It’s very easy to get caught up in the New Year’s resolution game. It’s a lot of pressure isn’t it? Having to commit to what usually amounts to drastic changes seemingly overnight? Then when we can’t keep that up, because change doesn’t work like that, we get down on ourselves and vow to try again next year.
I am here to tell you: do not make a New Year’s resolution! Especially if your first instinct is to “stop” doing something or “quit” something or “say goodbye” to something (unless what you are putting an end to is negativity in your life!)
Instead, focus on ways you can start building up yourself. And take that with you all the way through 2023. And understand (accept, acknowledge, embrace, etc.) that it will take time and you want it to take time and be a journey. You want to learn more about yourself along the way, become friends with yourself and learn to love your day to day instead of hating it.
Here are some things that have helped me over the years *add* to my life and I hope they help you, too!
- Develop a solid morning routine.
- When I first started doing a morning routine, it had 3 things. First, brush my teeth. Second, drink a glass of water. And third, move around. It didn’t include a daily gratitude journal or anything fancy. And it still doesn’t. I started with a morning routine that I’d write down and just checking off a couple things (that I should already be doing anyway!) really helped me get into the right mindset for the day. I used to have a very hard time getting out of bed and now I jus wake up and say, okay, onto the next thing!
- Make sure your meals are colorful.
- The best way to improve your eating habits is to introduce color. If you aren’t sure how to do this, here is what I recommend: take a picture of all your meals for an entire week and put them into a folder on your phone. When the week is over, look at the photos. What colors are most dominant? Is it beige? How much green is there? How about purple? Red? Yellow? Aim to add color.
- Eat foods you enjoy.
- I don’t even need to expand on this one, but I will. Eat foods you like. If some influencer or someone that looks a certain way is telling you to avoid something, do not listen. Only you know what you like. If you eliminate foods you enjoy, you are setting yourself up for a long and unsatisfying eating path. Make sure to always ask yourself: “What do I want?”
- Drink enough water.
- We can all admit that there is always room for improvement on this one. Start by drinking 64 oz. a day and see how that goes. Always drink 12-16 oz. with meals and another 16 oz. around work outs (ideally more after). After you do that, see if that is much different than what you currently do. If it’s a lot more, you know you need to keep that up.
- Listen to your hunger and fullness cues.
- This one might take some practice, especially if you’ve been an on-and-off dieter for years and are used to sticking with a strict timed eating plan. Your natural cues can be off, but start to ask yourself periodically if you are hungry. Check in with yourself to see if you are thinking about food or starting to feel other hunger-related symptoms (tiredness, irritability, dizziness). Also check in with yourself on fullness. Before you eat if you are too hungry, you are likely to overeat and be too full. If you are used to eating to a point of fullness that feels uncomfortable (bloated or pants tight) try eating less and see if you are still satisfied with a smaller amount.
- Work out to feel good.
- Let go of exercising to achieve a certain aesthetic. Work out for stress relief, to get stronger, to get faster, to improve mobility, to improve flexibility, to improve stamina or endurance, to achieve a time in a race that you want to, to make a team, to make friends, to feel endorphins, to perfect a dance move, WHATEVER! Try to focus on something that isn’t the way you look and I promise you will get much more out of the exercise mentally and physically.
- Practice saying no.
- I know earlier I told you to focus on what to add to your life, so it seems a little hypocritical that I am telling you to say no to things. But what I am referring to here is saying no to things that don’t make you feel good or add to your life in a positive way. This could be participating in events you don’t want to, spending time with people that don’t support you, engaging in “health-promoting” behaviors that are exhausting for you, or spending time on your phone when it’s making you feel bad.
How does that sound? I wish everyone a happy and plentiful 2023!