Tuesday, January 10, 2017

New Healthy Habits in January



Healthy eating is one of my goals in January. My favorite healthy snacks right now are: organic granola bars, clementines and apples with peanut butter.


I don't have a lot of appetite in the morning so I usually have a small breakfast, in January I'm choosing Greek yogurt and a bowl of fruit for breakfast.


My goal is to not eat any sugar during the weekdays in January and then on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I can enjoy some sweet treats. Last weekend I treated myself to a Peppermint Hot Chocolate on Saturday.


On Sunday I treated myself to four big macaroons, I think macaroons will become my favorite dessert during the month of January.



Two of my New Year’s resolutions for this year are self-care and self-preservation. Self-care for me in 2017 will be all about prioritizing exercise and a healthy diet. I also want to make sure I don’t let my life get so busy that I don’t have time for enough exercise. If I want to live for 70-90 years I can’t afford to not exercise on a regular basis. A few weeks ago, a friend of a friend died of a heart attack, which once again reminded me that life can’t be all about success on the expense of our health if we want to live beyond 50.


I also want 2017 to be the year when I learn some important lessons about self-preservation. During 2016 I was reminded of how important it is for me to not be afraid of disappointing others. I have no problems with setting boundaries in my personal life but I’m becoming more aware of my pattern of being a "people pleaser" in work relations, which sometimes lead me to step outside of my personal boundaries. I want 2017 to be the year when I clearly define my personal boundaries and stick to them, no more sacrificing my personal boundaries to “keep the peace”. When you become "a pushover" to keep the peace you quickly enter self-destructive behavior. I think one of my mantras this year will be: “I know my boundaries, and I will protect them.”



It’s not fun to become aware of self-destructive or negative patterns that we have in life but there’s no other way to learn and grow in life, is there? Every new year brings new lessons for us to learn. We don’t stop learning and growing when we graduate high school or university. I think it’s helpful to realize that our weaknesses and faults are not something we need to beat ourselves up for, they are a natural part of life. There is not one person on this planet who has nothing to work on in life. We all need to keep growing, but we can do this while being kind to ourselves. We need to give ourselves (and others) grace.



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