Happy New Year.

It's time to be well with your health. I'm Shanna.

I'm Nimit.

Welcome to the Adventist HealthCare and You podcast.

Today, we are recapping twenty twenty four. We're gonna talk about setting goals for the new year, staying motivated, and the importance of focusing on your health. In twenty twenty five and beyond, we'll explore some of our personal goals, some tips on staying on track, and how small changes can make big differences. As we go into the new year, a lot of us begin to think about goals, resolutions, things we want to accomplish. Let's revisit what we had set forth for ourselves at the beginning of twenty twenty four, Nimit.

Yeah. Think your goal was to spend more time and be more intentional with time with your family Yeah. With your personal life, and have a right balance with work as well.

Yeah. I think I got partway there.

Tell me more.

I think I got partway there at the beginning of the year, and then it fell off as life got a little busy. So I think I got a little bit there. Not as probably all the way as I wanted, but I did definitely set some better boundaries for work and personal time. So I think I got a I think I got a little bit there.

But I think having that goal probably helps you stay motivated and just be intentional Yeah. About spending time with your family and just spending time appropriately.

Yeah. Your goal, Nimit, was to eat in more and eat out less. Yes. So how'd you do with that?

I did great with that actually.

You did? Good for you.

It went through waves. Right? I think I did well certain weeks and not so well certain weeks.

Okay.

During the summer, I realized I was going out more to eat or just taking food that were just not healthy. And I had to do a reset during mid year saying, you know what? I need to like reevaluate what I really wanna do. But I was able to cut down twenty pounds this year. Oh.

So I'm very excited about So that's great.

Well, and I think that's the thing with goals, right? They don't have to be these huge things. They can be just resetting a behavior or a mindset. It's okay if you don't do it all the time, but if you're setting those intentions ahead of time and you can reset throughout the year and that's good.

Yeah. I think one of the things with goals, I know in a previous podcast, Doctor. Anjoko had mentioned that whenever we were setting goals, you use a smart format. So you know, you had to be specific about your goal.

You have to make it measurable. Have to make it achievable. And it happen to be relevant. And and time.

Right? To make One of the things I like to do is like write it down. So this way, it's like more solidified. And I could refer to it at a later point.

And kind of hold myself accountable as well. Yeah. Does it work all the time? Probably not.

But it helps me more, you know, to have that in that format.

Yeah. Well, speaking of that, our past guest, Doctor. Ogechi Inyoku, who's one of our primary care specialists or physicians in Fort Washington. To our listeners, if you'd like to find these tips, it's episode thirty four about being healthy in the new year, I believe.

One of her other tips was something that improves your life and adds value. So it doesn't have to be, you know, a lot of people think about losing weight or something like that. Just it can be something that just adds value, like time or, you know, being intentional about something. So I really liked that too.

Yeah, absolutely.

The other one was start small. Make it easy to achieve. And I liked that, you know, because it can be overwhelming. So start small.

Some other tips that doctor Inoku mentioned about staying healthy is visit your primary care provider, which is a great recommendation. We hear that consistently from all of our experts across all of our episodes, which is have a relationship with a primary care provider, see them regularly. And regularly can be just once a year if you're healthy and all of that. But just make sure that you check-in and have that visit.

Yeah. I think one of the more important parts in that when you get your lab work, when you get your results for your health, just be informed. You know, if something seems off, if your cholesterol is slightly high or it's in the red, you know, make sure you talk to your doctor about what does that mean and what changes do you need to make based on that. My wife and I have this healthy battle going on about our cholesterol. Oh. Both have a slightly high cholesterol and every year it's like she may have it higher or I may have it higher.

But we're trying to make intentional efforts to control that. Yeah. But also just knowing what those numbers mean. Yes. And staying informed what can we do to help reduce or increase those numbers.

Yep. Some of those other numbers that Doctor. Onyoku mentioned was blood pressure, your blood sugar or glucose A1C, cholesterol, and your BMI. So those were some other ones to think about as measures of your health.

Absolutely. So know those, know what they mean, and know where you are in those. And then to kind of go with visiting your primary care provider, one of her other tips was get annual health screenings. So make sure you go in and get that physical.

And that's where you can find out some of those numbers.

And you know, health screenings change every year. The guidelines change many times.

So just making sure we keep up with it, whether you need to have a breast examination, whether you need a colonoscopy, whether you need to have other screenings that may be more appropriate for you this year.

That's something that provider could help you navigate and recommend.

Yep. Other tips to improve your health that we heard from Doctor. Inoku back last year, which are relevant today, alleviate stress. So we still constantly hear about stress and anxiety being an issue in our in our lives. And so whatever we can do to alleviate that, because that does impact your overall health too. So find ways that work for you, exercise, and give yourself and others grace.

Yes.

I think all these things are interrelated too, Yes. You know, exercising will alleviate stress, you know, having normal body checkups and screenings will avoid any potential issues that may come up in the future, you know, and hopefully reduce anxiety and some of that emotional stress too that you may see in the future.

Yeah.

So I think all these are somewhat are almost related and kinda needs the right balance of all these things, whether it be a thirty minute walk a day, whether it be going for a ride with your friend or playing a small little sport.

Yeah. Well, and I like to give yourself and others grace. Like if you're kind to yourself, it might roll into being kind to others. But then also, you know, in terms of like giving yourself a little grace, I, you know, recently started walking a little bit more just because better for me and it takes some time out.

And I'm like, well, maybe I'm not walking enough. Maybe I'm not walking fast enough. Maybe I'm not walking often enough. And so I've tried to reset my mind and say, I'm walking.

And that's a good thing. And that's a great start. So that's how I'm taking that tip there of giving myself a little grace.

That's great.

Have you thought about twenty twenty five intentions?

I'm calling them intentions instead of goals. Right? Oh, wow. Feel like that's a better word for me. Yeah.

I like that.

I actually stole your goal because I think it's so Oh, yeah.

Just being intentional with my time. I think, you know, as we're growing older, there's so many things happening in life and just ensuring you're spending the time the right way, you know, reducing your screen time. That's one of the goals I have, you know, just a lot of the social media or distractions, you may wanna call it. I'm just trying to reduce that a little bit and just be more intentional with family and work and more valuable things that that are part of my life.

Yeah. I like that. I think for me, I wanna be more as I get a little older, my body is changing. And so I wanna be kinder to myself and to what is happening as I'm aging or getting a little older, just, and it just seems to be coming on a lot quicker than I thought it would.

So I want to be kinder and I want to be, again, more intentional about how I'm spending my time so that I can prioritize health more than screen time or, you know, stress time or whatever. So that's for me. And so that's not like all that measurable. Like, I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I just, as I'm getting a little older, I'm like, I need to be kinder to myself and more intentional about what's gonna work for me and what gives me happiness or stress relief.

And just focus on those versus the expectations of other people.

One of the things I'm doing to have it measurable for my screen time is that when I go home, I'm not gonna use my phone for more than one hour.

Okay.

That's just my measurable thing I'm And I think hopefully just keeping that accountability for myself is gonna be helpful. But I think that's something that, you know, people could think about. Yeah. Just having those little goals here and there. Yeah. Maybe it's two hours for somebody else, but just something measurable.

Yeah. I haven't thought about how to measure it, but I'm just gonna be not worried about the expectations and more so think about what works for me.

Absolutely.

That's mine. So if anybody does want to check out that episode where we're referencing Doctor. Enyoku's wonderful tips, check out episode thirty four.

As we start twenty twenty five, let's commit to making small changes that would help improve our lives. Remember, it's not about perfection. It's just about progress. If you haven't already, think about setting a goal for next year ahead.

It doesn't have to be big or small or complex. Just something that aligns with your values and will make you feel better in the long run. We would also love to hear from you, So you can let us know if you like the podcast by leaving a rating or review, or you can email podcast at AdventistHealthcare.com and let us know what healthcare topics you want to know more about. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you get new episodes.

Thank you and be well.