Are you managing to stay healthy and inspired in 2022?

A huge congratulations to everyone who has managed to stick to their end of 2021 promises! If you’re managing to stay mindful, healthy and active it’s very commendable as it’s so easy to not bother. But it’s not too late to start up again if you have. If you are struggling to remain motivated, also check out our reads on finding and keeping motivation, how to set New Year’s Resolutions successfully, the benefits of keeping moving in winter, and hearty and healthy recipes to keep you energised and hit your weight and fitness goals.

Statistics show that only a little over 30% of New Year’s Resolution makers promising themselves to be fitter, lighter, and maintain a healthy diet will stick to their guns, with most losing momentum as early as the second week of January, and it is not helped by the New Year coinciding with the middle of winter when inspiration is at its lowest.

Everyone is unique in their lifestyle, mindset, culture, upbringing, how we manage our emotions and stress levels, and combinations of everything else that makes us us. There are a number of very obvious reasons we tend to fall off the wagon.

“I don’t have the time”

“That meeting ran over so I couldn’t make it to the gym”

“I’ve been invited out for a meal tomorrow night so I guess I’ll make it a cheat day”

“I’ve had a bad day and I need my comfort foods”

“I just don’t fancy doing this, that, and the other”

Okay. So, make the time if it’s important, change up your schedule to fit the gym in and plan for responsibilities potentially getting in the way, check out the menu ahead of time and see what your healthier options are, manage your negative emotions without using foods with no nutritional value to cloak them, and work on changing your mindset and riding the waves of patchy motivation. All of the above excuses are valid, but you’re only butting heads with yourself. You’re making the rules, and then you hours, days, or weeks later are breaking them. Seems silly, right?

The one thing every excuse will come down to is lack of planning. With any change, big or small, it’s never wise to only look at the bigger picture. You’ve picked up on something in your life that needs improving, changing, introducing, or removing altogether, and have concluded that it’s time to set things in motion. Thinking about all of the things that can go wrong does sound depressing, and it can be scary for some to pull certain issues apart because it means looking inwards and identifying negative traits or even relationships, but it’s the best thing you can do for you.

Say for example you want to lose weight. Okay, so surface level that tends to involve cutting back on certain foods and maybe being more active day to day. We all know this. More calories out and less calories in equals dropping pounds. But what else is there to consider, if you started the year hyped and motivated, and that enthusiasm steadily waned to non-existence?

Why did you really stop?

If we stick with the weight loss example, and for now ignore conditions such as PCOS, under-active thyroids, and factors such as the use of certain medications that can make us gain and/or struggle to lose weight; one rather hush-hush issue for weight gain is how we value ourselves on a non-superficial level that we don’t show to the world, or even acknowledge ourselves a lot of the time.

There are three levels of consciousness:

·         Conscious

·         Subconscious

·         Unconscious

Our conscious mind refers to our mindfulness as we experience life. We are aware that we are not happy with the current state of our health and want to improve it. We may even be aware of what changes need to be made in order to achieve what we want. The conscious mind helps us evaluate data and then make informed decisions. It can be something happening right now, or it can be something that we learned years ago. Whether it’s in the back of your mind or forefront, if you’re aware of something it is a conscious thought.

Our subconscious mind sits between conscious and unconscious, and almost acts as a storage facility. Past events and encounters will reside within this area, and they can both be good or bad. Have you ever smelled something that has for some reason made you very happy, or taken an instant dislike to something because it reminds you of someone or something you don’t like? Chances are you have a memory and whatever is happening or the environment is triggering an old feeling. Subconscious thoughts impact our actions. Over time, the subconscious mind helps shape us. How we operate at work, how we view ourselves, how we function in social circles, the relationships we have with our families, how confident we are, how we manage our emotions, and much more.

The unconscious mind is more complicated, and it can be a sad place but there are usually some nice memories mixed in amongst the bad regardless of how bleak things may seem. Our brains are geared much of the time to amplify the bad and overlook the good, overtime forming a negative thought process. These thoughts are deep, deep down, and can take a lot of work to access them which is annoying and sometimes dangerous because they’re incredibly important. During our formative years we will have collected and stored many beliefs. During this time, how we view ourselves, how we view our environment, and how we view the world is formed. Unfortunately, a lot of these memories cannot be recalled, and have many repercussions. On the negative side they can be a foundation for anxiety, depression, PTSD, narcissistic personality disorder, and more.

Our unconscious thoughts tend to be primitive and can stem from traumatic events, so we rely on our subconscious and conscious mind to filter what is and isn’t an appropriate or healthy reaction. Sadly, some people will struggle more than others with this, only few in a healthy manner feel free to express what they’re feeling and seek support, and everyone else will keep these thoughts to themselves for fear of being vulnerable and open to shame. Sometimes we’ll struggle in silence, and turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms as some of these feelings can be too scary to face head on, or we’re so far down the rabbit hole of ignoring how we feel it comes more easily. It can obscure how we value ourselves, and therefore we will not treat our bodies in the way we deserve, because deep down in the unconscious mind we have developed the idea that we don’t matter.

Only when we really do value ourselves will be we able to uphold boundaries. Boundaries we set for others and the way we will allow ourselves to be treated, and the boundaries we set for ourselves in the way we will allow ourselves to treat, well, ourselves.

If you are not happy with something in your life, whether that is your diet, your weight, your fitness levels, or your daily routine, before you make that change, please identify the following:

·         The negative feeling in the moment

·         The obvious, immediate cause

·         If you have felt this way before, when, why, and who was involved

·         If this habit might be a crutch or numbing agent

·         If this is a regular occurrence and you’re repeating the cycle

·         Patterns

·         If you’re ready to break the cycle

·         What breaking the cycle looks like

·         What is likely to trip you up and how to navigate them successfully. This can be negative thought patterns, peer pressure, daily stressors etc.

·         The positive outcomes of following through

·         If you need further support and what a positive support system looks like

Knowing what makes you to give up is only a small part of making a positive and long-term change. How you handle those triggering moments is what will make that difference. My issues with food began when I was very young. I found my environment to be somewhat chaotic and inconsistent, I lost a parent, and often felt overlooked. And up until a few years ago was completely unaware of where certain food cravings came from. Being aware gave me the ability to recognise and dispute those feelings head on and in a healthy manner, change my mindset and diet, and self-soothe when faced with certain challenges.

To begin with it can be a sad process and seem an arduous task, but ultimately it opens you up to another way of thinking and you’ll be glad you went through with it, living a more contented, healthier, and innately satisfying life from this point onwards. Learning to be mindful and accept help where necessary are two of the greatest and overlooked skills. Take the time to step back and don’t be embarrassed to reach out if you’re stuck. Someone standing twenty feet away from the wall will have a clearer view and a running start to hurdle over it, than yourself stood only two feet away from it seeing nothing else.