{"id":573,"date":"2019-01-03T14:51:09","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T14:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/?p=573"},"modified":"2019-01-03T14:51:09","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T14:51:09","slug":"new-year-new-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/new-year-new-you\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year, New You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So what have you decided on: Veganuary? Dry January? Run Every Day of January? Lordie, I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m feeling exhausted and overwhelmed just thinking about all of this. Can someone pass me the (half-eaten) toblerone please?<\/p>\n

There is no doubt that the start of a new year is a good opportunity to take stock of your lifestyle and make positive changes, but it might be better to start with realistic goals. Running every day of January when you\u2019ve never run before (or have children under 5) is maybe a bit far-fetched.\u00a0 Giving up meat and dairy, when you\u2019ve eaten only turkey sandwiches with after eight chasers for the past few days might just have you camped outside your local McDonalds quicker than you can say, \u201cGie us a Big Mac!\u201d<\/p>\n

In my opinion, you need a \u2018cooling off\u2019 period at the start of January. We\u2019re like semi-sozzled hedgehogs emerging into the light after eating nothing but cheese and wine for a fortnight. \u00a0And whether it is an eating plan, an exercise challenge, or a month off the booze, it all starts with positive thinking. Here are a few more simple, practical and positive changes that will help you stay the course and maybe your 30 day challenge will end up being part of lasting lifestyle change.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Kindness:\u00a0<\/strong>Don\u2019t beat yourself up. Start off your challenge\/lifestyle change slowly. (In my case I\u2019m going for Monday 7th<\/sup>) \u00a0And don\u2019t overload yourself with too many rules. We are fragile little hedgehogs right now. If you fall off the wagon, notice the pattern and climb back on!<\/li>\n
  2. Practise positive thinking<\/strong>. This goes hand-in-hand with the first point. Notice how your internal voice speaks to itself. Turn the \u201cI can\u2019t do it\u201d to \u201cI\u2019ll give it a try\u201d or the \u201cI\u2019m rubbish at this\u201d to \u201cI am learning how to do this\u201d \u00a0A good rule of thumb is to speak to yourself as you would to a child. Be kind and encouraging. And if it is a month off the booze, your internal voice will initially be more like a whining child asking for an ice-cream constantly after having had a bag of sweeties. In this case, you must be firm!<\/li>\n
  3. Gratitude<\/strong>. Every night think of three things you are grateful for or that you think you did well that day. This will reinforce your positive mindset and just make you a happier hedgehog overall.<\/li>\n
  4. Keep a diary of your progress<\/strong>. This can be written down or orally recorded by your phone. It can be every day or just once a week. But it will help you analyse how you are feeling and thinking about your lifestyle change. Noting accomplishments and any hurdles along the way will help you stay the course.<\/li>\n
  5. Join a group of like-minded people<\/strong>: When I gave up booze for 100 days I became a member of The Alcohol Experiment. (Google it.) Another helpful group for going booze-free is Club Soda. \u00a0I am a member of the Kilmacolm Unofficial Running Club \u2013 who are just the loveliest, supportive group of folk \u2013 and they do not take themselves too seriously at all. (The Sunday \u2018run\u2019 is often a walk for those who may have overindulged the night before!) There is also a new Renfrewshire Women\u2019s Running Club on Facebook, founded initially by a female runner who wanted to connect and run safely with other women in these darker months. It has grown massively in the first few weeks and has become something quite special, inspirational and supportive with women discussing challenges, offering runs and sharing stories. There will be a group out there for you. Have a look.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Time to put down the toblerone and climb out of that onesie. Let\u2019s do this, 2019!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    So what have you decided on: Veganuary? Dry January? Run Every Day of January? Lordie, I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m feeling exhausted and overwhelmed just thinking about all of this. Can someone pass me the (half-eaten) toblerone please?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18,9],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/hedgehog-2-web.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Year, New You? - INSIGHT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.advertizer.co.uk\/insight\/new-year-new-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Year, New You? - INSIGHT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So what have you decided on: Veganuary? 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