When January 1st comes around marking the start of a new year, it is a key time to think about making changes, setting goals and working on improvements, namely when it comes to health. In addition to New Year’s resolutions, January “health challenges” have also become a popular way to kickstart wellness goals. Let’s look at what constitutes a “health challenge,” review some good examples and then learn about the benefits and drawbacks to consider when deciding if trying one is right for you.
What are health challenges?
Health challenges are a way to increase motivation, set goals and create changes, and often involve making a month-long commitment. January is a common time to begin these challenges, as starting fresh in the new year often brings a sense of purpose and more focused intent to work on goals. Health challenges can be done solo or as a group and can encompass all sorts of wellness themes, ranging from diet and exercise to smoking/alcohol cessation or even center around mental health and the environment.
Examples of health challenges
Some popular health challenge themes for January include:
- Veganuary: Going vegan for one month and omitting all animal products and focusing on plant-based meals instead
- Dry January: Cutting out all alcoholic beverages for one month
- 30-day Fitness Challenges: Engaging in some form of physical activity every day for one month
- Low Sugar Challenge: Cutting out or partially reducing excess sugar in the diet for a month
- Meditation Challenge: Practicing mindfulness and meditation daily for a month
- Digital Detox Challenge: Reducing screen time/social media time daily for a month
- Steps Challenge: Tracking steps/walking daily for the month
- Getting Better Sleep Challenge: Focusing on getting more hours of sleep, going to bed earlier/improving your sleep environment
Benefits and drawbacks of health challenges
Health challenges can be beneficial motivators to help you focus and get started on meaningful wellness goals, if they are done in the right way. For some, choosing one area, like sugar intake, smoking cessation, screentime or exercise, seems like a manageable option to commit to, namely if focusing on making that change for one month. Joining a challenge as part of a group can be a positive way to engage with others to encourage each other to work towards a common goal.
Committing to certain wellness goals for a month is also a useful way to try certain changes on for size to see if they are right for you-such as minimal alcohol intake or a plant-based diet. However, it is important to consider long term health and look past January as well. While you may notice some changes in your health and wellness by making modifications for one month, ultimately you want to create goals and habits that are lifelong and sustainable. Also committing to challenges that are too extreme or not realistic, such as absolutely zero sugar or intense vigorous daily exercise can be difficult to maintain and even harmful depending on your health background.
Helpful tips when considering to start a health challenge
- Being wary of health challenges that seem too extreme and strict can be difficult to maintain and set you up for failure. For example, no sugar at all for a month may not be realistic in contrast to reducing sugar intake like limiting sweet treats/beverages to a few times a week. Or maybe a vegan diet is too strict but cutting down meat to a few times or week and substituting plant-based meals is a possibility for you.
- Choosing a health challenge that is positive, centers around making realistic and gradual changes and setting small daily goals.
- Checking with your healthcare provider before beginning any fitness-based challenges, namely if you are new to exercise or have any physical limitations to ensure it is safe for you.
- Consulting with a dietitian if you are starting a new diet-based challenge that involves a completely different style of eating than you are used to, especially if you have a history of health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease or gastrointestinal conditions
- Making a longer-term plan- how will you move forward after January to continue to make lasting changes/continue working on your goals. After the month is up, it is a good time to re-evaluate your progress and goals to see what is working and what you might need to adjust to keep moving forward.
With a little planning and preparation and being thoughtful/using your resources you can choose a January health challenge that is right for you to kickstart your wellness in the new year!