It’s that time of year again! How did we get here already? New Years is here and with it, likely some goals or resolutions for 2022. I’m not here to shame the “new year, new me” mentality, but I do think this is a good opportunity to take a look at your goals and ask yourself where they come from and if they’re truly serving you. 

To help actually make 2022 a year of success in your goals and better health, let’s break it down. Here are a few tips I have adopted for my own reflection that I also suggest for my clients. 

Set intentions, not resolutions.

Resolutions can be… rigid. I often find that resolutions are rooted in the all-or-nothing, black-and-white mindset. This leads to frustration and throwing in the towel by mid February. While resolutions are hard and fast, intentions are more about the mindset behind those resolutions. You cannot fail an intention, which keeps morale up. Resolutions tend to focus on negativity, while intentions focus on the positive abundance. For example, if you have a resolution to get in shape, perhaps you try the intention to figure out a type of movement that makes you feel good and make it happen more often. All in a way that works for you, your schedule, and your life. A bit less daunting than “go to the gym 4x/week”, right? 

Focus more on adding positive behaviors, and less on what you’re taking away.

This goes with the theme of positive over negative, abundance over restriction. This is a much more liberating way to approach any goal. Let’s say you’re trying to drink less Diet Coke. Instead of cutting it cold turkey, maybe you find a new favorite seltzer water or healthy soda (Ollipop, Zevia, or Poppi are all pretty good) to swap it out with most of the time. You also allow yourself the occasional Diet Coke and enjoy it mindfully. This way when you do choose to have one, you haven’t failed, gone “off the rails”, or completely restricted yourself (restriction= sadness) by going cold turkey. (Pssst- I am not suggesting that Diet Coke is healthful, but rather that there are more strategic ways to include it in your life if you so choose).  

Zoom out to zoom in.

Not sure what to start? Let’s look at the big picture. One year from now, what do you want your life to look like? Now, let’s break that down. What needs to happen to get there? Set mini-intentions based on those things.

Remember your why.

This is another conversation that I have with all my clients. For example, maybe you have body composition goals for 2022. I find it to be much healthier (and more successful) to focus on how achieving that goal would make you feel rather than just how it would make you look. Is it more confident? Better energy? Empowered in your health? Whatever your deeper why is, hold on to it. Vanity is typically less motivating than the true meaning in achieving that goal. 

Now that we’ve laid the groundwork, time to set some intentions! If better overall health or healthier + happier hormones are some of your big picture goals, here are some suggested intentions: 

Prioritize sleep.

It’s no secret that sleep is essential for your health. You can have allll of the healthy habits, but if you’re not sleeping well you are cutting yourself short. This can be a tricky one, especially in this work-from-home time warp we live in. Again, we can break this down to be more doable. Maybe you aim to go to sleep just 15 minutes earlier for one week. Then the next week, inch that up another 15 minutes. Do this until you’ve reached that be sweet spot of 7-9 hours/night. I also recommend prioritizing sleep hygiene- minimizing blue light before bed, cultivating a relaxing bedtime routine, keeping your bedroom at a cool temperature. All of these things will assist in not only falling asleep faster, but getting deeper, more restful sleep. 

Eat regular, balanced meals.

This one may not feel intuitive in the current state of diet culture, but I promise, it’s crucial. If you are a woman of child bearing age (aka have not yet gone through menopause), intermittent fasting is not going to serve you. Try to keep your fasting window to 12-14 hours max (ideally, 12), which most of us do anyways in our natural sleep/wake cycles. Make sure you’re eating breakfast (and coffee is not a meal) and that your meals are nice and balanced. Aim to include a fibrous carb, protein, fat, and fruit or vegetable at every meal. 

Lean into joyful movement.

That sentence alone might be an oxymoron for you. Most of us were raised to learn that exercise was for aesthetics, or that food and exercise were transactional. I choose to use the word movement intentionally as it is inclusive to alllll movement, not just what we traditionally think of as intentional exercise. Lots of us are conditioned to think that a workout needs to be 30-60 minutes to “count”. Maybe your favorite movement is dancing around your house. And if so- rock on. The beauty of movement is that is all counts. A quick stretch in the morning, a 10 minute walk after meals, or a 45 minute gym session all count. Find a type of movement that you enjoy and make it a priority. It’s waaay more fun (and sustainable!) that way.

Clean up your products.

This is one of my favorite “set it and forget it” type of intentions. Between the products we use on our skin, our air, and the surfaces in our homes, we’re taking in a lot of toxic chemicals. Most of these chemicals are also endocrine disruptors, or hormone disruptors. Now, I’m not saying overhaul your entire bathroom cabinet tomorrow. But take inventory of your products and which ones you use the most often over the most surface area. Start by swapping these out with a cleaner alternative. The environmental working group has an app, EWG’s Healthy Living, you can use to scan the barcodes on your products to rate it’s safety. The ThinkDirty app is another great option for this. Start with the basics, and then continue to switch products out as you run out. Slowly but surely, you’ll have a totally new, hormone healthy stash.

Test, don’t guess.

I often hear from people that have spend years, even decades trying to resolve their health and hormone issues on their own. They’ve spend thousands of dollars on facials and products for their acne, eliminated entire food groups, and beaten themselves up in the gym with little progress to show for it. Frustrating, right? This is where testing comes in. Shelagh Rose Nutrition utilizes a variety of functional medicine tests that allows us to take a very detailed looked at exactly what is going on in your body to then take super targeted action to address and resolve the problem. Save time, money, and sanity by testing rather than guessing. Interested in hearing more about this? Apply for a discovery call here! 

Hopefully you are now feeling more empowered and ready to rock and roll in 2022. Are you feeling super excited about your intentions? Leave them below in the comments for inspiration! Here’s to a happy, healthy New Year!