Are you sticking to your New Year’s resolutions?

It’s a few months into 2016 and we are here to check in on you! How are you doing sticking to your New Year’s resolutions? Many people resolved to eat a healthy diet and start exercising more in order to lose weight and feel better. Who doesn’t want that? But eating healthfully and getting a workout in every day is a lot easier said than done.

If you have fallen off the wagon, or even if you haven’t, we want to help you make your home a place that is designed to help you reach your goals and create the life you want.

Here are some ideas to empower you to create a home that inspires wellness and make your weight loss and health goals a reality.

In the kitchen

1. Take advantage of your Crock Pot if you have one. It’s a time-effective and relatively easy way to make healthy meals. There are lots of resources online (like Pinterest!) that have healthy recipes to try. After cooking your meal, separate it into portions and freeze them for the weeks to come. Then when you are in need of a quick meal, you have something on hand that can be heated up quickly and is wholesome, healthy, and pre-portioned. Use meal prep for multiple meals to prepare yourself for success when it comes to your diet.
2. Create a list of healthy foods that you always would have on hand in an ideal world, and attach it to a whiteboard that you can put on your refrigerator. These are foods that you genuinely like eating and that help you reach your health goals. When you start running low on a certain item, mark next to it on the whiteboard. Ensure that you never run out of healthy options by referring to this next time you head to the grocery store.
3. Make sure that produce doesn’t go bad by physically taking note of all of the produce that you bought at the store and also keeping it on a list on your refrigerator or in your kitchen where you can see it. When you eat something, mark it off and pat yourself on the back!
4. Check your water filter and make sure it is clean! A dirty one can make you and your family sick.
5. Supposedly eating on blue dinner plates suppresses appetite and leads one to eat less. The same goes for smaller dishes because it makes your portions appear bigger. You won’t know unless you try!

In the closet  

1. Make sure all of your socks have a pair in your drawer. It is the little things that can catalyze us to success or can act as a mental barrier from doing the things that we want. Prepare yourself by matching all of your socks and putting stray ones in a bag together so eventually (maybe) all your socks can find their partners.
2. Keep your gym/workout clothes separate from your other clothes. Organize them by type. Tops together, shorts together, leggings together, etc. This helps you find your gym clothes quickly and easily and reduces your excuses for wearing them. When you start running low on a certain type, you know it’s time to do laundry! This way you will never run out of gym clothes.
3. Don’t throw sweaty workout clothes straight into the hamper or they could get even smellier and retain the odor after you wash them! If you can’t wash them right away, hang them up to air dry to keep them from growing bacteria. If you are in a hurry and can’t do laundry, you can put them in a plastic bag in the freezer until you can wash them. No one wants to smell bad at the gym.

Around your home  

1. Visualize success by creating a vision board with images that help you to “see” your goals. Hang it in a personal place where you can be inspired daily. You might roll your eyes but this actually works!
2. Set up a home gym if you have the space. Good things to have around: a jump rope, yoga mat, 5 lb dumbbells, a medicine ball, and a bench. You can complete a variety of workouts with these tools and don’t need a lot of space. Try out yoga or body resistance workouts, or just jump rope for a few minutes for a killer workout at home.
3. Give yourself some love by setting up a space where you can always find peace and rest. Disconnect from everything digital. Consider including a meditation pillow, your journal, and something that smells nice and relaxes you. Go to your space to rest your eyes for a few minutes each day and reconnect with your body and mind so you can reset your focus on your goals.