Happy New Year, and welcome to…February!
The start of a new year is a great time to reevaluate your goals and create habits for the next 365 days. Decisions about your spiritual health, physical wellness, or even the company you keep can seem daunting when looking at the bigger picture but much less terrifying when seen in smaller manageable parts.
I have made a few lofty goals that fall flat come February 1st. So between you and me, let’s think of January as our one-month free trial.
So how do we bridge the January mindfulness of lofty goals to the reality of February?
Exchanging Old Habits for New Ones
- Ivan Pavlov’s research on the digestive system was considered groundbreaking, but not in the way he expected. Pavlov noticed that the dogs he used for his experiment would salivate when given food. He then started ringing a bell before giving the dogs food. When the bell was rung, the dogs would salivate in anticipation of eating. The dogs associated the sound of the bell with food—it was a bodily response to stimuli.
- Neuroplasticity: The ability of the brain to form and recognize connections. The neurons fire together, forming connections and encouraging behaviors in a positive way (even if the behavior is negative).
- What do Pavlov and neuroplasticity have to do with your health resolutions for 2023? Everything! Forming healthy habits is about exchanging old behaviors for new ones. Even making a 1% change in your amount of movement throughout the day, your food choices, or the amount of water you drink is beneficial when that 1% change is done consistently.
- Consistency eventually turns into a routine and then into habits.
Desk Exercises
Stuck at your desk with no time to work out? Try doing 10–20 reps of a desk exercise. Movement is less about the time of day it happens and more about you choosing to move.
1. Jog in place
2. Arm and leg stretches
3. Arm circles
4. Squats
5. Wall push-ups
6. Wall sits
7. Practice deep breathing
8. Punch it out
9. Desk dips
10. Wall push-ups
Digital Resouces
If you’re looking for an app to help in your wellness journey, here are my top recommendations:
- MyFitnessPal
- Lose It
- My Diet Coach
- Stupid Simple Keto/ Macros/Paleo
- Ultimate Food Value Diary
- MapMyWalk/Run
- Nike Run Club
Health-Focused Buys
- One month or more of a ProHealthclinic membership
- Mini stepper
- Smart water bottle
- Healthy cookbook
- Fresh 20 membership
- Meal delivery service
- One-month fitness class membership
- Fitness tracker
- Athletic shoes
- Athletic apparel
- Digital fitness class subscription
- Cooking classes (Pensacola Cooks Kitchen and Commissary)
- Fitness/food journal
- Gratitude journal
- Offer to be an accountability partner
Local Outdoor Fitness Activities
Rec Plex North Parkrun
Rec Plex North Parkrun is a free, fun, and friendly weekly 5k community event that takes place every Saturday at 7:30am at the University of West Florida’s Rec Plex North Field. See the course page for more details.
**Important: Be sure to register in advance with Parkrun and bring a scannable copy of your barcode. You must have a barcode in order to receive your finish time. You can always request a reminder to have your barcode sent to you.
Walk, jog, run, volunteer, or spectate – it’s up to you! Everyone takes part for their own enjoyment, so come along and join – whatever your pace!
Trails and Hikes Pensacola
There are some great hiking trails in Pensacola, which is always a great way to get outdoors with your family for some fresh air and exercise. Check out this blog post, all about hiking in Northwest Florida:
2023 Best 10 Trails and Hikes in Pensacola | AllTrails
And here are some great tips for hiking with your kids:
Take a Hike! A Guide to Hiking with Children – Pensacola Mom Collective
Eating Healthy
Want to eat healthy and unsure where to start? Read the PMC guide to locally grown foods!
Guide to Local and Homegrown Foods – Pensacola Mom Collective
These are just a few ideas to help those resolutions not feel so overwhelming.
Right now, we are only 38 days into 2023. The beautiful thing about having a calendar made up of months, days, hours, and minutes is that each of those moments are a chance to decide what we are going to do next.
We didn’t fail because we haven’t kept our plan of action for the last 38 days. We came to the end of our one-month free trial on January 31, but we have 327 days to make healthy choices and create sustainable habits.
So let’s squash the myth that healthy habits have to begin January 1st or even at the start of a week.
