Your Health Care Guide , Health Wellness , Healthy Lifestyle

Set yourself up for a healthy 12 months with these top tips

If your New Year’s resolutions are to become fitter and healthier, then make them part of a healthy lifestyle.

“There’s no point setting a New Year’s resolution if, once the hangover and post-festive remorse wears off, you’re not going to stick to it,” says Wendy Powell, a personal trainer and founder of the MuTu System.

Instead, Wendy suggests setting small goals throughout the year. “Make them realistic, do-able and most of all sustainable,” she says. “This will enable you to see big health benefits as they become habits, instead of short-term fitness or diet fads.”

Top tips for a healthy year

Eat a well balanced diet
“Start each morning with a healthy breakfast, eat fresh fruit and vegetables every day and include

lean protein with every meal,” advises Wendy. “Drink more water, and limit take-outs, booze or ready meals to once a week max.”

Supplement support: Multivitamins could help to ensure your body is getting all the essential nutrients it needs.

Take up exercise

“The best thing you can do for your health is move more,” says Wendy. “That doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym. Trainers and for women, a good sports bra, are all you need to start an exercise programme, follow a workout video or join a class.”

Supplement support: Glucosamine could help to relieve aches and pains in your joints after exercise. It occurs naturally in our body, but as we get older our body’s supply needs topping up.

Cut out junk food

“Eating junk food is just a habit. It doesn’t taste good and doesn’t do you any good either,” says Wendy. “So identify your temptations. It might be wine, chocolate, takeaway food or

carbonated drinks. Cut down gradually to once or week or not at all.”

Supplement support: CLA is an omega 6 fatty acid which, if combined with a healthy balanced diet and exercise, could help to shift those stubborn pounds.

Every year more people are the victims of cases involving medical negligence, but the majority of these people do not seek compensation against the doctor, nurse hospital or authority responsible for the failure. Partly this is because of the financial burdens and time-consuming nature of these claims. In addition most of these cases do not have serious consequences, leading many to prefer to simply let them go. However, while this attitude is understandable, the fact is that those who suffer as a result of such negligence can be argued to have a responsibility to highlight it, if only in order to ensure that someone in the future does not suffer more seriously as a result.

That said, the medical authorities themselves are taking increasing measures to limit the potential for negligence, as, when the victims pursue them, such claims can be extremely costly for hospitals and authorities. There are techniques such as clinical governance monitoring in addition to risk management strategies in place, which are intended to improve standards of medical care. There is also now the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, providing further evidence of how seriously this issue is taken within the medical profession.

However, although it is possible to reduce the risks of such cases, they cannot be prevented entirely. If you are a victim and wish to pursue a claim for compensation it can seem financially daunting, as well as difficult to prove. However, many firms specialising in such cases do not charge for an initial consultation. This can help to establish whether you have strong grounds for a claim. Medical negligence claims are not easy to prove because it is necessary to demonstrate both that there was negligence in the care you were provided with and that this negligence directly resulted in the injury, which caused your claim. Therefore, you really need to have legal representation from someone who knows this area of the law, before you take such claims to a tribunal.