I’ve heard from many of my clients that the holiday was tough this year. Christmas cookies were on display in the kitchen for weeks on end. The food at the family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas morning breakfast, and Christmas day late lunch was hard to resist. Santa dishes filled with chocolate covered goodies were in every room of the house. Travel made it tough to stay in a consistent exercise routine.
Needless to say, it sounds like for many people, and honestly for me as well, sticking with consistent healthy lifestyle habits was a challenge during this holiday season.
Do you feel the same?
Are you discouraged because you let yourself indulge in too many Christmas cookies? Are you frustrated you didn’t stick to your consistent exercise routine? Do you feel disheartened because you gained a few pounds?
That is normal. We all get discouraged along the journey. There are speed bumps, pot holes, and even detours along the way. By acknowledging the discouragement, you now have a choice on how you will react in light of it. Do you want to quit and go back to those unhealthy behaviors or do you want to keep pursuing those goals you set for your health?
Success happens when you keep going even when the journey is tough. People who achieve success in any area of life are the ones that made mistakes, learned from those mistakes, and got back up to continue the pursuit of their goal.
Today you have a decision to make as you start out the new year.
Do you want to have your best energy throughout the day so you can feel your best?
Do you desire to feel confident in your jeans?
Do you want to build endurance and strength so you can cross the finish line of that big race?
Take some time this week to set your intention to keep pursuing those goals.
After you set those intentions, the next step is to ask yourself this question:
What is the one healthy behavior I was working on before the holiday that I can commit to doing this next week?
Maybe it is getting back to drinking the water goal you set (the goal is to drink half of your body weight in ounces). Maybe it is starting your day off with a healthy breakfast (a few scrambled eggs mixed with salsa and spinach, a protein smoothie, or an apple with almond butter). Maybe it is walking in your neighborhood for 30 minutes 3 times a week.
Don’t try to tackle too many things at once. Pick one behavior and do it for one week. Once you have accomplished that one goal, you will gain confidence to add new goals for the start of the new year.