12 Monthly Habits To Improve Your Body, Health and Attitude in 2015
Have you started fulfilling your New Year's resolutions? Or have you already given up on most of the changes you were going to make?
Don't feel bad. It’s barely two weeks into January and a quarter of us have already abandoned our New Year’s resolutions. Change is hard, and maybe many of us are just trying to change too much too quickly. Perhaps the right answer is in making small, gradual changes rather than changing everything all at once.
Well, I'm here to tell you that large-scale lifestyle changes simply don't hold. It is far more useful to make small changes every few weeks until they become habit. Once that happens, you can move on to the next one. That is how you ensure that you keep your promises to yourself.
In that spirit, I've come up with twelve, simple changes that you can incorporate into your lifestyle every month in 2015. These are not difficult and focusing on one of these at a time, should make each one pretty easy to implement and make into a habit. There's even a simple chart (to the right or below depending on what device you are using to read this post) that you can keep on your phone for reference.
So without further ado, here the are:
JANUARY
Eat a serving of vegetables at least 3 times daily
FEBRUARY
Cut processed sugar in half, or better yet, eliminate it altogether.
MARCH
Drink 64 ounces (8 glasses) of water every day.
APRIL
Get your sweat on at least 4 times each week. Even 20 minutes counts!
MAY
Stop eating foods with hydrogenated oils, trans fats and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
JUNE
Strive to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night
JULY
Drink a glass of lukewarm water with lemon first thing every morning.
AUGUST
Meditate (or sit in silence) for 10 minutes every day.
SEPTEMBER
Incorporate weight training into your workout regimen.
OCTOBER
Eat healthy fats! Get Omega 3s from foods like flax seeds, salmon, walnuts and grass-fed beef.
NOVEMBER
Be grateful. Write down 3 beautiful things that happened daily.
DECEMBER
Stop eating processed foods (e.g., anything with more than 5 ingredients or marked "non-fat," "low fat" or "sugar free."
Want to know the top 3 supplements I recommend to my clients?
THE gold standard in pure fish fat/oil from cod liver extracted through fermentation vs. cold/hot temps or chemical extraction used by the rest of the industry. It is one of the best sources of Vitamins A + D and Omega-3 EFAs available and one of the primary reasons my family and I rarely get sick.
I swear by this product and take 2 tablespoons daily. I either mix it in with my Green Vibrance powder or just drink it stirred into a glass of water, as it's virtually tasteless and odorless. It aides in the detoxification process in your body, builds connective tissue in hair, skin and nails, and it's also great for your joints. It has also been said to regulate the body's metabolism, improve digestion and even reduce the appearance of cellulite. It may be psychosomatic, but I swear I can feel it in my knees and joints whenever discontinue use (e.g., whenever I forget to bring it on vacation). It's all natural, cold water soluble, kosher beef gelatin derived from grass-fed cows.
I have been looking for this protein powder for as long as I can remember. My clients always complain that they cannot figure out how to get enough protein during the course of the day, so supplementation is an easy route. The issue was finding a protein powder supplement that wasn't full of artificial sweeteners, additives and chemicals that I would never ingest, much less recommend to a client. And then, I found this little gem. Naked Whey contains NOTHING other cold-processed, grass-fed whey protein. Also available in Goat Whey for anyone with sensitivities. Best part? It makes everything taste like a milkshake.
PS Don't be alarmed by the price. This is a HUGE bulk container. Compared to other powders per pound, this is not only one of the best products out there, but also one of the most economical.