Refresh Your Healthy Lifestyle

Welcome to 2019! Here is my Ultimate Guide to Revitalising your Healthy Lifestyle in 2019. I give you the full run down on how I prepare myself for the year ahead, set my goals & intentions, and design my habit-stacked routines which draw me closer to achieving my goals on a daily basis.

With the new year dawning, now is a better time than ever to get inspired, get refreshed and get prepared for this new opportunity to be a better version of ourselves. I always love this time of year, as it allows me a clean slate on which to grow and develop myself each year - gradually becoming increasingly like my ideal self. This blog post is a step by step run down of my ‘New Year, New Me’ process during which I set my goals, design my year and revamp my habits for my day-to-day life. 

PLANNING THE YEAR AHEAD

The process always begins with planning and organising how I’m going to be spending my time during the year. I like to call this ‘Planning for Productivity’. If I have a general understanding of the concrete events in my year, it’s easier for me to shape my future plans and goals around what is occurring - making them relevant and appropriate to the time of the year. I also believe that much like nature, we need to transition ourselves through the seasons. Much like our clothing, our needs change according to the environment we are surrounded by. Therefore I always like to plan my activities and goals according to the season I’m in. The new year is a great time to start booking in appointments too, you’ll be sure to get in and you can always seem to get a more convenient time than if you leave it to the last minute.

To run you through my planning process, here are the basic steps:

I love to sit down in a comfortable area with my laptop (for my calendar) and my planner of choice for the year, grab a cup of tea or whatever you need.

• Firstly, I put the seasons into my calendar, outlining when each season begins and ends.
• If you are in university, school or you have children who are, outline the term dates and holidays. For university, I also put in my orientation days, exam/study weeks etc. so I know what’s coming up.
• If you have upcoming vacations or holidays, pop these in too. It’s always nice to have something to look forward too. 
• Repeating Events: for me I always put in a ‘life admin day’ once a month where I refrain from scheduling anything else on this day. This day is set aside for running errands, booking appointments, perhaps paying bills and following up with tasks. However you may have other appointments which are also repeated every few months like getting your hair done, a touch up with the beautician or having a pamper day with some friends. Remember, it’s very important to actually schedule these ‘self care’ events. It’s very easy to let these slip aside when you get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the year. 
• Anniversaries and Birthdays: Never let an event creep up on you again, schedule these events in your calendar and set reminders a few weeks ahead if you need to sort gifts, book dinners etc. 
• Date Nights: too often I hear of parents or couples who forget to prioritise this. You and your partner deserve time to relax, go out for dinner and not have to do the dishes too! If dinner is not your style, schedule a mountain biking excursion together. Plan ahead so getting someone to look after the kids is easy!
• GYST Days: I always forget to leave my Sunday’s free, and yet always get annoyed when something interrupts my weekly GYST. This year I was determine to get ahead of it and just schedule my GYST days too. 

Other ideas of things to schedule: dentist appointments, self care nights, important meetings/work events, goal reviewing days etc.

GOAL SETTING

Now that we have your year planned, you may have some sort of an idea of how your year is balancing out. Perhaps this year is super busy work-wise, or you are finally getting the opportunity to focus on family or personal goals. This is the perfect time to set goals for yourself to help balance out the year and perhaps shift the focus. For goal setting, I always aim to be very realistic. It’s difficult finding the perfect balance between pushing yourself and keeping things achievable. However, my thought is that simply you need to reduce the friction between you and achieving your goals. Simply put, when you set your goals be specific, insure they are manageable (as you will have to dedicate time and energy into achieving them) and trackable. To do this, I like to right action steps of how I can manage my goals. Preferably, you should have a way to manage your goals daily, weekly and monthly. 

For example:
Goal - read more books
Specifications: read more books during the year to increase my knowledge foundation and broaden my interests
Action Steps:

• each month schedule a day to go to the library to find new books, or schedule a time to discover new e-books. Set a monthly goal of reading 4 books a month.
• each week set a goal to complete an entire book
• create a daily habit of setting aside 30 minutes each evening to read before bed
• task to complete now: curate a book list of all the books you’ve been wanting to read

Rather than just leaving your goal as some airy thought or idea, you’ve been able to take control of it and break it down into manageable and trackable steps. When you repeat this process for each of your goals, it’s really easy to gradually build a daily routine of habits and practices which ensure that you are making small steps towards achieving your goals every day. Say goodbye to making new year resolutions which you never achieve!

I find that these daily habits become the concrete building blocks of my morning and evening routines too. For example, by reading for 30 minutes every day you are preventing yourself from being on your devices right before bed time (perhaps another goal) and you are then able to stack habits around each other to gradually build ingrained routines. 

It’s very quick to make yearly goals that in the process construct monthly and weekly goals too while also designing daily habit-stacked routines.

MONTHLY THEMES

Each month, I love to set a focus or theme. Often, this is aligned with the current season. For example, January is all about the establishment of healthy routines and habits. This adds a little variety to each month, and as a result you are able to make 30 day challenges or focus’ that enable you to achieve even more! Other ideas for monthly focuses include: sleep, learning focuses, fitness goals, etc.

HEALTHY HABITS

Here are some healthy habit ideas to start now:

• stretching: if you’re wanting to boost your flexibility, getting into a daily routine of stretching is a great place to start. Focus on your legs, holding any positions of tension for approx 30 secs using your breath to release the area. Continue on to your back, neck, shoulders and arms. Rotate your hands & feet to bring movement to these areas. 
• drink your greens - great for kids who refuse to eat salads. I’ve always loved the idea of having a freshly squeezed juice in the morning, however I honestly cannot justify the expense of a juicer! I stumbled upon this recipe which I think would be perfect. 

Add all of your ingredients to the blender (greens first as they usually need more time to process) combine until thoroughly blended. Pour through a fine mesh strainer (or a nut bag), using a smooth plastic spatula to work the juice out of all the pulp. Keep the pulp for future smoothies or even to use in baking for an extra boost of fibre.  

Juice Combinations:

1. Spinach, Cucumber, Celery, Lemon, Ginger, and Apple
2. Beetroot, Carrots, Lemon, Ginger, Apple
3. Pineapple, Lemon, Orange
4. Spinach, Beetroot, Carrot, Ginger, Apple

 

• natural deodorising packs for clothing/drawers DIY with essential oils: check out our scent booster DIY!
• change pillow cases weekly
• grow fresh herbs in the house: this is a great way to gradually encourage yourself to incorporate more into your food. And will save you money in the long run! You can also dry herbs out for lovely kitchen decor by tying a section together with string and hanging them upside-down on the wall.  
• lemon and lime & mint detox water: make drinking your 2 litres a day a whole lot easier by adding some delicious extras to your water bottle. During the summertime, berries are also a great addition. 
• air out the house daily: open the windows & doors and fold back your bedding to let your sheets air. 
• sleep well with essential oils DIY roller oils on pulse points and bottom of feet: see the full DIY here!
• self care hour: this is something I’ve been trying to add for a while! However I notice all the difference when I do. Try to dedicate an hour each night to yourself. During this time I like to read, organise myself for tomorrow, tidy up or put a few loads of washing through. 
• find your happy hobby: give yourself the opportunity to discover new interests and passions this year, find a free local event on Facebook, or join a local club. 
• moisturise morning and night: not only your legs, but your face, arms, hands and feet! I love to moisturise my hands at feet during the evening right before bed and then pop some bed socks on to lock in the moisture. You wake up with the most deliciously soft hands and toes. 

• morning pages: this is a morning ritual sourced from Julie Cameron in her novel ‘The Artist’s Way’. The activity consists of 3 pages of conscious stream writing this means no punctuation, no requirements, no pressured subject matter. Just write about what ever is on your mind, what ever concerns you, brings you joy etc. This exercise is an amazing way to become present in the moment of the morning. Sometimes you may be overwhelmed by the pressure of filling the 3 pages, however the challenge lies in uploading yourself enough to fill the 3 pages. It’s a lovely way to start your day with intention and purpose. 
• drink lemon water & ACV in the morning: I read about this in Dr Libby’s new book The Energy Guide. This habit is centred around supporting your digestion system by waking up your stomach acid pH. Dr Libby writes about how ‘both the aroma of food and the action of chewing stimulate the production of stomach acid’ in preparation of breaking down your meal. However, in a world of ready made meals, fast food and quick fixes, we are not giving ourselves the opportunity to produce enough stomach acid. She advises to drink a cup of water with fresh lemon juice and a tbsp of apple cider vinegar to simulate the production of stomach acid 5 - 10 minutes before your first meal. 
• eating more fermented foods: by increasing your intake of fermented foods, you are supporting your gut health by including probiotic-rich foods in your diet. Ben Warren spoke a lot about gut health in his Cambridge Workshop held this year. He spoke about how ‘fermented foods help restore the correct balance of beneficial bacteria in your gut. The other benefit of consuming fermented foods is over time your sugar cravings decrease as you starve out the bad bacteria, which feed on sugar and refined grains and carbohydrates.’ These foods include sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yoghurt, kombucha, miso, kombucha, and fermented vegetables. Work up to 1-2 tablespoons a day! I love to incorporate this by adding pickled radishes to my Stella Slaw toppings. 

I wish you all the best for the year to come! Give yourself the opportunity to take control of your lifestyle and design it exactly how you choose. And most importantly, live lively. 

With Warmth,