Getting Started: How To Get Yourself On A Healthier Path This New Year

So, did you make a “healthy living” resolution on New Year’s Eve? Have you started going to a gym, watching what you eat, or maybe getting into bed earlier? Do you feel motivated to stick to your resolutions, or are you already starting to see yourself sliding back into old habits? If you’re like most of your peers, your head may want to stay in the “health” game, but your heart feels less ambitious and more confused as to how to do so. According to one new survey of US adults, 74% of US adults are willing to put in the work, get healthier, and slow down their aging, but they don’t know how or where to start. Moreover, almost 40% of those surveyed said they believed slowing down the aging process is a myth. Well, becoming healthier and slowing down your biological aging is no myth, but it does take a conscious effort and an ability to transition to a healthier lifestyle. Are you up to the task? Let’s take a look at what experts advise.

Perhaps best to start with a geriatric expert. Dr. Leslie Kernisan, founder of the website Better Health While Aging, updated her Top 10 Checklist for 2026, with advice about how to adjust your lifestyle for healthier aging. Many of her suggestions mirror common-sense advice you’ve likely heard before: The importance of strength training and balance exercises, monitoring and preventive screening of such factors as blood pressure, hearing, and eyesight, and reviewing and possibly eliminating medications that are harmful or no longer necessary. A recent article in Health suggested even more yearly screening tests and preventive health measures, including blood work for cholesterol and diabetes, mammograms, skin checks for cancer, colorectal exams, and bone density tests. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

But Dr. Kernisan goes on to suggest some more novel approaches to getting your health and lifestyle in order for 2026. Among those additional ideas? Getting your personal health records in order and in one place that you control (and letting others know how to access those records if needed), cultivating a positive attitude about aging (which we know can add years to your life), and making a conscious effort to engage in socializing, whether get-togethers, volunteering or some other activities that provide brain stimulation, meaning, and connection. Experts from Stanford University recently published a list with recommendations similar to those of Dr. Kernisan.

Perhaps the one element Dr. Kernisan leaves off her checklist is the importance of nutrition, but other experts have clearly weighed in on how your nutritional intake and eating habits can influence biological aging and affect your brain health. One thing that becomes clearer each year: The negative health consequences of eating ultra-processed foods. It’s thought that older adults in the US typically consume up to 50% of their diet in ultra-processed foods, including packaged products, processed meat, and ready-to-eat convenience items. But a recent study published in Clinical Nutrition demonstrates that cutting back that proportion to about 15% of a typical diet can yield significant health improvements, such as loss of abdominal fat, better cholesterol levels and insulin sensitivity, and fewer signs of inflammation. While it’s admittedly a challenge to drastically change your diet, small, progressive tweaks can definitely put you on a path toward healthier aging. So cast aside that crumb cake and take a look here. And for an easy-to-digest list of 10 evidence-based nutrition tips for 2026, grab a handful of walnuts and click here.

Tweaks is also the name of the game for a new study that was just published in The Lancet eClinical Medicine. This study reports that with just a few minor improvements to your lifestyle, you could add up to 10 years of healthy living, depending on where you start. Studying a group of older adults for over 8 years, researchers in Australia found that with just a few extra minutes of sleep each night, a few extra minutes of exercise each day, and a few more helpings of higher quality foods in your diet each week (think fruits, veggies, and fish), you could be improving your health span and your life span without substantial life changes. To find out what modest methods will take you on this journey to better health and a longer life, read here and here.

Finally, if you’re willing to go “all in” to embrace healthier living in 2026, we have more extensive recommendations from AARP and The Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA). AARP has a list of 25 “don’ts” for 2026, and RIA has a list of 26 research-backed tips to help you transition to a healthier you this year. Whatever your approach, one thing is uncontested: You’re never too old to change your ways, and even small tweaks can take you far. Wishing you good health this new year!