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So you didn’t win week one of 2023?

Amy Gorman

That’s OK.


Ever feel like you should be one of those people that should be running, dancing into the new year? Or suddenly nail the gym 14 times in 5 days, eat perfectly and sleep like a Queen/King?


Yeah, you’re not alone.


The world goes a bit nuts coming into January with all the goals you could have, the ways you could achieve them and some shaming if you’re not one of the people that want to have six-pack abs by February 2nd.


I’m here to say that it’s OK if your biggest achievement this week was walking past the chocolate one night out of 6 and you went for a walk to the post office to collect that parcel that got lost in the strike.


There’s a good chance this week was rough. You went back to work after a couple of long weekends off or even a couple of weeks. The deadlines that seemed distant are suddenly very apparent. Your fridge smells of stale cheese you had at Christmas. Your digestion doesn’t feel quite tip-top right now and there’s a little bit of padding around your middle that you don’t remember from a mere two weeks ago.


I’m here to reassure you that returning toward something resembling “normal” will help you a lot, but depending on the type of person you are, you’ll, either way, to do it in small steps, or all at once.


Neither is wrong.

My year will once again be centred around walks for coffee and pastries

For some people, if they don’t do everything at once, there’s absolutely no chance they’ll do it. So if that’s the case - go, run, and get started. But notice the benefits of your changes and fight hard to keep the most important ones to you.


If that idea is super overwhelming to you, start small. Add in a 20-30 minute walk a day, add protein to your breakfast, change a handful of carbs at dinner to a handful of veggies, and drink some goddamn water! This weekend, pick one of these habits, and then next weekend pick one more.


You’ll be surprised how much you’ll have changed by February 2nd and how much better you’ll feel with a small change a week, compared to changing nothing at all. Even from only changing one thing this week and then adding one in February.


If you have already nailed it or kept it up over Christmas. Well done! Keep up the great work and maybe try reaching out to someone that is struggling to get started and help them on their way!


Other things you may notice this week.


You’re absolutely exhausted - yeah, no sleep pattern or routine for two weeks and then an early morning alarm and responsibility will do that.

You’re hungry all the time. Also, yes. You’ve likely been eating like an unchaperoned child for the last week or two. Now you have to prepare something that resembles a nutritious diet so your colleagues don’t worry. That nutritious diet is going to have way less highly palatable foods in it - read carbs and fat/delicious chocolate/hidden calories.


What can you do to help?


Plan some nice meals that you enjoy and try to swap out some of the oils or heavy carbs/starches for extra proteins and veggies. It’ll make it easier to ease into “healthy” eating and stick to it if you’re eating foods you actually enjoy instead of low-carb, influencer, superfood diets.


Make an active date with your partner or bestie. Try out a new gym class, explore a new area, or do something different. Let’s face it, January is crap and it would be good to enjoy time with people that make you happy and doing things that give you glorious endorphins.


So, what are you going to do?



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