Everyone has great intentions when they create health and fitness goals in the New Year. But as January closes, you begin to fall off those new goals and habits you want to work on this year. Trust me; I have been there. ESPECIALLY after the holidays.

In recent years, I have been making my “new year” goals in November. This way I can work toward my goals during the holiday season. This is not to say that I do not indulge in the holidays. I most DEFINITELY do. I LOVE holiday sweets. I haven’t been very consistent with my fitness goals this past couple of years. So this past holiday season, I made my “new year” goal to get back to consistency with my fitness and nutrition. During the final two weeks of December, I was not the most consistent as I had been enjoying the holiday, but those two weeks were not enough to derail all the progress I had been working toward the last two months.

I wrote a couple of different blog posts about goals and habit setting. I’ve also written a post about how to make changes to your fitness goals if you’re struggling. Give those posts a read if you haven’t already. If you want to take baby steps toward your health and fitness goals, read the tips below that you can change today.

Sometimes the best-planned goals are not achievable if you try to change too many things at once. It might be beneficial to begin with simple changes to your everyday routine. These are easy changes that you can make today:

Get more sleep

Many many studies prove the benefits of sleep. Sleep is crucial to your overall health, from cognitive function to energy levels. Sleep is when your body rests and repairs from everyday functions. These include:

1. Cognitive function. Quality sleep improves your brain function, memory, and decision-making.

2. Improve workout function since your body repairs itself while you sleep, it essential for workout recovery.

3. Weight maintenance/loss. Note that this will be ONE component for weight loss. You will not lose weight from sleeping alone! But not only does quality sleep improve cognitive function, but it also reduces the likelihood of overeating and improves workout quality.

I know I function well on 6-7 hours of sleep. I find that if I do not sleep well, my workouts suffer, my brain feels foggy, and I am more likely to overeat as I am awake more hours of the day, and my decision-making is compromised by lack of sleep.

Drink more water

Water is so essential to everyday bodily function. I always have a water bottle right next to me. I will not drink water if I don’t have it near me. Another thing I have been doing is drinking some water while I get ready for the day BEFORE I start drinking coffee. It may not be a TON of water, but more than if I started my day with coffee. Another trick I do is if I want to drink anything else, such as coffee or even a soda, I drink whatever is left in my water bottle. If it’s empty, I fill it up and drink about half (it's a 32 oz bottle.) Then if I STILL want another drink, I still have what I want. The point is I am still getting more water.

Eat protein

Okay, this is a little more specific protein essential to helping your body stay full longer than other macronutrients (carbs and fats.) But adding protein to every meal is very helpful if your goal is weight loss or even muscle growth. Note that processed protein, like protein powder, may not keep you as full as eating chicken. But it is helpful for muscle growth. I want to add that the other macros are VERY important to include in your diet, but most people tend to eat less protein than they need. So I suggest adding in some protein at every meal.

Move your body

One thing I have learned over the years, I feel more tired when I do not move my body. Wild concept, but If I am sitting on the couch vegging out on tv shows, I will fall asleep. But if I get moving and work out. I am less likely to fall asleep watching tv.

So creating the habit of getting moving is very useful to further your health and fitness journey. Say you’ve decided to walk for 20 minutes every day; you can take the time you’re walking to do a 20-minute workout.

The best part of making these health and fitness habits is that it will make diving into your new fitness goals more accessible. Read my previous blog posts about goals and habit setting. I’ve also written a post about how to make changes to your fitness goals if you’re struggling.

You can google the research for yourself for all the scientific studies. For the sake of this post, I am only listing the benefits of all of the above.

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If you are here and reading this, you are interested in your health and fitness. That is so good; I am so excited for you! Taking care of your body is the best thing you can do for yourself in the present and the long term.

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for”

— unknown

I find that quote so inspiring. Hard work will pay off in the future, but you also have to live in the moment, and I feel like taking care of yourself is doing both. You are doing good for yourself now as well as for your future self.

If you are interested in learning more about health and fitness, follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram @myactivelife_stacey. I am now offering nutrition and personal training online coaching programs. These six-week programs are designed to help you create lifelong healthy habits with nutrition and fitness. Click here to learn more!

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