways to deal with stress it's time to find some healthier strategies in 2025. Therapy, meditation, yoga, running, exercise in general can help to clear your head in tough times. We can't exclude all stress but it does need to be manageable for the long term.

Lifestyle

• Reduce or Exclude Alcohol - This is very unpopular choice! You know nothing good comes of putting a known carcinogenic into your body. If you are preaching about the "chemicals" in certain foods and still drinking alcohol, I'm sorry but you have seriously missed the point!
• Aim for 7-9 Hours Sleep - Life feels way better when you are properly rested and if you are exercising, it's critical for your performance and results.
• Spend Time Outside Every Day - Even if that's a 10 minute walk at lunch time. When I have a lot of my mind I'm always surprised how a short walk round the block improves my mood and energy.
• Wear Sunscreen - Every Day, especially if you care about how your face ages! SPF is one of only 2 products allowed to claim they are anti ageing (the other is retinols and retinals). So before you get all those expensive treatments, make sure you are wearing SPF or they are almost a waste of money :(
• Carve Out Time For Self Care - For me the greatest act of self-care I can give myself is to exercise regularly and consistently. I also enjoy rest when I need it and doing fun things like going to the cinema and meals out with friends and family. Taking some time to do things that make just you happy is important because you are x

Relationships

• Communicate Effectively - Practice active listening and work on expressing yourself clearly. If this doesn't come naturally to you (and it didn't to me) therapy can really help to improve your self awareness and your ability to communicate with the people in your life.
• Surround Yourself With Like Minded Positive People - Cultivate relationships with people whose company you enjoy. You get to choose who is in your life and who isn't. People who inspire and are motivated in a similar way will always make your relationships feel special.
• Make Time For Family - I know for some people this will not be possible. For those who do still have parents and siblings they want to spend time with, make time. My Dad passed away this time and I would give anything to be able to chat with him or go and do something with him. Your parents and siblings are more precious than you might realise, so go spend some time with them while you have the choice x
• Practice Empathy - You don't have to know exactly what someone has been through to make deeper connections but you do need to listen and learn how people feel. Put yourself in the same position and imagine how it might feel.
• Be Appreciative - If you have people you love in your life, make sure you tell them regularly. You know how it feels to be appreciated, so try to give that back to the people in your life who give that gift to you x