This month is about staying focused on your goals, especially after a sharp exit from the summer season.
It’s so much easier to exercise and eat healthily when the weather is warmer, and all too tempting to hunker down and resort to comfort eating when the nights draw in and there's a chill in the air.
Perhaps you’ve had some time away, or you’ve let things slide after doing your ‘A race’ and need a little help to get back and stay on track.
Get your habits to stick!
Taking up new hobbies, forming new habits or implementing healthier goals is easier to start than to sustain! They say it takes an average of 66 days to bed in a new habit – and that’s if you do it every day! Habit forming is literally rewiring the brain so that it becomes natural – but even then, it still takes effort and each day you have to ‘go again’.
No matter what it is that you’re getting back into or trying to focus on, these tips have personally helped me enormously and I hope they help you too!
Use a paper diary
Old school I know, but the best way to keep a record of things like:
Symptoms tracking
Food diary
To do lists
Reflections and improvements
Create list of things you need to do every day and write it in your diary every day.
Then get enormous satisfaction from ticking off your daily to-do list!
Every morning, take 10 conscious deep breaths
With each breath, feel yourself relaxing – your jaw, shoulders, hands. If you can’t do 10, do 1. The power of the breath is truly amazing, creating space for you to think and reflect.
At the end of the day, reflect back on your day
Give yourself credit for what you’ve achieved, and make a note in your diary of what you would like to do more of.
Plan your meals for the week ahead.
This is something that everyone finds hard but pays the most dividends! If you are someone who eats on the fly and you’re trying to avoid junk and eat healthy, meal planning is absolutely key.
Find a recipe that you like and make it
This links to the last tip! The Blogs & Recipes page of my website is a great source of tried and tested recipes – pick one and get the ingredients, add it to your meal plan, write it in your diary – that way you’ll be able to easily go back to it and make it again.
My recipe of the month: Prawn & lentil curry
This is an absolute banger, as they say. Super easy to make – if you don’t have all the spices you could potentially replace them with some curry paste but I recommend having them in your cupboard anyway. Trust me – it’s well worth the effort, this is low in calories and high in protein and so delicious! Pairs beautifully with basmati rice. Click on the link below to go to my website for this and more delicious recipes.
Perfect basmati rice
Do you find it hard to get this right? Here’s the magic trick: 2 cups boiling water to 1 cup rice. Add the rice to a saucepan, then add 2 cups freshly boiled water, bring to the boil, simmer on a low heat for 10 mins with the lid on. Absolutely perfect, every single time.
Did you know?
In-season cherries are a fantastic post-exercise recovery aid and can help reduce DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness)?
Cherries are high in anthocyanins (Montmorency cherries particularly), which give them their deep red colour. Several studies have demonstrated that consumption of cherries ‘may reduce the risk of several chronic inflammatory diseases including, arthritis, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, and cancer. Furthermore, there is evidence that cherry consumption may improve sleep, cognitive function, and recovery from pain after strenuous exercise.’(1)
Cherry juice is a favourite among athletes and has been commercially produced as a concentrate (of course!) but eating them whole provides all the additional benefits of a whole food, including fibre and all the other micronutrients such as vitamin C, pro-vitamin A, potassium and calcium. Make the most of them while they are still in the supermarkets!
Take care
Caroline xx
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