Goodbye 2020. Hello anything else! As we come to the end of what we can only describe as an extraordinary year full of unexpected challenges, we may need to check ourselves a little.
How are we really feeling?
Have we let our thoughts and worries get the better of us?
Did the constant pressure of the unknown drive us into unhealthy eating habits?
No matter how we experienced 2020 it will soon be in our rear view mirror (phew!) giving us the perfect opportunity to press the reset button and head into the new year with a healthy mindset. Here are some simple ways to kick it off the right way.
EAT TO FEEL GOOD
Being the foodies we are it’s only natural we’d start with this. But seeing as there is a direct connection between what we eat and how that makes us feel physically and emotionally, it’s not a bad place to begin.
- Go longer periods without food. Give your body a break from constantly digesting food and you could reap multiple benefits, such as better energy, more clarity, and a daily detox. The good news is we don’t need to do a major fast to get all these benefits (and many more) — simply having an early dinner and banning snacking for a 16-hour period before eating breakfast is enough to help our overworked digestive systems out.
- Snack on bone broth. How many times during the day do you feel like a snack but don’t know what you really want to eat (or don’t have time to make something nutritious)? These are the times we often reach for the chips or chocolate. Instead, commit to making a cup of bone broth each time you feel this way and you’ll be surprised at how many empty calories you cut from your day. If you want something that helps power you through even longer, try our LonoLife Keto Chicken Bone Broth — with 5g of fat and 10g of collagen-rich protein, it’ll give you some serious staying power.
- Think about what to eat, not what to avoid. We spend so much of our time focused on what we should cut from our diets, but we’d actually serve our bodies well by thinking more about what we should add in. Fill up earlier in the day with protein and fat (hint: adding some LonoLife Collagen Peptides to your morning smoothie will keep you full longer), add leafy greens to your meals whenever possible, and try to pack as much nutrition into every meal as possible, whether that means adding in some nuts and seeds or simply adding a little more color to your plate.
CHECK YOUR HEAD
Take some time to check how you really feel mentally and emotionally. This has been an exhausting year emotionally for many of us, and there are a few steps we can take to take some of our power back as we transition into the new year.
- Examine your thoughts. It’s said we have between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day, and that 80% of those are negative. Take a step back and look at how you are talking to yourself. Are you falling into negative thinking patterns? If so, ask yourself if that thought is grounded in reality, or if you have any control over the thing you are worrying about. If not, it’s time to throw it out. Which brings us to the next tip…
- Reframe your thoughts. When a negative thought starts taking over, become intentional about stopping it. First off, you’ll actually need to recognize that you’re having a negative thought. Then write your negative thought down, focusing on what is worrying you and what emotions it raises. Next, write down some alternative thoughts that change the way you look at the situation and include the feelings this more positive outlook triggers. This exercise can be really powerful in “flipping the switch.”
- And…Breathe. Think of intentional breathing as an inner workout. While we are working on recognizing negative thinking patterns and then reframing those, it helps to do a little breath work at the same time. Simply breathing in to the count of four, holding that breath to the count of four, and breathing out to the count of four 10 times can signal our parasympathetic nervous system to calm the body down.
SET INTENTIONS
To be clear, we’re not talking about New Year’s resolutions here. Those lofty ideals (lose weight, get fit etc.) often don’t even make it past mid-January. Intention setting is different, and can help us turn a mindset into reality. Here’s how to go about it.
- Think about something you really want, and get very specific. Then create a mantra you can repeat with your goal in mind or write down a few sentences that describe your desired outcome.
- Share your intentions with someone who will hold you accountable.
- Determine how you will reach your desired outcome and take one step each day that works towards it.
- If you meditate (and what better time to start than now if you don’t?!) practice a meditation here and there with your intention at the forefront of your mind.
- Celebrate any goals achieved through this process.
Thankfully, it’s usually the small changes that make the biggest impacts in life because they’re the things we stick with. So why not try a little healthy eating, thought checking, and intention setting and make sure you jump into 2021 with a healthy mindset no matter what the year has in store.
Happy New Year!
