Top Three Things You Can Do For A Healthier 2025

I’m taking a break from snow shoveling as the first substantial snow in years has made its way to Severna Park. It’s winter alright.

We are officially in a new year. The holidays are behind us. The colder weather has arrived.

It’s officially 2025!

And often, this time of year has us thinking about what we want to do this year. Maybe you have some trips planned or a project to work on at some point this year.

Now, you may be the setting goals and resolutions type of people like us. You may also feel that goal-setting can happen at any time of year, not just January. Both are perfectly fine.

We do tend to lean toward New Year’s resolutions because there is a great energy and inertia around goal-setting this time of year.

Additionally, our social calendars typically aren’t as full this time of year compared to the season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. This can mean more time for working on ourselves.

That said, we recently published on our website “25 Health and Fitness Hacks for 2025.” For readers of the Severna Park Voice, I wanted to whittle it down to our top three (with a bonus) of things you can do in 2025 to make some of the greatest impacts on your year ahead.

1. Find an accountability buddy

This is number one because whatever you decide to work on relating to your health and fitness, if it doesn’t get done, then it won’t work.

Having a friend, spouse, colleague or even friend at the gym to help hold you accountable can be impactful.

Just the act of sharing your goals with someone else makes those goals more real and helps you be more serious about them.

And if you can’t seem to find anyone in your circle to be your accountability buddy, hiring a fitness coach or personal trainer can help fill that role for you.

2. Let’s get stronger

Whether it’s by one pound or 100 pounds, improving strength is the most powerful and impactful thing we can do for our fitness.

Strength is truly the currency of life; it allows us to do more, as well as live longer. It even improves the quality of your life.

There’s lots of information about strength and how to do strength training out there; the overall idea here is simply “chase strength.” Look to be stronger over time so that you see progress.

There are lots of programs and services available to help with this. From free information online to customized training in-person, many options can help with this.

And if three months go by and you aren’t any stronger than when you started, try a different program or maybe talk to a professional fitness coach.

But getting stronger, doing regular strength training, or even ramping up your current routine should be at the top on your list for 2025.

3. Get enough protein in your nutrition

Obviously, talk with your doctor before starting a new fitness and nutrition plan. That said, the research on the benefits and positive impacts of getting enough protein daily is profound, from assisting with repair of tissue to helping us feel more full and for a longer time.

Eating enough protein has been a gamechanger for so many people and might be for you too.

Starting small here can be a great way forward. Simply ensuring you are starting each meal with a good source of lean protein can be an excellent step in the right direction.

Bonus: Get your steps in

Aside from some great data on more steps correlating to living longer, moving more throughout the day burns more calories.

And every calorie burned counts, so taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking a bit further away from the store and just taking regular long walks in general are all great ways to help get closer to whatever body composition goal we have.

And there we go, a few actionable steps we can start immediately to help have a big impact on the year 2025.

Remember, the best time to plant a tree was a few years ago. The next best time is today.

You’ve got this. And I’ve got some more shoveling to do. Happy new year.

To learn more about Park Fitness, call 410-432-2113 or visit www.parkfitsp.com.