Smart tips fora healthier mind set
WW Freestyle has tools and strategies you can practise to help shift your outlook towards a more positive and calmer view of the world. Try these key exercises . . .
GET GRATEFUL
Make a list of three things you are grateful for before you go to bed. This is one of many techniques used by mental health therapists to encourage a more positive and balanced outlook among patients.
Dr Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How Of Happiness, found that taking time to be thankful diminishes negativity and helps you cope with stress.
MAKE DECISIONS EARLY
We all know the feeling: it’s late afternoon, breakfast and lunch are a memory, and the biscuits are calling.
Studies show that making big decisions in the morning prevents ‘decision fatigue’. Scientists believe our mental stamina depletes as the day progresses, leaving us more prone to making rash choices.
This ‘ decision fatigue’ explains why dieters succumb to junk food towards the end of an otherwise successful day of healthy eating.
THINK, FEEL, DO
What we think determines what we feel, which in turn drives how we behave. Try to take note of the thoughts running in your head and how this influences your emotions — and what you do next.
For instance, you may have worked diligently at your weight loss and fitness, only to find a week later that you’ve lost no weight or only half a pound. Do you then tell yourself you’re a failure — so you may as well buy a burger?
Or do you congratulate yourself on maintaining your weight loss from the previous week, before going home to eat the WW meal you’d already planned?
TAKE A PHONE BREAK
reports suggest Britons collectively check their phones a billion times a day — predictably raising anxiety levels.
Blue light emitted by screens is proven to interfere with your sleep rhythm, so try switching off an hour before bedtime. Or do an afternoon digital detox, avoiding all screens, at weekends.
GO EASY ON YOURSELF
‘People often think that being hard on ourselves makes us achieve more,’ says Dr Michelle Lim, clinical psychologist at Swinburne University of Technology, australia. ‘But research has shown the reverse to be true.’
Instead of criticising yourself, imagine what you’d advise a close friend to do — it’s bound to be more constructive than your negative internal voice.
GET STUCK INTO A BOOK
Reading a book isn’t just a great way to switch off from the world. Research shows that reading for as little as six minutes could help reduce stress levels by up to 60 per cent.
experiment with one or all of these strategies. If you do this for just a few weeks, you will see a positive shift in your mood and thinking — and you’ll be close to achieving your other goals.