4 Tips to make your New Year healthier
Twenty sixteen is finally over, (who else felt like it was the longest, and hardest year yet?!) Good riddance! I was recently inspired by a detox flow that I decided to do, reluctantly, last week in my hometown studio in Buffalo, NY. Shout out to Jamie Pearson and Power Yoga Buffalo for an awesome, mat to mat crowded, oxygen deprived, sweaty, refreshing and detoxifying flow on Monday. And if you had attended my classes last week, you got a little taste of what I went through in that class. Detox. The word in itself is daunting. Bringing the thought and ideas around shedding layers both physically and mentally into the perspective. But detoxifying does not always need to bring a negative connotation. I think it’s especially appropriate when talking about a New Year, leaving the past behind and starting completely fresh.
So how do we start “New” when we have the same bodies, same DNA, same family, and maybe even the same living situation? To detox does not have to mean to throw out everything you ever believed in, the body you had, the food that is in your fridge, and the people in your life. No. To detox means to let go of those self-limiting beliefs that are holding you back from being your best and most positive self. I am in the midst of a Holistic Nutrition certification program, and am absolutely falling in love again with the blend of science and holistic practices. Don’t even get me started on neuronal pathways, serotonin and dopamine releases, ATP and creb cycles, catabolism and anabolism, and the effects that they all play in your overall health. At this point I would be getting the kick under the table from my husband that I am beginning to rattle off my inner science nerd.
All of these things are important, yet the only thing you should keep in mind while making a New Years ‘resolution’ is that you are not working with a new body, new family, new DNA; You are working with the same you and changing the perspective about how to respond. Detox your old ways, if you will.
Here are some thoughts about how to incorporate new nutritional perspectives this year:
1. Resolve to drop the extremes and be reasonable for what your body needs.
Plain and simple. 8% of people follow through with their dietetic New Years resolutions. EIGHT percent! Start easy. Something that seems like it is easily obtainable may make you feel better about reaching that goal and continue to strive, instead of setting unrealistic extremes you will never obtain. That goes for food. Be realistic. If you have never tried to be Vegan or looked up what the lifestyle would consist of, don’t cut out everything you eat to shock your system and make you feel lethargic on a ‘cleanse’.
2. If you don’t know how, learn to cook!
The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is be conscious of where your food is coming from. One way to do that is cooking your own food. Being in control of what you eat is so powerful, and the easiest way to take control is to cook it yourself. Start with some of your favorite foods and look up how to make them. (Pinterest, anybody??) We are a world full of resources: TV shows at our fingertips, internet blogs and websites, amazon one-click buy, and even food events in the community (shameless plug, Arrow events). Take advantage of this day and age. Detox your old way and incorporate cooking into your daily routine. You are sure to feel better just having tried.
3. Things are always greener on the other side
If you are trying to shed a few pounds, or you are watching infomercials about the latest trend out there in diet pills, workouts, shakes, or your neighbors new fitness trainer, Don’t be fooled! If you have an issue with food, it may never be resolved from trying to change your diet. If you have an issue with overeating, try figuring out WHY and WHAT brings you to overeat. Seek support from those close to you, or professionals, before trying to change what it is you are eating. When there are underlying emotional issues with food, no amount of new diet fad will be able to change that. Ever. Uncover your own layers and seek from within.
4. It’s okay you fall off your routine, you’re only human!
Rules are meant to be broken, right? Life happens, situations arise, that new date wanted to eat ice cream. Don’t punish yourself for not following your resolution for the weekend, or even for the week. Your body gets it, you got extremely, unexpectedly busy. Or not. Whatever the reason, it happened. Move past it. The important thing is that you get back on track. Continue anyways. It is not failing, it’s allowing yourself to be HUMAN.
The overall message after rambling on for this blog is to allow yourself to be you and accept you. Feeding your body what it needs, when it needs it. The longer you try to constrain and restrict what it wants, the more it will rebel. Your body begins to store the things it wants and isn’t getting, so it can take from its ‘reserve’ when under fire. Think back to those teenage years of your parents trying to control your every move, and all you wanted to do was BE FREE, and rebelled against their rules. Nutrition is giving your body what it needs to be free, to sustain your healthy life, and to support your mental self in obtaining the goals you have always dreamed.
Detox your old ways. This IS Twenty Seventeen. Start giving your body permission to be who it has wanted to be all along.
Live Forward, always.
