Healthy habits to consider if making healthier choices is part of your New Year’s Resolutions
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
We all start the new year feeling like the slate has been wiped clean, and we get another shot at picking up where we fell off the wagon in previous years. A common resolution that sits at the top of the list is the one where we tell ourselves that it’s time to make healthier choices. The term “healthier” covers a number of decisions we have all considered at one time or another, and for some reason always finds its way back on our list.
Truth be told, new years resolutions are hopeful, but short lived at best. Envisioning our highest self is a great start to getting the mind right, but execution is a whole other thing. We get it— life happens. But it might actually be time to give all of this some serious thought.
The sweeping pandemic that continues to escalate all over the world has been an insane wake-up call. Aside from the vanity aspect of getting into fitness, it’s important that we take a hard look at the choices that we make, for ourselves and our families, that could affect our lives in the long run. No bullshit, the thought of getting sick these days is pretty damn terrifying.
Well, you know what? Now is as good a time as any, and at the risk of being a New Year, New Me cliché, we reached out to fellow mama, Michelle Woolfolk. Her fitness journey started during her pregnancy and took a serious turn when her father passed, over 2 years ago, from heart disease and kidney failure. She has made it her mission to help others live a longer and healthier life, and the result is a booming fitness empire.
Today, she shares with us her holy grail of wellness habits that you can begin to incorporate into your everyday life. Choose one, try a few, or do them all— we’ll leave that up to you.
7 WAYS TO JUMP START YOUR NEW YEAR!
Deciding to make a change in your life is never easy. Breaking old habits and creating healthy ones can be challenging and even discouraging at times. However, it’s not impossible. Here are some suggestions you can follow to start living a healthier lifestyle.
GET 7-8 HOURS OF SLEEP
Sounds very basic, but when you don’t rest well, you compensate by eating more. Usually, it’s processed or junk food (think of sweets). Get enough rest and you won’t need to snack to stay awake. Rest and Recover.
MOVE YOUR BODY
Movement is life. Exercising daily brings tremendous benefits to our health, including an increase in lifespan, lowering the risk of diseases, higher bone density, and weight loss. Increase the activity in your life. You only need 30 minutes per day, choose something that you enjoy doing!
A few examples: walk, jog, dance, bike, yoga, pilates, or strength training.
MEDITATE
Meditation helps to calm your mind and body. It can alleviate anxiety and depression. This gives you space and time to get to know yourself on a deeper level. Connect from within.
WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU EAT
Log your food for the next 2 weeks so you can assess the amount and type of food you consume throughout the week.
Follow an 80/20 rule. 80% of your diet should come from whole foods— meaning fresh produce, lean proteins, complex carbs & less sugar or artificial sweeteners. Treats should only be 20% of the equation (ex. cinnamon rolls, donuts, fast food, cakes etc).
CREATE BETTER HABITS
Identify the unhealthy habits in your life that you want to change. For each habit, come up with the reason you want to change, aka your “why”. It could be as simple as:
- Logging your food = to assess my food choices
- Sleep for at least 7 hours every night = to feel energized and not sluggish in the morning
- Drink half my weight (pounds) in ounces of water every day = hydrate
- Commit 100% to at least 3 new habits for one week and track your progress.
- Reflect: What was easy? What was difficult? How can we keep up these habits without always having to measure or track what you do?
These are key in helping you achieve your bigger goals.
MAKE A PLAN & TAKE ACTION
Just like a schedule you follow, at work or at home, with certain tasks you have to complete, living a healthy lifestyle should also have tasks and plans for you to follow. Take baby steps. This should be something sustainable for you. Make a realistic goal that you can follow in 3-6 months time. What are the steps needed in order to get there?
ENJOY THE JOURNEY
Creating a new, healthy lifestyle doesn’t happen overnight. Everything starts with your mindset! You can’t think of food or exercise as a punishment.
Example.
“I trained today, so I deserve cake.”
Instead, why not try, “I love my body so I am going to train and nourish it with whole foods and maybe add a little treat.”
See how you can change your perspective about food and exercise? Create a vision board of where you want to see yourself six months from now. Make sure it’s visible to remind you of your WHY’s on the daily. How do you feel? How is she different from 2020?
Setting healthy goals is one way to come up with a plan on how to kickstart your new healthy lifestyle. It gives you something to work for, and helps you stay motivated to work hard. By setting goals for yourself, you give yourself something to focus on. Additionally, goals allow you to measure your progress and see how much you have achieved.
All images courtesy of Michelle via Instagram
Have you signed up for our Virago letters?
It's where we get a little bit more personal and share a part of ourselves that isn't really for everyone.
Join our community, it would be awesome to have you!
