Wright Center: Making Healthy Living New Year’s Resolutions The holiday season is here and in full swing, but the new year is lurking just around the corner. For many people, that means making a new set of resolutions for 2026. There’s nothing wrong with that, as these goals often help with the pursuit of genuine self-improvement, especially when it comes to health and well-being. Dr. Barooah, as a physician, applauds this approach. However, it’s important not to be overly ambitious at the start. Dr. Barooah’s advice: set small, manageable goals that can evolve into sustainable lifestyle changes over time. Those steady improvements are what ultimately lead to a healthier version. With that in mind, here are a few potential health-focused resolutions to consider for the coming year: Improve diet by choosing more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and cutting back on red meat, sweets, and ultra-processed foods. Moderate alcohol consumption, as there is more information being presented about its significant long-term health impacts. Stay well hydrated by using water as the preferred beverage. Move more – through a gym membership, a running routine, or simply regular walks around the neighborhood. Whatever fits the lifestyle of the person is the right place to start. Prioritize sleep, which plays a major role in overall quality of life. Practice self-care by resisting self-criticism, investing in therapy, enjoying hobbies, trying mindfulness or meditation, or simply carving out personal, daily time. Volunteer with a local organization or nonprofit – doing good for others often boosts self-happiness. Limit social media and screen time, freeing up precious hours for more meaningful activities. Make time for family and friends, because while material achievements are nice, strong personal relationships are what truly enrich people’s lives. The Wright Center for Community Health are deeply committed to improving long-term health through their Lifestyle Medicine initiative. This approach recognizes that less desirable lifestyle choices drive most of the chronic illnesses affecting Americans. Lifestyle medicine helps patients and their families enhance their health and quality of life through long-term behavioral changes such as eliminating tobacco use, improving diet, managing stress, increasing physical activity, strengthening personal relationships, and optimizing sleep for better, more restorative rest. The team is trained in both conventional and lifestyle medicine, and they collaborate closely with patients to create personalized self-care plans that are realistic and sustainable. These lifestyle modifications can significantly help prevent or manage chronic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease, lifestyle-associated cancers (including prostate and breast), osteoarthritis, chronic pain, chronic autoimmune diseases, and chronic psychological stress. Most importantly, it’s about the choices made in order to feel better. There’s nothing magical about it – adopting positive daily routines naturally leads to a healthier lifestyle, a longer life, and greater happiness. So, if planning to make lifestyle improvement the driving force behind 2026 New Year’s resolutions, Dr. Barooah wholeheartedly supports the healthy living goals. Happy holidays and happy New Year! Jumee Barooah, M.D., FACP, is senior vice president of education and designated institutional official for The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education. She is quadruple board-certified in internal medicine, addiction medicine, obesity medicine, and lifestyle medicine. To make an appointment, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019.
Use New Year’s resolutions to pursue attainable health goals The holiday season might be in full swing, but I have no doubt many of you are already looking forward to setting some fresh life goals for 2025. There’s nothing wrong with making New Year’s resolutions, as they allow us to strive for genuine self-improvement, often in the areas of overall health and well-being. That’s all for the better, although we should resist the temptation to aim too high – at least at first. My advice is to set small goals that, over time, can lead to bigger, more sustainable successes that ultimately result in a healthier you. So, with that in mind, here are some potential health-related resolutions you might want to pursue in the coming year: Adjust your diet to include more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables while reducing red meat, sweets, and overly processed foods. Moderate your alcohol consumption, as research continually reveals its detrimental effects on long-term health. Pursue regular exercise, whether through a gym membership, regular runs, walks around your neighborhood, or whatever fits your schedule best. Prioritize better sleep. The quality of our sleep regimen profoundly affects our overall quality of our life. Practice self-care: resist self-criticism, invest in therapy, find time for hobbies and activities that make you happy, adopt a mindfulness or meditation routine, or treat yourself to a massage or manicure. Make time each day to focus on your needs. Volunteer with a local organization or nonprofit – doing good for others can significantly boost your sense of fulfillment. Limit social media and overall screen time, something many of us can benefit from reducing. Make more time for family and friends. While material things are nice, investing in deeper relationships ultimately leads to a more fulfilling life. While offering these suggestions, I should also point out that The Wright Center is fully committed to improving people’s long-term health through our lifestyle medicine initiative, which is based on the concept that poor lifestyle choices drive most modern chronic illnesses in America. Lifestyle medicine is focused on helping patients and their families improve their health and overall quality of life by adopting a host of long-term lifestyle behaviors, including eliminating tobacco use, improving diet, practicing stress relief techniques, increasing physical activity, strengthening personal relationships and connections, and adjusting sleep habits for better, more restorative rest. Our team is trained in both conventional medicine and lifestyle medicine, and we work closely with patients to create a personalized lifestyle self-care plan that’s not only easily implementable but sustainable. These modifications can go a long way toward preventing or managing chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes (type 2), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease, cancers that are lifestyle-associated (e.g., prostate and breast), osteoarthritis, chronic pain, chronic autoimmune diseases, and chronic psychological stress. The science is clear on this – a healthier lifestyle leads to a healthier, longer, happier life. And if that’s at the core of your 2025 New Year’s resolutions, I’m happy to report you’re on the right track. On that note, happy holidays and happy New Year! Ajit Pannu, M.D., a board-certified family medicine physician, is accepting patients of all ages at our Dickson City Community Health Center. Dr. Pannu is also the associate program director of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Regional Family Medicine Residency Program, where he completed his residency.
