Make 2025 Your Healthiest Year Yet! 

Make 2025 Your Healthiest Year Yet! 

Hello everyone and Happy Holidays!  This is a very busy time of the year with holiday parties, family and friends to buy presents for and lot’s of sugary foods!  How are you doing with all of this?

I’ve written about stress and done podcasts on stress because it feels as if our world is speeding up more each year. When we are stressed out it’s hard to think about cooking a healthy meal or choosing a healthy choice when running around shopping!  But, we have a new year almost here and you can make this one your healthiest year yet!

Why New Years Resolutions Fail

We’ve all done it, made a New Years Resolution, only to be a month or two into the new year and find ourselves back to our “old self.”  Do you know why?  Because a “resolution” is not as powerful as a “decision.”

The root word for the word “decision” comes from the Latin words de and caedere, which mean “down” or “away from” and “to cut” respectively. The Latin verb decidere means “to cut away” or “to cut off.” So when you make a decision you are cutting away or cutting off other avenues or directions. This is very powerful!

What makes this even more powerful is to tell someone else you are making a decision.  When it comes to making a decision to lose weight, start exercising, eating better, and working on lowering stress, you have to have a plan.  The old saying “if you don’t plan, then you plan to fail” is true! 

Just joining the gym (which is usually an emotional decision), then trying to figure out where you are going to fit this into your schedule, is setting yourself up for failure.  If you want to start exercising, start with putting your shoes and sweats on in your house, opening your front door, and going for a walk.  Get consistent with that 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes.  You would be amazed at how relaxing it is, it’s free, and when you do that consistently you’ll do more.  If you have a walking “partner” you will even be MORE consistent!  Adding “one more thing to do” by going to the gym can add even more stress to a busy life.

Eating Better

Most people fail at this because they “bite off” more than they can chew!  Saying you are going to start “eating better” at every meal, every day, is unrealistic.  Not only that, but that is way too vague.  You have to be very specific as to what “eating better” looks like.  ie: I’ll take my lunch to work 4 days a week.  I’ll make dinner 3 nights a week.  I will only have 2 alcoholic drinks on Friday and Saturday night. 

How many times have you said “I’m going to eat better”, buy all these fresh vegetables, and they go to waste in the refrigerator?  Everyone’s lifestyles are different so plan for YOUR lifestyle, not some Instagram’s perfect life that you want.

Baby Steps Work

If you stop drinking soda every day, depending on the size and sugar content of the soda you typically consume, you could potentially lose anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds in a year, as cutting out soda significantly reduces your calorie intake without making other major dietary changes.

A 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola Classic contains approximately 140 calories.  Maybe you don’t drink soda, but what do you eat that is “not so good” every day that is 140 calories?  What if next year you are 20 pounds lighter, would you feel good?  Just cutting out 140 calories per day equates to 352,800 calories in a year!!!  

Pick one thing that you know you eat that is not healthy, or is a poor choice and figure out what to replace it with.  It will become a habit in 90 days and you’ll have completely forgot about that “thing” you thought you had to have.

This is how you will be healthier by this time next year!  “Decide” on what area you are going to work on, make a plan, make it specific and detailed, be accountable to someone else for this plan, and Just Do It!

Chris Mckee

Certified Nutritionist at Achieve Integrative Health