How to Crush Your Goals in the New Year
The New Year is here! Did you make any resolutions?
Perhaps you overdid it with the desserts during the holidays and this year you want to improve your diet. Or, maybe you struggled with sticking to your exercise routine and your goal this year is to be more consistent.
Regardless of which resolutions you made, it’s vitally important to start off the New Year on the right foot so that you can maintain healthy habits throughout the year. Though staying on track with fitness goals can be a challenge, there are many techniques that can help you attain your desired benchmarks. To increase the chances of reaching your New Year’s goals, be proactive at improving your overall well-being.
The best way to accomplish that is to…rest, reset and refocus.
The 3 Rs of New Year’s Resolutions
Rest
If you were one of the many people who sacrificed quality sleep to keep up with the increased demands of the stressful holiday season, now is the time to get back to a healthy sleep schedule. Quality sleep is essential for optimal brain and body health. Sleep helps repair and renew all the cells in the body. It gives the brain a chance to wash away toxins that build up during the day. To ensure that you have the energy you need to fast-track your New Year’s fitness goals, it’s recommended that you get 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
Reset
If you’re past due for a mind/body reset, the New Year is the perfect time to establish new priorities for every area of your life – work/school, family, fitness, etc. Without clearly defined objectives, it’s impossible to reach your goals. When you know what you want, you are more likely to change your behaviors to get it. Setting realistic goals and working hard to achieve them can provide a sense of accomplishment. When you have a purpose and mission, life comes into focus and your energy is spent on healthy pursuits.
Refocus
All of us need time to recharge our batteries and self-care is often the best thing you can do to refocus your thoughts and emotions. Get a massage, read a new book, or listen to your favorite music. Engage in meaningful and beneficial activities on a regular basis. Do work that you enjoy and take time to have fun with your loved ones. Focusing on positive people and activities can be extremely beneficial both mentally and physically, so make time for what matters most in your life.
Implementing these 5 strategies can help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions:
5 Tips to Help You Crush Your Goals
New Year, New Activities
Find a new activity you love doing and make it a habit. Anything, from ice skating to dance lessons to gravity training, can turn a dreaded workout into a fun activity that you’ll actually look forward to doing. Gravity training compiles strength, endurance and cardio workouts with Pilates and yoga inspired movements and mindfulness. Whatever activity you choose, make sure it’s helping you attain your fitness goals. And, most importantly, have fun getting fit!
Enhance Your Immunity
It’s much easier to sustain your New Year’s exercise routine when you’re healthy. While no single food will magically fend off a cold or the flu, some nutrients can help protect your body from billions of germs and bacteria. Here are specific nutrients and foods that may help to enhance your immune system:
- Omega-3 EPA and DHA found in cold-water fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines. No other omega-3s can substitute for these. Vegans can get omega-3s from certain algal dietary supplements. However, the omega-3s from plants are very poorly converted into the EPA and DHA the body needs and some people can’t make the conversion. Therefore, plant sources aren’t recommended.
- Zinc-rich foods especially beans (including black beans, lentils, green peas, chick peas), oysters, crabs, lean meats and poultry
- Selenium-rich foods especially Brazil nuts, mushrooms, barley, asparagus, broccoli, tuna, sardines
- Vitamin E-rich foods especially peanut butter, seeds, almonds, hazelnuts
One-page Miracle
What all successful people have in common is a sense of personal responsibility and clear-cut objectives. A One-page Miracle (OPM) can guide you in making better choices, which will help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions. Write down the specific goals you have for each major area of your life. Then ask yourself every day, “Is my behavior getting me what I want?” This simple but profound activity can aid the process of turning your thoughts into reality. Click here for tips on how to create your own OPM.
Switch Up Your Produce
Did you spend the last few months eating apples, bananas, and root vegetables? Is the monotony making it hard to stick to your diet? It’s the perfect time to switch things up and reinvigorate your love of fruits and veggies with some variety. Add asparagus, mushrooms, apricots, or berries to your diet. Have you ever tried a steamed artichoke? Or stir-fried snow peas? Maybe you’ve had green beans, but what about haricots verts (French green beans)? Try some sweet cherries or a nectarine as a treat after dinner. It’s a New Year, so expand the rainbow of healthy fruits and vegetables and incorporate them into your menu.
Boost Your Energy
It’s not uncommon for people to have periods where they feel tired or unfocused. BrainMD’s Focus & Energy was designed to promote sharpness, improve mental productivity, and prevent fatigue without lowering blood sugar. This supplement features an incredible array of “adaptogens,” potent plant concentrates proven to improve mental performance when under stress. It also contains choline, a vitamin-like nutrient that helps the brain make the key transmitter acetylcholine and works through additional metabolic pathways to promote endurance and overall vigor.
If you’re looking for a natural energizer that will help to improve your physical endurance, Focus & Energy is your best option. And, unlike the energy rush you can get from your stimulant of choice (coffee, diet soda, caffeine pills), there’s no dramatic drop in mood and energy with this dietary supplement. Focus & Energy is safe, natural and non-habit forming.
Adopting these brain healthy habits can kickstart your New Year and help you achieve and maintain your resolutions throughout the year.
At BrainMD, we’re dedicated to providing the highest purity nutrients to give you the focus and energy you need to do the things you love. For more information about Focus & Energy or our full catalog of brain healthy supplements, visit the online store at BrainMD.
