With the New Year right around the corner, New Year's resolutions are flying high. For me, New Years is a great time to pause, ask myself where I am and what I need to be doing, and reset.
One thing that is consistent for me is that I reset my weight in the New Year every single year. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I’m so perfect I don’t have weight to lose after Christmas. I totally do.
Normally I take two months after the New Year to kick my butt back into shape. I try to refocus on my habits that help me live my healthiest life, this is because over the year, good habits tend to dwindle.
I still eat healthy, I still get my fruits and vegetables in and enjoy protein at every meal. I still try to keep my carbs in check and avoid fast food. But the longer I go without a reset, the easier it is to ignore and forget about all the good things I should be doing.
So what does a reset look like for me? No I don’t break into some crazy starvation diet combined with tons of strenuous gym activities.
For me, my reset is keto. I’ve been doing a rotating keto diet since 2014. I normally do 2-3 tune ups a year and peel off about 10 pounds. See healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean you never gain weight. Weight gain is totally normal. To me a healthy lifestyle is keeping that weight in check and not letting it get out of control.
So when the New Year’s hits, I’ll return to a few of my good habits:
1. I’ll start food journaling daily. This helps me stay aware of what I am putting into my body and helps to keep me in check.
2. I’ll start micromanaging my carbs. I know the current keto trend is to keep carbs around 20 grams a day, but for me 50 grams of carbs a day still gives me the results I’d like to see without feeling deprived.
3. I’ll refocus on my protein goal. For me, I aim to eat a minimum of 100 grams of protein a day. This leaves me feeling full and satisfied and curbs the cravings.
4. I’ll refocus on my vegetable intake. I’m not going to lie, getting 4 cups of vegetables a day is tough. Especially after you’ve been going along at healthy eating for a few months. I’ll be honest here, sometimes I don’t get all the vegetables in a day that I’m supposed to, but now's a great time to start eating them again.
5. I’ll restart my annoying alarm that reminds me to drink water. For anyone who knows me, they know water isn’t one of my favourite things in the world. Yes I drink water, I have a solid habit of drinking water with every meal. But I may come short on getting those 8 cups of water every single day. So what I do is set an alarm on my phone to go off every couple hours, and when it goes off, I chug a bottle of water.
The thing about everything I’ve listed is that this has become the normal for me. I almost look forward to getting back into my routine and resetting my body to its healthiest set point.
The point I’m trying to make though, is that healthy living isn’t about perfection every single minute of every single day for the rest of your life. Healthy is finding a balance. Some months I eat perfectly and some months I don’t. The important thing is that the good needs to outweigh the bad, and you need to find a balance that is authentic to you. You have to have a solid plan to put on the breaks when things start to go in the wrong direction. You need to have a plan that doesn’t feel like you’re putting yourself into jail whenever you do it.
So I challenge you, reset, restart and refocus this New Years. Reset your goals, restart that plan, and refocus on what you want most, you’re goals.
Cheerfully,
Serial Dieter 911
Opmerkingen