NEW New Year Resolutions
- Becca Egan
- Dec 23, 2020
- 6 min read
Every year many people make the resolution to “lose weight” or “be healthy” or “get in shape”. But what do those things really entail? Those goals aren’t specific or really clear on what actually needs to be done. This year - try making a resolution (or promise to yourself) that you will do smaller actionable things. See below for simpler things you can do to get you to your end goal of weight loss or getting healthier.
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Drink more water - this is a pretty simple one. Not always easy though for everyone. Personally, I am not a huge water drinker. Coffee? Yes. Wine? Yes. Water, not so much, but i know I need it! What has worked for me is putting my goal amount of water into a separate container like a pitcher or gallon jug (you don’t have to drink a gallon but a gallon jug should be able to fit all the water you should be drinking in a day :)) and then filling up your water bottle or glass from there. Having your total amount of water you need to drink gives you a goal and something as a visible reminder. Another trick that works for people is making sure you have a fun or cute water bottle, with a straw to drink out of - trust me it makes ALL the difference. Visit Grace's IG page to see the ones she recommends! Also you can break up the monotony of drinking plain water with drinking tea or using water enhancers like Mio, Crystal lite, Skinny Girl, etc (just make sure it’s sugar free or at least low calorie - but be careful with some artificial sweeteners as they can cause stomach upset). I would only do 20-30 oz of flavored water a day though so you don’t always dread drinking plain water. Along those lines you can also incorporate La Croix or some type of sparkling water as well. Again I would advise only sticking to one can a day as carbonated water can be a bladder irritant and cause bloating if too much is consumed.
Meal PREP - There’s a reason why meal prepping is so highly regarded. It sets you up for success throughout the week. The hardest part about meal prepping is setting aside the couple hours it takes to do it instead of just cooking something every night - but in the long run it does save you time. Not only the time saving factor, it saves you from impulsively getting something to eat on the way home or ordering in because you “just don’t feel like cooking”. See the recipe portion of our website for ideas!
Meal PLAN - If you’re not quite up to par with meal prepping, start with meal PLANNING. Meal planning takes much less time but in turn will still save you time throughout the week with trying to figure out what you want to make or have for dinners/lunches throughout the week. You can even download and print out cute meal planning templates that will make it super easy - or you can go a step further and order a cute kitchen board from amazon! (see below)
Bedtime Routine - Sleep is one of the most important things for our health but probably the most widely abused. I go more in depth in a previous blog all about sleep and how important it is. Having a bedtime “routine” has been linked to more and better quality of sleep. Some things you can start doing to wind down for bed are:
Set a bedtime reminder. There are definitely apps for this but the iPhone health app has a setting that you can trigger to remind you to go to bed based on when you have your alarm set. Fitbit does as well!
Make sure the room you sleep in is not too warm. They say the optimal room temperature for sleeping is 65 degrees Fahrenheit, but it can vary person to person, so between 60-67 degrees should be your goal. Your body’s temperature decreases during sleep, and a cool room will help you settle into and maintain sleep throughout the night.
Tidy your sleeping space. Whether you realize it or not, clutter can be very distracting and actually cause you to lose sleep! It’s called visual noise. Even though you don’t think a messy room bothers you, subconsciously it most likely does. Take 10 minutes (set a timer) and put the clothes away that are on the floor or on “the chair” (we all have one lol). You will sleep better!
Turn off all screens or blue light emitting electrics at least 30 minutes before bed (but some studies suggest more than an hour before!) Blue light messes with your body's ability to prepare for sleep because it blocks a hormone called melatonin that makes you sleepy. And no you can’t just take melatonin supplements to make up for it. Melatonin might help you sleep a little better in the short run but you shouldn’t be supplying your body with it as it can mess up the natural production! It’s also recommended to use blue light blocking glasses when you can during the day to help with the straining and stimulating effects of screens. Get highly rated ones on Grace's IG page!
10K step goals - If you can’t commit to a workout routine, or you have some limitation or injury, try shooting for a daily step goal. If 10k is too intimidating, start smaller with 7-8k and then increase from there! Being active daily will make a difference in your overall health. Once you start a workout plan - still try to shoot for your off days hitting 10k steps!
Increase vegetable intake - Eating more vegetables is never NOT a good idea. Studies have shown that increasing the intake of vegetables, whole grains, and fruit is more sustainable and successful for weight loss than just cutting out “the bad stuff”. You move from a restricting mentality to a mentality of eating more things your body needs! This will in turn naturally cut down on the things your body doesn’t need (highly processed foods, high sugar items, high saturated fat items). Another way to increase vegetable intake is to have more vegetable variety throughout the day. Try getting 3-5 different vegetables everyday, you might even find some new ones you love!
Set your clothes out the night before - Whether it’s for work or your workout, outfit planning really saves you time in the AM, and might even more make you more productive. One of my favorite hacks is on my workout days, setting out my clothes the night before so as soon as I get up I can put them on and I am ready to go for my workout. Even if your workout isn’t until mid afternoon - you have that reminder to get that workout in! Now obviously this wouldn’t work if you had to go into the office unless your company is really lenient on the dress code. In the case of having to go IN to work - pack your clothes to take with you the night before so you can workout on your lunch or right after work. If you workout at home, sometimes changing before you leave work is the push you need to make sure you get the workout done even after you get home after a long day.
There are so many more resolutions you can incorporate into your year - here’s a short list of some others:
Sleep with your phone away from your bedside
Start your morning with protein
Disconnect everyday from technology for at least an hour
Journal for 10 min a day
Read 10 pages in a book everyday
Stretching for 10 minutes everyday
Get a massage once a month
Try one new healthy recipe every month
Read a new book every month
Or if you really can’t decide, do 12 month long challenges so each month has a different focus instead of one big goal for the year!
Tag us (kpfitnessonline) in your IG posts of your New Years Resolutions!!
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