Minimalism is very popular at the moment and for great reason if you ask me. I’ve been living a more minimal and essential lifestyle for the past year and I can’t explain how much it’s helped me. Living with less decreases the amount of decisions you have to make and frees up time and energy – something we all crave. Essentialism is a form of minimalism, but instead of focusing on how to live with less, you learn to identify what’s necessary – regardless of quantity.

Our environment is geared to stimulate excess energy consumption and decrease our incidental exercise. Both of which promote unhealthy weight-gain, which is associated with poorer health-related quality of life, shorter life-span and chronic disease.
 
I recently watched a BBC documentary called ‘Big in The Valleys’, which documented the struggles of obese individuals living in the Welsh Valleys, who were trying to lose weight and improve their physical and mental health markers (like cholesterol, blood pressure and anxiety levels). 

Aiming for a “New Year, New You”? Remember: change doesn’t need to be fast, it just needs to be consistent.”
 
I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, at least not in the way that most people approach them. The “New Year, New Me” mentality is a sure-fire way to give yourself whiplash, set yourself up for failure, and end-up feeling worse than you did before.