New Year... Same Me?

'Donut' forget to drink water might be a common thing heard during January. We have reached the time of year where many people have set New Years Resolutions, and have either kept them or have given up... me included. My resolution: KEEP UP WITH THIS BLOG haha so here we go, trying to keep this resolution.

Speaking of resolutions, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about resolutions around health and wellness. Many people this time of year set resolutions around health and wellness. Everyone starts off with good intentions, but the new year rolls around and turns out we are still the same us and our lives are still crazy so we start to slip away from those goals. On top of this, a lot of the time these goals are centered around weight and weight loss. This hyper-focus on weight can contribute to negative body image as well as negative relationships with food. People viewing food as good or bad and then getting discouraged that their all or nothing approach or fad diet isn't working. I see this all too often. Unfortunately our society has this emphasis on weight and some how weight has become a number used to judge our worth. Well it is NOT! My goal through this blog and my Instagram page (@ourjourneythroughfood) is to promote and help people build positive relationships with food. Doing so through pictures and sharing my experience. 

Weight is not the be all end all. With this post I wanted to share some of my thoughts on making 'healthy' health and wellness goals. It doesn't have to be a new year to set goals so try keeping these points in mind when setting your next goals and working towards achieving them:

1. Set goals around building healthy habits vs. a weight target.
   
   As mentioned above, using a weight target can cause you to hinge your worth on a number, and this is not helpful for anyone. Try setting goals around building healthy habits, and the weight loss will come!
   
   For example, Walk for 20mins, 5 days/week or Add an extra piece of fruit to your day, 4 days/wk.
   
   
2. Set SMART (Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely) goals.
   
   These allow you to make sustainable behaviour change! The key to health and wellness is not making drastic life changes in an instant, but taking small steps towards improved habits.
   
   What is a SMART goal?
   Specific - What and Why?
   Measurable - How will you be able to measure your progress, to see if you are achieving the goal?
   Attainable - Is this something that is actually feasible?
   Relevant - Is this worth while to do?
   Timely - When?
   
   So take this goal: Walk for 20mins, 5d/wk. Does this fit?
   Specific - Yes, there is a specific activity to be done and this will contribute to the health and wellness journey.
   Measurable - Yes, you can track the days you walk and for how long.
   Attainable - Yes, a set amount of days per week and a time frame was set based on the individuals life (i.e. 5d/wk, 20mins sessions).
   Relevant - Yes, this is helping to move the individual forward on their health and wellness journey.
   Timely - Yes, the days are set and can be planned out weekly.
   
   
3. Think about what food means to you?
   
   Food means different things to different people. For me, comfort, joy, connection to my culture, performance. While for others it could be opposite. Taking some time to check-in with yourself on this topic can help you discover some underlying causes to some behaviours and help you move in a more positive direction with food.
   
   Feel free to share what food means to you in the comments, or tag me on Instagram!
   
   
4. Don't get discouraged if you don't see change overnight or if you aren't perfect.
   
   Changes don't happen overnight, let things take their course and stick to your goals. Sometimes things aren't going to go as planned... unfortunately that's life. Take a breath, reflect on what happened and move on! Each day is filled with many opportunities to eat and thus make change :)
   
   
5. Remember that you are worth it!
   
   You deserve to feel good and lead a healthy lifestyle! Make these changes for you!
   
   
6. Speak to a Dietitian!
   
   We are the experts on all things food and can help you make sustainable lifestyle changes that will improve your health and wellness!
   
   

So my goal for the year, keeping up with this blog. I have set the goal to post once a month on a new topic and have planned out the first few. If there are any topic requests send them along :) 

I look forward to taking this journey with everyone!

#fortheloveoffood #ourjourneythroughfood