- Hey y'all, welcome back.
I'm Mama Doctor Jones, a board certified OB/GYN
and mom to four and today,
we're talking about five tips that can help you
be healthier and happier in 2021.
If you're not subscribed and you wanna be,
on this channel, we talk about all things pregnancy,
periods, gynecologic health, reproductive health,
parenting, and so much more.
I would love for you to be here.
Hit that little subscribe button below.
This video is also sponsored by Noom,
and we will hear more about them in a minute.
(light music)
Tip number one, set some goals.
This isn't just about going,
"Okay, in a year, I wanna run a marathon."
You don't just say that and then a year later,
you're running a marathon.
You have to set smaller goals.
So start out by sitting down and seeing what you want
your life to look like one year from now.
What are the top three changes
that you wanna make this year?
Once you have those figured out,
break them down into where you wanna be in six months,
in three months, and then what you can do this week
to help you get closer to that goal.
If your goal is to run a marathon in a year,
then just get out and run once this week,
twice next week, three times in the next week.
That's how you achieve those big goals
that you set for a year from now.
You can't just set a big goal and then hope
that it comes true.
Although on that note, we do know that believing
you can meet a goal helps you be more likely
to meet that goal.
Yes, there is a lot of psychology behind this.
But how do you actually believe that you can meet a goal?
You break it down into actionable steps.
So whatever it is, if it's health or if it's fitness,
if it's getting into a graduate program
or getting into college, if it's losing weight,
whatever it is that is your goal,
set that, break it down into actionable steps
that you can actually tackle.
On that note, we'll move on to tip number two.
(light music)
Take note and celebrate your achievements.
I personally have a really difficult time with this,
acknowledging when I've actually achieved something.
My initial reaction when I meet a goal
is to move the goal post so I have something new
to be working on.
But in doing that, you often forget to really celebrate
how hard you worked to get there.
And this is really important,
both for your emotional health and psychologically
in helping you to continue to meet those goals.
So that is a personal goal of mine this year
is to be more cognizant of the achievements that I have.
I'll give you an example.
Just last week, I was complaining to my friend
about how I really wanted to be doing more media
and speaking more publicly
and how I felt like I was not getting to do any of that.
And she said,
"You know, you were in 'The New York Times' last year.
You were on the cover of 'People Health' last year.
Have you forgotten that you did
all these great things last year?
And your YouTube channel is just so successful.
Like don't under count the achievements
while you're looking forward to the next goal."
And that is so important, and it really helped me.
And I think maybe that will help some of you as well.
That moves us on to the sponsor of today's video,
which is Noom.
Going into this year, I knew I had to make some changes,
one of those being focusing more on my own personal health.
Sometimes I get caught up in all of the things
that I am doing and I forget to really focus on me
and my own health, and that is a huge problem.
Noom is a health program created by behavioral psychologists
that helps you make real behavior changes
using psychology so that you can get closer
to whatever health goal it is that you've set for yourself.
I don't necessarily want to lose weight,
but I do wanna push my focus back
to being healthier, to being in a better exercise routine,
and to focusing more on my overall nutrition.
I like Noom specifically because it is developed
by scientists and backed by actual research.
They are specifically against restrictive dieting,
which is a massive problem in our current diet culture,
which I absolutely hate.
You get on their site and take a quick quiz
about your health goals and then spend five minutes a day
using their articles and science-based help tips,
as well as recipes and a personal health coach.
Yes, you can talk to a actual real person.
So often, when we're trying to make these changes,
we just make ourselves feel utterly guilty
for being where we are instead of figuring out
how we can move closer to where we want to be.
This is a program that helps support your goals
by showing you how to change your behavior
with science, not guilt.
If you'd like to try out Noom and support my channel
in the process, you can use my link in the description
to take Noom's health evaluation and get started
reaching your goals today.
Tip number three.
(light music)
Get better sleep.
I know this is so hard because I personally
do not have good sleep habits.
When we talk about sleep, it's really important
to focus on things called sleep hygiene.
What is this?
This is making sure
that you have a comfortable space to rest,
that you are ready to go to bed when it's time.
And that means putting your phone away
at least an hour or two before you actually plan
to go to sleep.
I am the worst about this, but let me tell you
why it's a problem.
That blue light from your screen combats
your body's natural ability to make melatonin,
which is the natural hormone that you make
that helps you get ready for restful, deep sleep.
And if your body's not making that,
you're just not going to sleep as well
and you're not going to feel as rested the next day.
Your body uses lack of light to indicate
that it's time to start making this melatonin
and get into a good sleep pattern.
If you think back to before we had electricity,
once the sun went down, it started getting dark,
you didn't have that bright light anymore,
and that's what signals your brain that it's time
to get ready for sleep.
When we have our phones out or we're on our computer,
we are actually combating the natural physiologic process
of hormone production that helps us get good sleep.
So remove those distractions, put a bedtime on your phone
that is two hours before your bedtime,
and read a book or rest or do something with your hands.
Just get away from screens for a little while.
Again, I am so not good at this
and it's something I really want to work on.
It's also important to make sure you don't have
any distractions when you sleep.
For people who are parents,
this can be exceedingly difficult,
and for people who work crazy schedules
or get calls in the middle of the night,
it can also be difficult.
If you have the ability to put your phone on do not disturb
in the nighttime, please do that.
You never know when someone is going to randomly text you
in the middle of the night,
and that is very disturbing to sleep.
If you have young kids like I do,
sometimes it's impossible
to completely remove those distractions,
but getting your kids on a good sleep schedule
can help with that as well.
Let's move on to tip number four.
(light music)
This year, I want to focus on being better at disconnecting.
I would say over the past two years,
probably since I started this YouTube channel,
I have been so bad about just being so attached to my phone.
I am constantly checking and scrolling and reading
and posting and it's not good for anyone's mental health
to be that connected to people who aren't physically
in their space.
I obviously love and appreciate the power of social media.
I'm here today talking to you through the things
I'm telling you to disconnect with,
and I realize how incongruent that is.
But I do think it's really important to find days
to take breaks from your phone and from your computer
and just really focus on the beauty around you.
I mean, I'm sitting here right now,
I'm looking out the window.
It is absolutely gorgeous outside,
and I feel like for my own mental health
and probably for all of ours,
it would be so good if we could just spend more time outside
without our phone, without distractions,
to help our mental health.
This is super important to feeling like a healthier,
happier you in the New Year.
And tip number five.
(light music)
This goes right along with the losing some
of the distractions is spend some time by yourself
meditating, praying, exercising, stretching,
yoga, whatever it is that makes you really feel
like you have spent some time just looking inward
every single day.
It is hard to find time for ourselves,
but that doesn't take that much time.
One minute, five minutes, 20 minutes,
you can find that.
And I say that as someone who constantly says,
"No, I don't have any time for myself."
We can make time for ourselves.
Make time for yourself,
even if it's just a couple of minutes today.
Find somewhere quiet to do something
that makes you feel more at peace.
I hope that these tips helped you today.
If you're not subscribed and you wanna be,
please hit that little subscribe button.
Check out our sponsor Noom.
You can use my link in the description,
get started meeting your health goals for this year.
I will see you next Monday.
(light music)