How do you imagine your New Year’s Day to be?

Waking up with a hangover or a food coma?

Or maybe waking up with relief and/or regret that the holidays are over?

Or wake up feeling just as good or even better than you do now?

The holiday season is supposed to be fun and time for joyous congregation. But unfortunately for many, it can turn into a frenzy of parties, food gluttony, increased drinking, decreased sleeping, poor attempts at self-care, and feelings of unworthiness and lost expectations. Not to mention all the family dynamics that seem to magnify 1000 times in this season of togetherness.

New Year’s Day 2020- The holiday season is still in swing but winding down. Do you believe you can feel good in your body, maybe a little tired but not DONE AND FRIED!

Make your intention into a reasonable objective goal: for example I will continue along my chosen path of health. I will not be derailed by parties, foods that don’t make me feel good, or feel overwhelmed due to lack of self-care.

Now that you have YOUR goals written, sit with them for a few minutes. Do they evoke an emotion? Can you feel the excitement of your goal becoming reality? Maybe think about what happens if you do not achieve these goals. Do you feel anger or disappointment if you do not achieve this goal? If you do not have any emotional response, then this is not the goal for you and go back to the drawing board.

When your goal is deep inside of you and your desire is strong, you don’t need will power to push you. Your desire will pull you towards your end goal.

Structure your life to enable success. A goal is just a dream with a plan and a deadline. Break down your goals in to reasonable obtainable pieces.

Think about what makes you feel good. Maybe it’s exercising outside, running with a friend, cooking and eating a nutritious dinner with your family, self-care like yoga, or meditation? Schedule the things that support your goals and make you feel good on your appointment calendar NOW. before it’s too late and the things you enjoy become a stress factor that you’re trying to squeeze in. Having your time are your non-negotiables.

  • We know crazy is coming. You may have to reduce the frequencies, cost, or durations of your workouts, spa dates, self-indulgences… but DO NOT reduce them to zero.
  • Make appointments at reasonable times for you. Realistically there will be winter music shows, school events, parties etc. If you schedule yourself to be home to cook every night at 6pm after your 5 o’clock work out, most likely you will fail and possibly give up completely by Nov 29th. Be reasonable and kind to yourself.
  • Look at what you are required to do. Block out times for Christmas shopping, work parties, fun parties, cooking for parties, then prioritize which will bring you joy, which will bring resentment or overwhelm you with a desire to drink an entire bottle of spiked eggnog
  • Put these commitments into the calendar NOW so you can see what you are up against for the next 2 months.
  • Time to get your support team together. That may mean your partner has kid duty on Sundays from 12-5 so you can meal prep, find friends you trade kid-care with on Wednesday evening so you can go to your favorite class. Schedule Camp Grandma one night a week for some quiet time with your partner.
  • Find your tribe-the friends and family who ‘get’ and support you. Seek them out at dinners and parties to help support your success. Give yourself space from the friends/family that try to get you to eat the things that do not make you feel well, don’t support, or maybe even try (not maliciously) to thwart your efforts. Then do not feel guilty about it in the least! Your health comes first.
  • BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. No matter what anyone says, believe that your goal is possible and create your ‘belief bubble’ around you so that when you encounter negativity, you have a place to go- tap into your heart, your wants, your desires. You are allowed to follow your heart no matter what others think, do, or say.
  • COUNT ALL OF YOUR WINS. Each workout, each terrific meal, each party where you dodged the pizza and 7-layer bean dip. Write it down every day. No win is too small as they are all steps to our goal.
  • Be kind to yourself when it’s not perfect. Life throws curve balls all the time. There is only so much we can control and take it from me, a recovering control freak, life is not fun when you can’t let go of the plan there are times when you must.

Remember time flies quickly and before we know it the holidays will be behind us. Where do you want to be? How do you want to feel? You have the control and the power to determine all of it. But it just doesn’t happen. Failure to plan is planning to Fail. Here’s to you in 2020. Make your dreams come true.

If your goals are like mine and include surviving the holidays with a restricted diet, please check out my website for more recipes and tools to be successful and enjoy!