Every year on January 1st my husband and I take the day to talk about the year that just ended including major accomplishments and shortfalls. Following that discussion we turn our attention to the new year and discuss the things that we want to accomplish and set a roadmap to achieve those goals. It really is a great activity to do as a couple or individually to help yourself focus on setting goals and evaluating your life. Two of our goals include saving more money and also creating less waste. Have you taken the time to think about what you want to accomplish in 2018?
Personally, one of my goals is to be more organized. I tend to let a lot of things pile up on my desk in my office and it really creates an environment of chaos. I think that focusing on being a more organized person will also help me to be more focused on the things that I need to accomplish and ultimately achieve my goals. Makes sense, right?
Another one of my goals is to focus on my health and overall wellbeing. I didn’t want to say ‘lose 10 pounds’ or ‘workout 4 days per week’ because I think that focusing on a broader level will help to achieve maintainable results. Nutritionally I feel like I am off the rails after being surrounded by cookies, cheese dips and wine for the past 2 months. There’s no problem here until you start to think about how often I forgot to eat my fruits and vegetables and get proper nutrition to offset all of the added fats and sugars. For the next 14 days I plan to detox my overall diet to give my body a clean start for the new year. I’ve put together a chart of 5 things that I plan to focus on to help my body detox and it can help you do the same!
After all of the Christmas cookies that I consumed I thought that the first thing to focus on would be eliminating all added sugars from my diet. I know that certain fruits contain natural sugars, but I’m not talking about those. I’m talking about the cookies, cakes and candies that can really slow down your body and make you feel tired and worn out. The second thing that I want to focus on is cutting out processed or refined foods. This means delicious pasta dinners are on hold for the next 2 weeks and there’s no reaching for the crackers or pretzels any time soon.
This leads into my third point which is adding more vegetables into my diet. Leafy greens and fiber-rich vegetables like broccoli are the better way to fill you up and detox your body. I also realize that I can probably cut a lot of carbohydrates out of my diet for a while, including pasta and bread. I tend to consume a lot of those things over the holidays and while I realize that my body needs some carbohydrates to function, I can get better carbohydrates from things like beans, vegetables and legumes.
Finally, alcohol. I know, this is hard for me too. But I tend to overindulge on wine during the winter months because really, what goes better with a good holiday party than a delicious glass of red wine? A glass is fine, even healthy, now and again but the calories can really add up when you’re socializing over a glass of wine and it’s just good to flush your system without the alcohol involved.
I hope that these tips will help you to really think about a detox in your own life to start your year off with a healthier body. Healthier bodies lead to healthier minds that allow you to be more focused on the big things that you want to accomplish in 2018!
What kind of things are you looking to accomplish in 2018? Leave me a comment, I’d love to hear!
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