Like a majority of people this time of year, I feel like I need a detox. We spent the little bambino's first holiday season surrounded by our awesome family and friends up and down the east coast, and now we are back to reality. A reality where it's no longer appropriate to have wine and dessert with every meal just because.
If I had to guess, one of your New Year’s resolutions is some variation of: get healthy, eat better, cook more, use gym membership, stop eating desserts, cut carbs, drink less, etc. And if you're like me, it was also on your list last year...and the year before. We feel compelled to make a drastic change in our diet or lifestyle to start the year off right, but by the Super Bowl, we are elbow deep in nachos and wings and feel like we failed ourselves.
My advice is this:
- Start small - no drastic changes
- Make your goal actionable - what does "eat healthier" actually mean for you
- Be realistic - it's hard to hit the gym EVERY day
- Commit to a small period of time - a week or a month, not the whole year
Here are a few common resolutions turned into actionable goals:
- Get more sleep = I will be in bed by 10pm on school nights
- Drink more water = I will make sure to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, swap that lunch time diet coke with soda water
- Be more active = I will commit to making that 7am spin class every Wednesday, no excuses
- Eat healthier = I will make sure to have a good breakfast every morning, no more skipping breakfast or hitting up the street cart outside the office for a cold bagel
My resolution this year is to be more present. It's a phrase that gets tossed around a lot these days, but for me, it means prioritizing 1 or 2 things per day that I want to achieve, instead of trying to do it all. With a new baby, I find myself starting 12 different things at a time and finishing none of them, or multi-tasking while I'm holding or feeding the baby instead of just appreciating the moment. No one wins in this situation and I know I will miss these newborn days once he's older. So every morning I write 1 or 2 things down that I can commit to finishing before I go to sleep and it helps me stay present when I'm doing other things throughout the day. I can check writing this blog post off the list for today :)
So turn your resolutions into actionable goals, and pick 1 or 2 that you can commit to for one month at a time so it feels manageable. Once you hit your goal, extend it if it worked for you. If you miss a day or a week, don't feel like you failed, just get right back on track the next day.