Happy New Year!
Many people use January as an opportunity to overhaul their diet and lifestyle. After the holiday indulgences, you may feel motivated to make radical changes in many areas of your life and these can sometimes be unsustainable in the long term. Sound familiar? I call it the January syndrome; you know the drill: you decide to cut out all sugar, quit the booze, live off salads and raw juices, sign up to the gym and are going 7 days a week with no break. And then, three weeks later, you have a crap day at work and out comes the wine and the chocolate! Research has shown that most people’s New Years resolutions fall to the wayside by January 19th. I believe there are a few reasons for this:
First of all, if you live in the Northern hemisphere, January is the depth of winter. When they days are long, cold and dark, it is not the best time to be doing raw juice cleanses, eating salads and flogging ourselves with intense, unrealistic exercise. Look around you: nature is dormant in the winter, everything is resting and recuperating before coming into bloom in the spring, but things are not completely dormant: there is change bubbling up under the surface, ready to burst through in spring. We can do that too! With rest, I don’t mean that we should just slob out on the sofa all winter and eat ultraprocessed foods – but this is not the time to undertake huge lifestyle changes all at once. It is natural to want to start making changes at the beginning of the calendar year, and there are ways to do this that supports our metabolic health and nervous system in a better way.
The second reason I believe most New Year’s resolutions fail is that most people set themselves unrealistic goals in January, or try to do too much at once. This becomes unsustainable and overwhelming. Going to the gym every day could lead to injury, and we know that recovery is really important for muscle building. Making too extreme dietary changes at once could lead to undereating, or the body pushing back by making cravings stronger. In his book ‘Atomic Habits’, James Clear outlines how making small changes and working on consistency can actually deliver better results than focusing on the big stuff. (I highly recommend his book, BTW!)
So let me make a suggestions: how about this year we do things a bit differently and work on creating some sustainable habits that make us feel great rather than going into another year with and ‘all or nothing’ approach?
I heard Andy Ramage say in a podcast: ‘It’s not about perfection, it’s about showing up.’ Which is something I wholeheartedly agree with: consistency is more effective than perfection. Kitty Blomfield is always talking about ‘consistent, imperfect action’ and this is something I aim to implement in my lifestyle and the lifestyle habits of my clients.
So, if this sounds good to you, I have outlined some simple changes to incorporate in January which can hopefully become daily habits and lead to a healthier version of yourself. If you feel you could do with some more personalised support, I’d love to chat with you! You can book a discovery call to see some bespoke diet and lifestyle changes can help make this your best year yet!
- Eat regular meals and snacks throughout the day instead of jumping on another fad diet. You may think that the best way to re-set after a month of indulgences is to cut calories or skip meals, but your body will thank you if you nourish it regularly and keep your blood sugar balanced by combining a protein and carbohydrate with every meal. If you’re struggling with hormonal issues or are looking to improve your fertility, this is even more important. Blood sugar balance and hormonal balance go hand in hand! Here is a blog post where I discuss why I no longer recommend intermittent fasting, and here I outline why nourishment is a radical act of self love.
- Include healthy carb sources such as stewed fruits, root vegetables and squashes. Our body needs carbs, please let’s stop restricting them and focus on good quality carb sources instead. If you are not eating enough carbohydrates, your body will either make you crave them (hello evening Haagen Das binges!) or it will start breaking down protein (i.e. your muscles and tissues) to make glucose. You may also feel like kicking off the New Year with raw juice cleanses, big salads and fruit smoothies, but raw foods are often harder to digest and may cause digestive symptoms such as bloating and cramping. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is best to eat cooked and stewed foods in the colder months. Not only are these easier on digestion, but cooked foods are believed to generate body heat and improve circulation. Stewed fruits such as apples, pears and berries make a delicious winter dessert, especially if cooked with cinnamon and a touch of maple syrup.
- Be consistent with moving your body. Gym memberships always increase in January, but according to the Fitness Industry Association, most people have quit or stop going after 24 weeks. The new year’s enthusiasm may see people attending the gym every single day, only to get burnt out a few weeks or months later. Another reason may also be that people fail to find an exercise regime that suits them and lose interest quickly. Finding an exercise regime that suits you and allows you to move consistently will create a habit rather than a short spurt of intense exercise. This consistency will give much better health results than sweating it out at the gym every day for 30 days and then quitting. It doesn’t have to be extreme: moving your body can look like going for a walk in nature, doing some yoga stretches or aiming to strength train 3 times a week. If you build muscle, you will burn fat even at rest, which is more effective (and less exhausting) than flogging yourself with cardio or high intensity exercise every day.
- Practise good sleep hygiene. The long Christmas break may have had an impact on sleep schedules, with later nights and slower mornings. Getting back into a regular sleep routine by practising good sleep hygiene will have a positive impact on your health. Did you know that lack of sleep can negatively impact weight loss goals? Get into the habit of going to sleep around 10pm and prepare for sleep by avoiding screens or blue lights a couple of hours before bedtime. Sleep in a cool and dark room for improved restfulness. If you are struggling to sleep or find yourself waking up in the night, then have a look at your daytime habits too. Is your blood sugar dysregulated? Are you pushing yourself too hard and not nourishing yourself appropriately? Are you setting your circadian rythm by getting daylight on your eyeballs every morning? Here are some of my favourite tips for healthy sleep.
- Spend more time outside. It can be so tempting to hunker down at home during the cold and dark winter months, but spending time outside in natural daylight can be an absolute gamechanger when it comes to optimising your health in the new year. Some simple shifts can look like: getting outside as soon as you wake up (instead of scrolling on your phone!) to get some daylight on your eyes and not only align your circadian clock, but also help with optimising leptin signaling (the hormone that regulates satiety!) and regulating blood sugar. If you can’t get outside, can you open a window and spend some time looking at the sky without glasses or contact lenses? Can you get out for a quick walk after meals? Exposure to UVA light during sunrise and around solar noon helps regulate circadian rhythms, which play a key role in metabolic and hormonal balance. Early and midday light exposure improves insulin sensitivity, regulates cortisol and thyroid function, all of which support healthy weight regulation. Proper light timing signals the brain that energy is abundant, reducing stress-driven fat storage and helping align appetite, metabolism, and reproductive hormones with the natural day–night cycle. Spending time outside, coupled with optimising your light environment at night could be the missing piece of your health puzzle (More on that to come soon!).
These are simple yet powerful habits which will have a great impact on your overall health without the need for gruelling detoxes and cleanses. Happy New Year!
If you would like some help implementing healthy habits into your life, why not book a discovery call to see some bespoke diet and lifestyle changes can help you flourish!
Or why not check out my self-led online programme The Midlife Reset, which is available for immediate access now on the Aura Fem Health App.
