I’m handing over this edition of Well Well Well to the authors of the best new wellbeing books, and their advice for living well in 2024. I hope it gets you inspired and galvanised for the new year. If any of these strike a particularly pertinent chord, why not write it down somewhere you’ll see it regularly?
Dr Nicole LePera, author of How to Be the Love You Seek, out now
‘The most important thing we can do for living well in 2024 is to slow down and take care of ourselves. Instead of pushing ourselves beyond our limits, we can learn what our limits are, and how to honour them.’
Ella Mills, author of Healthy Made Simple: Delicious plant-based recipes, ready in 30 minutes or less, out 4 January
‘The path to feeling well isn’t always straight or simple. Some days you’ll jump out of bed, meditate, make a green smoothie and run to work before coming home and prepping a delicious dinner. Other days or weeks you won’t do any of the above, and order a pizza instead. That’s ok. There’s no such thing as perfect, no right way to do it, and certainly no dogmatic regime to follow. That said, don’t give up altogether if you don’t have time to cook all your meals or follow all the practices you would like to; small changes add up over time. It’s better to do something than nothing.’
Abby Rawlinson, author of Reclaiming You: Your Therapy Toolkit for Life’s Twists and Turns, out 18 January
‘Many of us give up on practices like yoga, breathwork, or gratitude journaling because we don’t initially see progress. But the positive effects are cumulative. Each time we soothe our nervous system and restore a state of calm, we are building new pathways to relaxation. Like building a muscle for weightlifting, growth doesn’t happen in one big push, but in small moments that build up in time.’
Dr Gemma Newman, author of Get Well Stay Well, out now
‘Allow yourself the compassion that you'd give to the people around you. I see so many patients who give so much of themselves to their parents, their kids, their friends and their colleagues and then wonder why they are completely exhausted. Carve some time in your day just for you. Dance to a favourite song, do a five minute meditation, sit with a cup of tea and breathe deep into your belly. Whatever you like. Even five minutes can be restorative and improve the quality of your day.'
Amy Arthur, author of Pace Yourself: How to have energy in an exhausting world, out 28 December
‘Focus on energy management, not time management. This means thinking about how we use our energy and how we replenish it. First and foremost, let other people use their own energy before offering up your own. If you're a people pleaser, it's hard to resist swooping in. But if we're going to respect our limits, we have to put boundaries around what is and isn't deserving of our energy.’
Kimberley Wilson, author of Unprocessed: What Your Diet is Doing to Your Brain, out 11 January
’Women carry a higher burden of poor mental and brain health compared to men, with twice the risk of depression and Alzheimer's disease. So we must start thinking about our brain health early to reduce our overall risk. Building resistance training into your routine is one of the best ways to slow brain ageing. Body weight exercises (like push-ups), dumbbells, barbells or resistance band workouts all count.’
Dr Richard Restak, author of How to Prevent Dementia, out 11 January
‘Reading for pleasure is perhaps the single most effective activity you can engage in for increasing cognitive reserve. Fiction is more brain-challenging than nonfiction, because it demands your full awareness of the narrative you are currently reading, while at the same time requiring you to hold in mind the situations and characters described earlier in the book.’
Dr Idz, author of Saturated Facts: A Myth-Busting Guide to Diet and Nutrition in a World of Misinformation, out 14 March
‘Remember that the path to wellness is not a sprint, but a marathon. Nutrition and health are not about strict restrictions, crash diets or quick fixes. They’re about balance, variety and moderation. Eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, getting enough protein and hydrating adequately are all more effective and scientifically supported than any fad diet or so-called superfood.’
Dr Uma Naidoo, author of Calm Your Mind with Food, out 4 January
‘Try tea to calm the mind, such as lavender or passionflower. They are not only soothing, but also hydrating - which is important as dehydration can exacerbate anxiety.’
Michelle Minnikin, author of Good Girl Deprogramming, out now
‘Society keeps women and girls behaving through the use of coercive control, and one of the techniques is social isolation – encouraging women to be super independent, managing everything on their own and not asking for help. So my advice is, if you want to change something about yourself, or have a big exciting goal, don’t try to do it on your own. Intentionally gather other women around you, to support each other.’
Kate Rowe-Ham, author of Owning Your Menopause, out 28 December
‘My top post-Christmas tip is to not regret any of your overindulgences. It won’t have made a huge difference, so focus on how you can move forward and implement some better choices as your power into the New Year. We often self-sabotage and this can lead to procrastinating with making sensible choices for extended periods of time. Try to move on from whatever choice you felt wasn’t the best and reset.’
Anna Campbell, author of The Vagus Nerve Reset, out now
‘Treat things as an opportunity, not an expectation. Inevitably, life throws you curveballs; you don’t always succeed at what you’re doing, something doesn’t work for you the way that you wanted to. And if you’re treating it like an expectation then it’s always going to feel like a personal failure, another dagger in your back. If you look at things that come up in life as opportunities, you’re less tied to the outcome and more tied to the exploration and experience that potentially awaits you. You open yourself up to curiosity rather than absolutes. This has the power to enrich your life.’
Dr Brooke Scheller, author of How to Eat to Change How You Drink, out 4 January
‘It’s hard to change your drinking behaviours if everyone around you is still drinking. Often, people who are more interested in health and nutrition are less interested in alcohol, and more interested in things that don’t revolve around alcohol. So you might meet up for a healthy meal, or go for a walk. Find those people and spend more time with them - it’s a great way to to shift your own behaviours.’
Thank you for being a Well Well Well subscriber. I look forward to continuing to bring you weekly tips, expert advice, motivation and inspiration for a happy, healthy 2024 ❤️
This is a great list. Just added some to my list of non-fiction books to read.
Some of these sound so interesting. Look forward to reading them.
Thank you for sharing, happy 2024. ☺️