2025 – The Year Of You

I hope you all had a lovely time off and a great Christmas. If, like me you have over indulged in food and alcohol and never want to see either again. Well at least until dinner time.

Now we are heading into the new year and will do it all again, before we swear off alcohol for an acceptable amount of time and the diet start. Eating right and cutting back on drinking alcohol is difficult after over indulging for a period of time.

It’s that time of year when we start thinking about the new year and what changes we want to make to enhance ourselves and our lives. For many it will be healthy eating, for others, it will be exercise, maybe you want to read more books or learn a new language. There are so many things we want to do but it’s making them stick we find challenging. After a month or so, if they haven’t become a habit, we find it a struggle.

So, what can we do to help you lead a healthier version of your life? Below are 6 points to help get you to where you want to be.

1. Make sure you are doing exercise you want and you enjoy – if you pick something like going to the gym when you have always hated it, then it will always be a chore and you will find it a struggle to go each day. Choose something you like or if you are unsure, take the pressure off and try a few different things, throughout the course of January and then chose one to focus on if you wish, however, you might find variety works for you. Once you know what you want to do activity wise, then find a time that works best. If you are a morning person then slot it in before work but if you value your time in bed, then do it at lunchtime or after work/evening. Find the timeslot that works best for you and doesn’t take much effort to do.
2. Make life easier for yourself and plan – whether you need to create a meal plan or write a shopping list, give yourself time to do it. If you want to eat healthy then planning is key. For some people it’s easy to create a meal plan and write a shopping list for others it’s not something they have ever done before and will therefore take more time. So plan a time when you will have peace and quiet to decide what you are going to eat each day. Make sure you pick meals or recipes that don’t require hours of prep or cooking if you don’t have the time. Otherwise you will soon get frustrated and give in and buy ready made meals or order a takeaway. To help you, aim for the plate method – half a plate of veg, a quarter of protein and a quarter of carbohydrates and a small amount of fat ie the oil you are cooking your meat in.
3. Water – this is the best drink on the planet. Aim to drink at least 8 glasses a day which equals around 2 litres in total. If you do a lot of exercise then you may require much more. Always keep a glass next to you and sip away throughout the day. I know it seems tasteless if you are used to drinking soft drinks which are sweetened with sugar or artificially but it really is a refreshing way to hydrate. To begin with you may wish to replace a few of your drinks in your day with water instead and keep substituting your drinks with water until you find you are drinking more water than soft drinks. You will notice a difference in your skin, how you feel and your bodily functions. Give it a go.
4. Visualise – what is it you want? What does the end result look like for you? If you have a picture in your mind, then keep it there and focus on it whilst you do what you can to succeed. You might create a vision board or have a photo of yourself to keep you focused. But always be kind to yourself, it is easy to slip up so accept it, move on and don’t give up. You will get there.
5. Sleep – go to bed early and get a good nights sleep. You want to make sure you are getting between 6-8 hours a night and feel refreshed when you wake up.
6. Live your life the way you want – remember these are your goals or visions, don’t let others make you feel like you can’t succeed, just because they don’t want to change, doesn’t mean you can’t. It is very easy to stick with the old, creating new habits and deciding to make a positive change, doesn’t always have people on your side. But this is your life and you have to live your best life. If you are ready to go for it, then do it. What are you waiting for?

Change is hard, however, knowing you are ready to make a change is half the battle. Plan things out and visualise what you want, then do what you can to get there. Know there will be times where you find it challenging, but push through and push on, you will get there. Have faith in yourself.

All the best to you and your family in 2025, make it the year of you!

Thank you for reading.

Love Emma xx