Are you ready to make some changes to take better care of yourself and your health in 2022?
Good! Me too. So let’s talk about some simple ways to get started.
At the beginning of a new year, everything seems possible – including good health, abundant energy and peace of mind. If you’re like me, you’ve probably set some healthy living goals for the year, and maybe even planned some strategies for reaching them. (Includes affiliate links.)
And right now – this week – is the perfect time to kick off the year with a lot of momentum – sort of a boost of energy to get things going in the right direction for a healthy new year.
9 ways to Jump Start Your Healthy New Year
So here are 9 things you can do now to get started on a positive note and pave the way for a healthy new year in 2022. Pick 3 or 4 and work on them this week to get your healthy living goals moving in the right direction:
• Take a hard look at your schedule and calendar. Every healthy living goal you and I have set for this year requires one thing that’s always in short supply – time. Eating well takes time, exercising takes time, losing weight takes time, reducing stress takes time – you get the idea.
If you don’t figure out now how to make time for the things that will help you reach your goals, you probably won’t reach them. So take a hard look at your schedule and your family’s schedule and determine what activities you need to drop, change or delegate in order to make time for your healthy living goals.
• Clean out and organize your refrigerator, freezer and pantry/cupboards. Get rid of food you aren’t going to use, and organize what you will use. Group “like” things together, or put items that will make a meal together. Put the things you use most often in places where you can get them easily. (I’ve just finished this task, and it’s astonishing how much better I feel! Plus, now I actually know what food we have in the house!)
• Get rid of food that won’t help you reach your goals. It’s time to give the holiday sweets and treats and general junk food the old heave ho! In addition, get rid of other foods you really don’t want to eat – snacks, junk food, soda, whatever. If it’s not in the house, you’re much less likely to eat it.
• Make a meal plan for next week. Eating well is so much easier when you have a plan. So look at your family’s calendar for next week, think about the food you know is in the refrigerator, freezer and pantry, and make a meal and snack plan.
• Shop for groceries and stock up on foods that will help you reach your health goals. If you’ve set any sort of healthy eating or weight management goal, you want to buy only foods that will help you reach those goals. So stock up on fruits, vegetables, nuts, lean protein, and some dairy whole grain foods.
• Cook a double batch of two healthy meals and freeze half of each. One of the best strategies I know for eating more real food and less processed food is to cook double or triple batches whenever possible and freeze half for a busy day. So sometime this week (maybe this weekend, when you have a little more time), cook double batches of two healthy meals. You might make my Spicy Italian Beef. Or any of your favorite recipes that freeze well.
• Find the things that help you exercise, and put them in a prominent place. Exercise makes everything better – it improves your overall health, reduces stress, and helps you manage your weight. So do everything you can to make it easy to exercise!
Find your walking shoes, fitness clothes, gym membership card, workout music, exercise DVDs – anything and everything that allows you to get up and move! Put them where you can find them – maybe even in a special box, bin or drawer – to make it as easy as possible to reach your exercise goals for the new year.
• Find or buy a water bottle and start using it. If drinking more water is one of your goals (which it probably should be for all of us!), get a water bottle and use it. You can use anything from the free bottle your daughter brought home from soccer camp to a lovely fruit infuser bottle.
A bottle that’s slightly nicer than the “soccer camp special” may inspire you a bit more, but do whatever works for you. Right now I’m use a stainless steel water bottle that I bought for $5 at Wal-Mart, but I’m thinking about treating myself to a fruit infuser bottle.
• Get some rest and sleep! Don’t start the year tired and run down. Rather than cramming in a bunch of activities this week, take some time to rest and allow yourself to sleep 7-8 hours each night. Avoid things that can interfere with good sleep – like too much alcohol or too much screen time in the evening. And work on making changes to your schedule so that you can sleep at least 7 hours on most nights throughout the year.
Let me know what you’re going to work on. I’d love to hear your strategies for giving your health goals a boost of energy to start the new year.
Naomi A Jones says
For me, the hardest healthy habit right now is making time for exercise. Life is busy as a homeschooling mom with lots of regular doctor appointments. If it doesn’t happen first thing in the morning, I am telling myself not to skip it; just do it in the afternoon during kids’ wuiet time or in the evening when my husband comes home from work. My perfectionist tendencies were telling me if I missed it in the morning, I might as well give up.
GC says
Hi Naomi – I’m so sorry that I somehow missed seeing your comment earlier. I agree that making time is the hardest thing for busy moms when it comes to exercise. I love the idea of making time for it first thing in the morning, and can relate to that perfectionist “I might as well give up” tendency! My best tip is to just keep making time for it every day, whether that time falls “neatly” into your schedule or whether you have to squeeze it in at a not-so-ideal time. In my experience, after you do that for a while, it gets easier to make it part of your daily routine.
We’re focusing this year on creating more energy and passion in your life. This week I wrote to my subscribers and also published on the blog some ideas related to adding exercise to your life and how it can actually give you more energy. I hope that article might be helpful to you – https://calmhealthysexy.com/create-more-energy-in-your-life-with-exercise/
Gaye
Ellen says
I think you’re in my head! These are all intentions of mine as we roll into a new year. I cleaned out the frig before our Christmas visitors arrived – love a clean frig! I also agree that having a fun water bottle inspires me to drink more water. Just having the bottle filled and with me where ever I go is half the battle. Happy new year!
GC says
Thanks Ellen! Yes, I cleaned out the refrigerator before the Christmas company arrived – and now I need to do it all over again! I hope that 2019 is a healthy and wonderful year for you and your family.
Gaye
Cassie from True Agape says
Great ideas! Cleaning the fridge would help a lot in being healthy.
Homemade Food Junkie says
Thanks Gaye, You got me at cleaning out the fridge! UG! So necessary. I think ai gain more weight on leftovers from the holidays than the actual parties! I;m going to start exercise again too! This is an inspiring post. I DO have a water bottle and I use it : )
GC says
Thanks so much, Diane. Yes, cleaning out the refrigerator is such an UGH task, but I don feel great when it’s done! I’m with you on holiday leftovers – at some point they become so dangerous to my weight that I just have to throw them out!
Gaye
Karen G says
I really believe that if health is a priority, then things relating to your health must be on your calendar or it really isn’t a priority. Great post to get us thinking about how to make 2016 a healthy year.
GC says
Thanks Karen. Yes, I have to get things on my calendar or to-do list, or they don’t happen!
Gaye
A. Blake says
HAPPY NEW YEAR my friend, time to begin again!
GC says
Thank you, Antionette! I love the idea of beginning again at the beginning of a New Year.
Gaye
Juggling Real Food (@JugglngRealFood) says
Great advice Gaye! This week between Christmas and the New Year is the perfect time to set healthy living goals and plans to achieve them. I really like that water bottle. I think I might have to get one too! Thanks so much for including two of my favorite recipes in your post. I’ve tried your spicy Italian beef and it’s really good.
Marjie @ Home Again Jiggety-jig! says
These are great ideas. This year I’m meal planning more than a week in advance. It helps when shopping to mark on any cans or packages if the food is for a planned meal, that way it is still in the pantry when we get ready to cook it. Most of the time, I cook up the meat and put it into zipper bags in the freezer – with the name of the planned meal written on the outside – so that it is ready for a quick start.
I’m working, this week, on plans for food for the super bowl!! GOHAWKS!!
GC says
Hi Marjie – Marking the food and setting it aside for specific meals is a great idea! I have not yet tried meal planning more than a week in advance, but it’s a really good idea. I may need to give that a whirl.
Gaye
Sue Cotton says
Our whole family has started an accountability plan which we call “The Cotton Commitment”. We have all stated our own goals and every Tuesday we will post how we have done. If we feel the need for extra encouragement we write that during the week. We all want to see each other succeed so we get lots of words of encouragement and some well thought out suggestions.
GC says
Hi Sue – I love “The Cotton Commitment” – what a great idea and great name! I think you all will be amazed by the results you achieve, with that kind of goal setting and support.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Gaye