The new year can start off with such a bang. Then, when the reality of our daily life comes back into play, it’s easy to fall back into the same habits we always do. That’s not to say you’re lesser for doing so, those habits exist for a reason. It might be that you’ve been working so hard that a quick bite to eat from the local fast food drive-thru is just what you need, or perhaps you’ve had less time to track your eating.
If you vowed a resolution to keep up with your healthy diet, but you’ve suffered a setback, you may feel deflated already. But you shouldn’t worry. After all, a brand new year doesn’t have to be perfect to “count,” you just have to view it as another opportunity to make better decisions.
Revivifying that energy after it’s dissipated somewhat can feel a little tiresome, however. Are there ways around this? We believe there are. Let’s consider what that might mean, as follows:
Consider The Power Of Community
It may seem a little sentimental to say this, but often, a fitness journey is so much more empowering when you share it with others. That doesn’t mean you have to share every progress pic on Instagram, but it can mean finding a loving community of like-minded individuals in spaces like HOTWORX, specifically designed to help you feel empowered through your exercise habits. Sometimes, that’s all you need as a newcomer or returning exercise practitioner.
Keep It Sustainable
Whenever we vow to make a change in life, it’s so easy to go all the way and set unrealistic standards for yourself. You won’t make a mistake, you think, so it’s fine for me to expect no cheat days, no missed exercise sessions, and no lapsing motivations. But does that have to be the case? What if you allow yourself an extra 100 calories a day, even in a small evening snack, but then spread your weight loss process over a longer time? Sometimes, sustainability and three-quarter steps in the right direction are better than cutting all progress down when you make a mistake.
Eat More Slowly
This might sound like some kind of Jedi mind trick, but it’s true. If you eat more slowly, a process known as patient mastication (yeah, we’ll stick to the first term, too), you actually feel fuller, burn more calories eating, and make it easier for your body to digest your food. Moreover, when you eat slowly, you’re giving your food more time to pass down into your stomach, which can help you avoid that tendency to overeat. We’re evolutionarily designed to get as many calories as we can in one sitting as our ancestors rarely knew how reliable their next meal would be, and so you subvert that desire to binge by eating more slowly. If you’ve struggled with portion control in the past, use this method, and see the difference!
With this advice, we hope you can more easily keep up with that resolution, or just keep living healthily no matter what goal you’ve set for yourself.
