Chances are you already know the basics for a healthy new year: get enough sleep, exercise regularly, eat a balanced diet, control your stress.
But there’s more to wellness than that: Even these basics can be difficult to put into practice consistently.
So, as a new year dawns, we’ve rounded up some of the most practical and not-always-obvious tips from UCLA Health experts on how to have a healthy 2025.
David B. Ruben, MDgeriatrician
“Most of what people can do to have a healthy 2025 is not much different from what they could do to have a healthy 2024: exercise; don’t smoke; drink alcohol in moderation, if at all; stay engaged; and keep your mind stimulated.
“Be decent in every interaction and seek optimism every day. You may not find anything to be happy about, but you may find something meaningful that can help others and yourself.
Elizabeth Ko, MDmedical director of the UCLA Health Integrative Medicine Collaborative
“Check your internal energy just like you approach your phone battery: what is your charge level? Do you start the day at 100%? What exhausts you and what energizes you? Lean on energizing practices and minimize depleting ones. Listening to how you moderate your energy allows you to make better choices about how you move through your day.
“Take breaks and slow down. Life tends to seem loud and fast. Give yourself permission to lower the volume and speed. Moments of rest allow us to restock our stores. Focus on the quality of your relationships. Deep, strong, nurturing relationships lead to health and happiness.
Dana Ellis Hunnes, Ph.D., RDdietitian
“Eat a whole-food, plant-based diet as much as possible. The more whole, plant-based foods a person can eat, the more likely they are to be healthy due to the high fiber content, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory components and compounds found in foods, as well as lower calorie intake and increased satiety.
“And spend more time with the people you care about.” There is plenty of evidence to suggest that when we are alone, our well-being decreases. So, try to spend time with people you love and enjoy spending time with.
Valentina Ogaryan, PhDclinical director of the Simms/Mann UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology
“To me, health refers to body, mind and spirit. For the body, it’s best to eat whole foods and incorporate some form of physical activity regularly. It’s also about allowing ourselves to consume, in moderation, foods that bring us joy.
“With the mind, it’s about making sure to increase awareness of helpful and unhelpful thoughts, having access to social support, and giving the mind some rest by disconnecting from social media and focusing intentionally on present moment interactions.
“With the mind and the heart, it’s about finding and connecting to the people, activities, hobbies, interests that nourish the soul – anything that creates connection and can give meaning. It could be spending time with loved ones; connection through music, literature and art; prayer, meditation and connection to spirituality; or community activities.
Marissa Vasquez, MDhead team physician of the LA Dodgers
“To have a healthy 2025, individuals should focus on managing stress through mindfulness practices, quality sleep, and strong social connections that can significantly improve mental health and resilience.” This is of course in addition to maintaining a healthy diet and regular physical activity.
“When it comes to sports and athletics, focus on injury prevention, mix workouts and cross-training, and support the body with proper nutrition and hydration.”
Diana Winston, director of Conscious UCLA
“Take some time to rest. This means unplugging from time to time and just being rather than constantly doing.
“Practice gratitude. Even brief moments of remembering things you are grateful for can shift your day from resentment and upset to a feeling of peace and appreciation. And savor the joyful moments. In addition to gratitude, there are many moments throughout the day when we experience joy or pleasure. Don’t skip them. Take a moment to truly savor the experience, even if just for a few seconds. We must develop our resources of joy.
“When you are stressed, remember STOP: Stop; Take a breath or two; Observe how you feel inside; and Proceed with a little more awareness and calm.
“Be kind to yourself. We are often so self-critical. You do your best. Try to remember it.
Jesse Mills, MDdirector of the men’s clinic at UCLA Health
“Why wait until 2025? Put down your iPad, get up and get moving. Whatever you did yesterday – if it was walking a block, walk two today, four tomorrow; if it was a mile, walk two today, three tomorrow and so on. Humans are great at building endurance – it’s in our DNA – be true to your genes and get moving!
“Don’t add sugar to anything this year. Your body has developed a taste for sugar, so you can unlearn it. If you add sweetener to your coffee, add half and try to remove it entirely within two weeks. Along the same lines, avoid any food that you cannot grow or hunt. The more processed foods you eat, the worse off your body will be. Processed foods tend to add sugar, fat, and salt to improve their taste, but it messes with your brain chemistry if you see unnatural combinations of fat and sugar.
“Be determined. Outside of work, find something to do that matters: volunteer, learn a new language, ditch your news and social media feeds, pick up an instrument and learn to play.
“Connect. Loneliness is an epidemic made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Combine your focused activity with a social group and get exposed.
Lawrence Taw, MDdirector of the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, Torrance
“Give yourself a foot massage. It’s a simple and easy thing that anyone can do: very low cost, low investment and high return. Our feet take a beating every day, but most of us don’t take care of our feet. There’s a whole body of knowledge about reflexology, which are actually acupressure points, and you stimulate a lot of these points when you massage your feet. Get a simple golf ball or roller and simply roll each foot on it. This can be relaxing, especially if you combine it with closing your eyes and deep breathing.
“Because many of us have too much energy in our heads – too much thinking or stress – we can’t relax our minds and often don’t sleep well. We need something to ground this excess energy, which is easy to do when you massage your feet.
“I usually tell patients to massage their feet daily, but the best time to do it is in the evening, before going to bed.”