For the next month or so you’ll be bombarded by everyone and everything telling you to stop drinking alcohol, go cold turkey from turkey and to get fit.
It’s always the way; as soon as 1st January rolls around, television, magazines, newpapers, social media and blogs switch drastically from indulgence, spending and treating yourself to fitness, healthy eating and saving money. It is quite amazing what a few weeks of overeating and drinking almost every day can do to us all. As a nation, we see January as a chance to change, a fresh start where anything is possible and we can transform into a better, healthier, fitter version of ourselves.
But your New Year’s resolutions need to come from you to give you the best chance of sticking to them, it’s tempting to go hard and give yourself a long list of strict rules influenced by peer pressure. But if you tailor your resolutions carefully, ensuring that they’re achievable, something you truly want to change about yourself and not something you’re only doing because someone else is.
Personally, I’ve kept my resolutions quite simple but they are all things I would love to change in 2014.
To shape up and lose weight.,. Over the course of last year I lost and gained a stone putting me back to exactly where I was at the end of 2012… So this year I’m aiming to be different, I know I can lose a stone so the challenge is to lose it, but keep it off.
To blog more... and get more involved with the online community. I suppose you could see this guest post as my first step to getting more involved online, I’m looking forward to building up my little corner of the internet in 2014.
To eat more healthily... and to not drink alcohol for January (at least!). October to December was pretty much a binge of indulgence for me, packed with birthdays, meals out, parties and other excuses to drink, eat and be merry. I’m pretty sure the stone I lost was all put back on during this time… My body is in need of a detox!
To save money... When I put my mind to it, I’m really quite good at saving money. The only problem is, I rarely put my mind to it. This year is going to be different though, no more buying sequin covered dresses ‘just in case’ and spending as much as normal people spend on a week’s worth of food for Friday night. Even if I just use it for a holiday, it will have earned it.
Here are some tips to help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions and for making them that little bit easier to follow…
Fitness
If your aim for 2014 is to get fit, don’t start hard and then let it tail off, choose a fitness regime that is manageable for you. You might go to the gym every day for the first week but that’s hard to keep up for an entire year… Set yourself a challenge of doing some kind of exercise a day, whether it’s getting up half an hour earlier to do some exercise or taking a walk during your lunch break. Then add on 2 or 3 trips to the gym or running outside a week, and you have a routine you should be able to keep to.
Set yourself a goal; whether it’s weight loss, fitness levels or taking part in a race; it’s so much easier to get motivated when your progress is measurable or time sensitive.
Find something that you love doing, exercise will be so much easier if you enjoy it!
Healthy eating
If you buy lunch every day, switch to preparing something healthy at the weekend to last you for the week. Not only can you control what ingredients are included, you’ll also save money.
Team up with a friend or partner, the more support you have, the more likely you will be to stick to your resolutions.
Drink more water. It will do wonders for you, honestly!
For some inspiration to help you stay motivated... take a look at some of my go-to blogs for when you need a little push in the right direction.
- For healthy food inspiration, visit Ambitious Kitchen. Everything is delicious, nutritious and easy to follow. Try the peanut butter cookie recipes, they're amazing and low calorie!
- If you're pushed for time but want to add more exercise to your life, try the 7 minute workout. 12 exercises packed into 7 minutes using only body weight, it's the equivalent of a long run and some weight work, sorted. Visit www.7-min.com.
- Stock up on vitamins, minerals and even carb blockers all in cute packaging on myvitamins. Visit www.myvitamins.com/
- For workout advice, recipe inspiration, fashion, tips and more with Women's Health.
- For daily yoga inspiration follow amazing yoga genius Laura Sykora on Instagram.
To find out more about Clare Potts and her health and fitness journey through 2014 (and a little rambling along the way), visit her blog Tweet. You can also follow Clare on Twitter and Facebook.
