Ideas for a Healthy Motivated New Year
1. Keep a Journal
If there’s any one way to make positive changes (and keep them), making long-term things much more accomplishable on a smaller scale and on a daily basis is the place to start. This is where a daily journal comes in.
Research shows that journaling reduces stress and has a real impact on happiness and physical health. I’ve always kept some kind of journal, but this year for the sake of research and a bunch of new health routines I plan to try, I’m experimenting with getting a much more detailed journaling process going, such as:
things I’m grateful for
a health picture of the day (what I ate, exercise, how I’m feeling, etc.)
my daily to-do list
a challenge list
what made me happy today
even a food diary for those wanting to make better health choices
One of my favorite ways to manage my to-do list is to pick the two most important things for the day, every day. (Something besides obviously feeding my family and keeping up with the household, etc.) If all I can get done is those two most important things, then I can consider that day a success!
2. Take a Detox Baby Step
I’m often asked how I “do it all,” and the answer is… a little at a time! The recipes and health articles you see on the blog came to be over 16+ years of experiments, trials, and false starts. I’ve shared my successes, but as my husband would be all too happy to tell you… there were plenty of failures along the way!
Whether it’s your food, cleaning products, makeup and beauty products, or even your mental health that you want to declutter and make healthier, there’s a step that will help with that (in a way that’s not overwhelming or unrealistic).
Some baby steps to start on
swap out your generic body care products for natural, health conscious products
Replace conventional cleaners and detergents with natural ones
Swap out plastic cups, plates, or silverware for nontoxic alternatives
Clear the mental clutter and reconnect by setting a digital day off (use a kitchen safe if you have to).
3. Conduct a Sleep Experiment
Having trouble narrowing down to just one thing to tackle this year? What if I told you just one thing could help your body restore and heal, regulate hormone production, boost your mood, and aid in weight loss? Yep, sleep! Plus it’s free (or almost free)!
Of course as moms there are many situations that make it tough to get enough sleep (for me it’s a 16 month old who is still nursing through the night), but when even just one missed night of sleep can give you the blood sugar levels of a diabetic or pre-diabetic, it’s an area to take seriously.
One thing I can control even as a mom is my sleep environment and this is a great place to start experimenting.
avoiding blue light a few hours before sleep (or wear orange glasses)
lowering the temperature at night
using black-out curtains (and ditching nightlights)
investing in a good quality mattress
exposure to outdoor light for at least 30 minutes in the morning (or use a sun lamp)
Sleep better and you’re already off to a great start in 2020!
4. Have an Attitude of Gratitude
It sounds cliché, but cultivating gratitude as a daily habit is perhaps even more important than any resolution or experiment, because it’s the secret to fighting stress and staying motivated. The point here is to keep from falling into the trap of thinking, “If only I had XYZ, I’d be happy,” or, “If only I didn’t have to deal with ABC, I’d be happy.” This is a pretty vicious cycle.
I love this TED talk from Shawn Anchor where he points out that gratitude and happiness are the first step and not the end result. So making the choice to be happy and have gratitude is not only healthy, but it can improve performance and success as well! Sometimes just writing down what we’re grateful for (and telling others we’re grateful for them too) is all we need to realize we’re doing just fine. I practice gratitude by way of ‘The Law Of Attraction’ teachings daily and I highly recommend them to everyone.