Welcome to 31 Days of Resolutions! Turning the calendar to a new year has NEVER felt better. Oola is here to celebrate with inspiration and motivation for each day of January. Check out the rest of our resolutions here.
Enough already with the skinny obsession and constant dieting. Getting healthy isn’t all about losing weight, although it can be a nice byproduct. It’s the time of year when we are bombarded with messaging about losing pounds, eating less, blah blah blah. Being a woman is constantly wanting to lose five pounds till you die and we are opting off of this ride.
The happiest I’ve ever been in my life was not in tandem with my lowest scale reading. If getting healthy is one of your resolutions, make sure to give yourself plenty of grace in the new year and focus less on the scale and more on the quality of your days. Here are the top three things you can do that are guaranteed to have your healthiest year yet.
Prioritize Sleep
Last year around this time I noticed the bags under my eyes and the fact that no amount of eye cream was working to eliminate them. Attempting to do it all was taking a toll on my shut-eye. Between work, mothering two kids, an active social life, catching up on the latest must-see tv, etc., I could no longer get away with a steady diet of six hours of sleep a night. It was then that I chose to prioritize my sleep and the results have been the single best thing I did for myself in 2020.
Many things won’t translate to our post-pandemic routine, but the one thing I noticed improved my overall well-being was getting a good night’s sleep and the slower pace of life. Not only was I waking up excited to tackle the day (no, really), but I was also in a better mood. And reader, let me tell you, being in a better mood is the key to life.
I began this process by setting a strict bedtime and (gasp) permitting myself to sleep-in when needed. There’s some weird guilt that society associates with sleeping in, but if it will save your entire day, grab that extra 30 minutes. Sleep isn’t always easy to achieve. For those nights when your brain refuses to shut down and you can’t seem to fall asleep, oHHo brand CBD is a lifesaver.
Lastly, upgrading my bedding was the final ingredient to consistently getting better sleep. I changed my mattress and splurged on some seriously comfortable sheets. It cannot be overstated how the quality of sleep and the ability to stay asleep is associated with the proper mattress. I also invested in a weighted blanket which was the final ingredient in making my bed a haven for the best sleep of my life.
Plan a Bucket List Trip
Having a trip to look forward to is how I get through most winters. Covid-19 has been the longest winter of our lives, so give yourself permission to absolutely blow it out once it’s safe to travel. Go all out by buying all the travel books you can find on your destination, if there is a foreign language involved, maybe brush up on a few key phrases. Embrace all the idle time we have remaining before the world opens back up. Set a date with your travel companions to go over dream itineraries, cook food from the destination, watch movies filmed where you want to travel, and soak up as much as possible about the history, architecture, etc. This will make the trip come alive months before you begin your journey. The distraction will be much needed, and daydreaming about the south of France or wine tasting in Italy will make a dreary February much more bearable.
Accountability
Getting a mobility tracker was the best thing I ever did for myself. Having a day where I looked down at my steps and I wasn’t very active felt lousy. This past year, being active was harder than ever before. With multiple quarantines, no errands to run, closed fitness centers, etc., I fell off the active wagon in the worst way. Even though I knew I needed to be more active, it wasn’t working until I started being accountable to myself with the aid of a health tracker. Whether that’s a Fitbit, Apple watch, you name it, my fitness tracker has done wonders as far as increasing my activity goes. My competitive nature forces me to get my heart rate up each day. Some days it’s push-ups and jumping jacks, other days, it’s long walks with the occasional walking lunge thrown in. I didn’t stick to any specific formula other than ensuring I was active each day.
Give yourself permission to sleep in, always have something to look forward to, and remain active any way you can. Here’s to a healthier you in 2021! Stay tuned for more resolutions each day as we continue our month-long series on resolutions.
