Resolutions Vs. Goals
Keeping up with your New Year’s Resolution can be challenging. Why does this happen? Most of us set resolutions that are hard to reach, unrealistic or requires too much change at once. Many resolutions aren’t practical or personalized either (for instance, most fad diets).
Maybe setting Resolutions isn’t for you. Trying shifting your mindset to creating Goals or Intentions. Resolutions tend to focus on a negative or the reduction of something. Goals and Intentions focus on positive behavior change & additions to your life.
For example: Resolution: I will cut out all junk & processed foods Goal: I will incorporate more color and whole, real foods into my daily diet If you start to focus on what you can start doing rather than stop, you will be in a better mental state & more likely to continue the positive behavior.
The more positive habits you do, you will have less time, temptation and means to the unhealthy habit. The more vegetables and water you start to consume in your diet, the more satisfied you will be and less likely to drink soda, buy junk food etc.!
What’s the Point?
The whole point of a Resolution or Goal is to improve your life to make a happier and healthier you.
So you must ask yourself: What does Health and Happiness look like to YOU?
WHY is my Health & Happiness important to me?
Recognizing the intrinsic (internal/personal) motivators as well as the extrinsic (external/social) motivators are keys to success. When you know your reason WHY behind a goal, you will be more motivated & accountable to sustain any changes.
Everyone can benefit from a healthy diet, daily movement and positive thinking. Nutrition, Exercise and a Healthy Mind are “requirements” for good health!
1. Eat Better
There are so many different “eating styles, diets” etc, so what is the “best” and healthiest way to eat? There is no one right way! The best nutrition plan is one that is: personalized, realistic, sustainable and enjoyable. We all have different lifestyles, genetics, health needs and goals. We should eat accordingly to all of these factors!
If you have done the functional lab work in our office, then you should eat like your APOE gene type & not stray too far from the recommendations. Everyone can benefit from a diet rich in color, vegetables and fruit and whole real unprocessed foods.
Whatever you choose to consume, aim for the “cleanest” choice possible. What does this mean? Food, drinks, condiments free of: artificial ingredients, flavors & dyes, hydrogenated & processed fats & oils, GMO (genetically modified, found in the majority of packaged & processed foods) pesticides, chemicals, etc.
Keep it simple and be disciplined! Throw out all junk food. Cut simple sugars and refined carbs and replace them with complex carbs such as root veggies or whole grains. Your meals should all contain a dose of quality protein, vegetables and healthy fats. Plan and cook meals in advance; many people do “batch cooking” on the weekends. Use your healthy leftovers from the night before for lunch.
For more information on where to begin with Nutrition, check out our article here: Nutrition Basics
2. Move Better
Inactivity contributes to 5% of global mortality. Sedentary lifestyles is literally killing us. Sitting is now considered the “New Smoking”. Physical Activity is any bodily movement done throughout the day. Exercise is structured and repetitive movement, higher in intensity, that improves physical fitness. Both are necessary for a healthy you!
Get Started: Create a schedule and put it on your calendar. Make it the highlight of your day and find what you like. There are so many different ways to make your workout fun! Exercise is a great kick start to lose weight too! It improves cognitive function, lowers & manages blood pressure, increases energy, digestion, detoxification, reduces stress, improves body composition and so much more.
More information on Exercise here: Commit to Exercise
3. Think Better
Keep your mind right. By eating better and moving better, you will already be starting to think better. Studies have shown those individuals with a chronic health condition (ie cancer) who kept a positive mindset & attitude healed faster & better than those who didn’t.
Positive thinking and your mental health directly affects your physical health! Those who lowered and managed their mental/emotional stress experienced better recovery, sleep, improved energy, weight loss and more. Gratitude practice, journaling, mindfulness, meditation, visualization and deep breathing are great ways to manage stress. Laughter, doing hobbies and social connection also decreases stress.
Don’t get down on yourself when you hit a road block, but use obstacles and set-backs a learning tool. Why was this a challenge, and how can you be better next time? Because…things WILL happen! Perfection is unattainable and life will throw us curve balls. But you can do your best to be prepared when they do happen.
Get Started
- Set your Top 3 Goals or Resolutions
- Write out your reason WHY and a Timeline of when you want to accomplish these
- Decide on 1 step you make for each category of your Health (Nutrition, Movement & Mindset)
Sometimes the hardest part of getting healthy is getting started. Instead of saying just “do it” just “TRY IT” that takes the hard part away because you can TRY anything.
“I will try to lose weight, I will try to exercise, I will try to eat better, I will try to think better.
I will try to become the healthiest possible version of my self this year and beyond”.