Hello my lovelies and welcome to the first post of 2023!
I hope that you’ve had a really good New Year celebration, had a really relaxing break, managed to recharge and refresh and spend time with the people you love or spend time doing the things you love.
I thought that the first post of the year should be how I am resetting for 2023 because if you’re anything like me, I’m totally relaxed at the end of the year; once the kids are broken up from school and I’ve met all my deadlines and all of that, I go into total hibernation mode: I am not as regular at the gym, I eat whatever I want to eat, I don’t set an alarm in the morning – I am literally just on autopilot doing the things that I want to do and not do the things I don’t want to do.
Some of those things that I don’t want to do I’m going to leave in 2022, however some of those things that I don’t want to do actually serve me well (quite often it’s the things that you don’t want to do that you know you ought to do) so I thought today’s post, to go with my first YouTube video of the year, could be how I am resetting myself for 2023 and hopefully if any of these things ring true for you or if you think any of these things might help you, that would be amazing. Even if you just take one thing from this post and it helps you I’d be so happy. (If you prefer to watch rather than read, you can watch the video here).
Intermittment Fasting: For structure and shape to my days, I get back into my intermittent fasting. I didn’t really stop intermittent fasting even while we’ve been in this two-week lull period that we’ve had but I’ve definitely snacked a little bit more a little bit in the evenings, eaten things I don’t normally eat, etc., so first things first, I get back on my intermittent fasting regime. I tend to stick to a minimum of 16 hours intermittent fast but more often than not, it ends up being about 18 hours. I tend to finish eating at about six o’clock in the evening and I normally have my first meal at about 12 noon the next day. I will keep myself going in the morning either with black coffee or with my Bulletproof Coffee (which, if you don’t know about my Bulletproof Coffee I will link the video here – I’ve made a full video about how and why I make my Bulletproof Coffee, and also all the different variations so as not to get bored of it).
I ‘intermittment fast’ not for weight loss (although that would be a nice side added bonus) but I do it because I want all the health benefits from it. It’s been widely researched, studied and reported: there are immense benefits to intermittent fasting and that is what I practice on a daily basis, whether it’s weekday or weekend, I always do it and at the weekends I try to go slightly longer so, taking it to 20, 22 or 24 hours. I once did a 26 hour fast over the weekend when I had no plans to go out, so I wasn’t rushing around doing stuff. I could just be like a sloth at home!
It puts me back in control. With all that extra socialising we do over the festive period, I feel like I lose control of me and this is just one tiny way to feel like I am in control. I’m not talking about being obsessive about your food; during my eating window I will eat most things. It just helps me to feel physically and mentally in control and that’s how I want to feel.
Cooking more at home: With all that extra socialising, there’s been a lot of eating out and again, I am not in control of what I eat or consume. To reset, I plan to cook all my meals at home. There’s been a lot of rich food over this period, along with a great deal of late night eating (the intermittent fasting is going to cut out that late night eating) but also I just want to cook more at home. Over the last three weeks, I have been cooking at home all the time and I’m loving it. In the beginning, it was hard to fit it into my day because I wasn’t used to finding that time but with a little bit of organization (planning ahead is the key in SO many areas of life) I’ve been cooking the meals every single day.
We have all three (grown-up) kids in the house so it’s a very busy home in terms of food, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve been trying out new recipes, cooking with the kids, cooking with the husband, turning it into a joint activity, so I intend to keep that going. I’m doing meal plans for the week; that way I can shop ahead of time for what we need in the house, there’s less food wastage because I’m planning what I need and buy only that. I intend to keep it really light in terms of the dishes I cook. I think that will be good for all of us in the house. I find when I’ve eaten too heavy a meal or too late at night, I am not at my best the next day. Research shows if you have a heavy meal at night it really affects your sleep quality so we’re going to have lighter meals all round.
Alarms: To reset myself for 2023 after the holiday period, I’ll go back to setting my alarm every morning. The holiday period for me is an alarm-free zone. but to get back into routine, I’ll be setting my alarm every day so I get up at the same time, weekday or weekend. Again research has shown that just by getting up at the same time and going to bed at the same time every day really helps to just tap into your circadian rhythm and make the best of the way your body is meant to function.
Getting some daylight first thing every morning tells the body, through the eyes, that it is daytime, it is time to do ‘stuff’. That also impacts your evening routine as well because you’ve set your circadian rhythm in the morning. I find it really helps to make the most of the day. It also helps to program the body so that in the evening, your body is ready to unwind and get into an evening mode. Whether I go out for a walk in the mornings for 20 minutes every day or just go sit in my garden and have a coffee if that’s what I feel like doing, that’s the plan.
And on that note, I am trying to go to bed at the same time every day. It is really hard when we’re on holiday mode but we go back into routine: work / school mode is around the corner so from that point of view I will have no choice 🙂
Resume Activity Levels Again: Obviously, one of the things that I will be doing to reset is getting myself back into the gym. Whether I use the gym or I use my VAHA (as you know I have a VAHA smart mirror), I will get back into doing an hour of activity every single day, seven days a week. Whether it is a strength workout in the gym which I normally do five days a week or a yoga or stretching class on the VAHA, I’m going to be doing something every single day. Again, research just shows that you need to move your body every single day. In fact we need to be moving our bodies all day: the minute you sit down you should already be thinking about when you’re getting up. We need to be moving consistently throughout the day.
I am as guilty as the next person: I’ll go to the gym, I will work out really hard for about an hour or so and then I could easily spend the rest of the day sitting at my desk (other than when I’m cooking) That’s not good! So my reset is going to be doing my hour and a quarter of exercise and then staying active throughout the day, constantly finding reasons to get up adn to move.
Put Pen To Paper: One last thing which is totally random but it will reset me mentally. I’m going to get back to using pen and paper, writing things down as much as possible. Of course, I use my phone and all the many apps available to keep myself organised (including, recently, the Notion App – I’ll write more about that in an upcoming post because I’m obsessed with it!) but as much as I love all that to keep me on track, I’m old school. For me, there is nothing like writing it all down.
Yes, I will transfer it all across to my laptop, to my phone, to all the apps that I have but in terms of the actual thinking process, for me, I think better when I write it down with pen and paper. If I think back to when I first started writing for a glossy magazine, I used to submit a 1200 word article every month; I used to write the whole thing out on paper before I typed it up and sent it off to my editor! It just helps me to think with more clarity, especially when I’m trying to be creative or plan something, so that, for me, is the way forward.
Here’s to a happy 2023, whatever happiness means to you – so whether that’s being productive, whether that’s being less busy, whether that’s focusing more on family, on your personal development, or your financial development; whatever happiness means for you, I wish you all the happiness for the new year and I look forward to going on this journey with you.
xx
