Small steps to wellness

NEW YORK (AP):

Wellness advice is everywhere these days, but making lasting change can be challenging. How do you begin a journey toward better health without feeling overwhelmed? Experts suggest starting small – little steps can grow into lasting habits. Be consistent, and seek out people who can support you along the way.

START SMALL

Kristina Schuldt is a family medicine physician and wellness director for about 14,000 employees of the Mayo Clinic Health System.

“Wellness means different things to people. There’s fitness and physical wellness, but there’s also mental wellness, financial wellness, spiritual wellness,” she said.

Don’t tackle everything at once, she warned—start with small steps. Drink enough water using a marked bottle or jug, cut down gradually if quitting smoking, and increase your walking distance slowly. In the kitchen, experiment with healthy foods you enjoy, eat slowly, and pay attention to when you’re nearly full.

FIND YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM

At her heaviest, Jenny Watson weighed 420 pounds. In January 2023, she said, “I was at a point where I was like, I can’t do this anymore. I’m tired. My body hurts. I had hit rock bottom.” Watson, a 36-year-old mom of two and a hairstylist in suburban Dallas, tried a lot of fitness programmes before finding one that stuck. While she’s still not at her ideal weight, the pounds she lost have stayed off. She works out, including weightlifting, and has started eating more whole foods, cutting processed foods from her diet.

Her biggest supporter, she said, is her husband, who has made changes in solidarity. She used to be a night owl, but both of them now head to bed at 10 p.m.

DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU

Andrea Leigh Rogers, a fitness trainer who has worked with celebrities like Gisele Bündchen and Nicole Scherzinger and has written a new book, Small Moves, Big Life, urges people trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle: Don’t fall for whatever wellness trend is making the rounds.

“There’s the game of comparison. I don’t look like her. I can’t do that if I don’t look like her. Other barriers also feel heavy, like I have to pay US$50 to do one class,” she said. You don’t. What you do need is to be consistent. That might mean mindful breathing, followed by a few minutes of stretching and a 10-minute workout in the morning. Or it could be a new approach to breakfast, or a rethink on the crush of daily responsibilities.

“We all have 10 minutes,” Rogers said. A good plan, she added, follows the acronym FEEL: “It’s fast, it’s enjoyable, it’s effective and there’s longevity.”