WHAT TO DO IF YOU ALREADY FEEL YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS SLIPPING
Happy New Year! It’s a new decade, 2020 and I must admit.. I do love the magic of new years. All of the people all around the world counting down a fresh new beginning in their lives, the fireworks, and the cheer and resolutions that fill up my social media feeds. However, if it’s January 6th, and you’re already thinking.. “Crap, I already broke my resolution” or are feeling some sort of resistance going about doing them every day, then this guide is for YOU.
Here is how you can keep motivated with the usual resolution slump.
TAKE A DEEP BREATH; YOU DIDN’T FALL OFF ANYTHING.
I understand that temptation to live in the mindset of being on or off. I lived that way for years. However, all of that ON/OFF thinking really did was make me believe my life was either ON - working out every day, sticking to my perfect diet, or any other acts of healthy living - or OFF - living my regular life indulging in foods and not working out while I prepared for another ON mode. That ON mode was so outside of my normal day to day life that it felt so impossible to sustain and it never really did for that long.
Once I removed this ON/OFF thinking from my brain, it became SO much easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle every single day. Now, I choose to do my best to eat healthy and exercise, but if it doesn’t happen one day or week, it doesn’t mean I fell OFF of anything. I just continue to do the best that I can and I don’t view anything as an ON of OFF behavior or food. This mindset re-frame got me out of feeling like I had to eat all of the things to prepare for a diet or new meal plan, which would always end up resulting in 3 weeks of indulging for every 3 days of unsustainable dieting over and over again.
PICK A MEANING THAT SERVES YOU.
Your brain is stronger than any other muscle on your body. It needs to be exercised too; so by choosing meanings that serve you. For example, you could view eating cake as something you’re doing wrong. Same with falling off your new year’s resolution. Same with throwing in the towel and giving it a go next week, next month or even next year. OR you could view that same thing as simply a part of a life lived well. Meaning, not a big deal. Meaning, it was a delicious part of life that you enjoy and that’s not worth the calories or sugar.
Overly obsessing or restricting may feel like it’s giving you some sense of control, it usually just makes you feel worse about yourself and food in general, which overall makes it harder to eat well. Choose a meaning that serves you, your relationship to food and your ability to keep moving forward no matter what you eat.
CHOOSE SOMETHING SMALL THAT YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH EVERY DAY.
If you seem to find yourself repeatedly up against a wall with your health resolutions, you may just be stretching too far compared to where you’re currently at with healthy living. Those people who have healthy lifestyles didn’t just wake up one day with a bunch of healthy habits that they maintained effortlessly. More than likely they added one, then another. They gave the whole “smoothie for breakfast” thing a try, then they started adding protein powder, then maybe a little kale. Once that started to feel good, they started going to the gym. Or maybe they tried to drink an extra glass of water and realized that they enjoyed that, so maybe then they cut out a cup of coffee. Or maybe they read somewhere that adding lemon water to their water was good, so they incorporated that into their routine. If you feel like there is this huge gap between you now and the healthy version of you, try meeting yourself in the middle. Make your resolution feel more doable. Begin to master that, then add more when it feels right.
I often hear that people are more concerned that they won’t see a big enough results by starting small like this, but the momentum naturally carries them to bigger steps soon enough, and consistency yields more results than a few days will. Think about it this way: will you see bigger gains from an hour at the gym for just a few days, or spending 20 minutes at the gym every day for a month?
CELEBRATE HOW FAR YOU ARE GETTING.
When it comes to your health journey, think of it like riding a bike. Of course, as you’re learning how to keep yourself upright, you may have a few tumbles, or maybe even wipe out. But whatever distance you travel each time is still getting you further than where you started. Celebrate THAT and keep moving. It’s not about getting to some crazy destination; it’s ultimately about designing a healthy lifestyle you can love every step of the way. You’ve got this!
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If you’re looking to build a better relationship to food filled with self-love and freedom instead of the on/off wagon, check out my life-changing 3 month 1:1 coaching program to get back on track mind, body, emotions, and lifestyle.