The New Year is well and truly upon us now, bringing with it all sorts of resolutions and goals to make the next 12 months better and brighter.
It’s very easy to get swept up in the excitement surrounding the end of one year and the start of the next and make resolutions that may end up being a little on the unrealistic side.
While it’s fantastic to aim high and harness the motivation many of us feel at the very start of a New Year, taking a step back and reigning in your resolutions a little can make the difference between achieving your goals and seeing them slip by the wayside as old habits return.
A micro resolution is a great option for the NY as it allows us to set goals but is primarily focused on the simple and small with a positive spin. The way you phrase your resolutions can have a significant bearing on their long term success. Resolutions that center on the things that you can’t do or use restrictive or negative language often tend to be the ones we struggle with the most.
And it’s no wonder. Our minds don’t respond well to being told that something is off the menu or out of bounds (anyone with a toddler can attest to this fact!), so telling yourself that you ‘must not’ do something is often the easiest way to ensure a resolution that will end up being forgotten by the end of the month.
Setting a couple of micro resolutions that aim to make small changes to your lifestyle in a positive way is a great way to set yourself up for continued success. The place to start? Look at healthy or positive habits that you’re already undertaking and see if you can develop them a little further.
If you’re focused on losing weight and eating healthily, you could focus on aiming to eat your five serves of veggies and two serves of fruit everyday or incorporating a different form of exercise into your regime once a week.
Neither of these things is especially exciting or spectacular but they both build on things you’re already doing, are actually achievable, and most importantly, if stuck to, will have a positive impact on your life.
Micro resolutions can also be built on and adjusted as the year progresses. If you started out with committing to walking three times a week for 30 minutes at a time, you could then aim to add a yoga class in once a week, or change one of your walks to a jog. Simple tweaks that aren’t going to cause you too much stress and will end up increasing your fitness level significantly over the next 12 months.
And remember, when setting your resolutions, try and remain as positive as possible. ‘I will aim to do XXX’ is a much better was of phrasing your goal than ‘ I will not do XXX’.
5 easy micro resolutions for 2013
- I will aim to eat 5 serves of veggies and 2 serves of fruit everyday.
- I will aim to replace soft drinks and other sugary beverages with water during weekdays.
- I will swap my second cup of coffee for a cup of decaffeinated green tea.
- I will aim to walk for 40 minutes, three times a week
- I will choose wholegrain, low GI carbs over white, high GI carbs
If you are ready to lose weight then the Lose Baby Weight plans offer a healthy and safe exercise and diet routine.
And don’t forget to check out our current promotions and discounts page to see what specials we have on this week on our Healthy Mummy product range
