By now you may be a month in to a healthier you, so congratulations! I hope that you’ve found more energy, better health, sleep, stress relief and a form of movement that you love. For most though, the resolution is long gone. Either life got too busy, they missed a day and threw in the towel, or they just got bored making and doing the same things for the last 5 weeks.
The truth is, all of us get in a funk. We all feel the monotony (at times) of the same smoothies, dinners, or workouts. The trick is to allow yourself to ebb and flow, and then look to reinvigorate yourself.
The Food Snooze
Have you been roasting your beets and carrots, steaming your broccoli, and mashing your cauliflower to no end? I get it. I find recipes that are healthy and my family will eat, and then I make them until we’re nauseated. I can’t help it, with busy days, I go for what I know. Most of us typically have 4-8 recipes that we make over and over, despite the endless options on pinterest, cook books, blogs, and magazines. We’re creatures of habit, and it’s easy to fall into a routine doing the same things over and over.
Steer into it
I say this often, when life starts moving in a direction, sometimes you’ve just got to go with it and hit it hard. So, when I get into my roasting mood, I try it all. I’ll roast beets and carrots (my true go to), I’ll try cauliflower and broccoli, eggplant, squash and zucchini. I already know the temps, and the process, so changing up the veggies is a way to keep the time saving process, while still entertaining the taste buds. The beauty is that these veggies offer such and array of vitamins and minerals, that we are benefitting greatly by switching it up.
What’s the fix
It would be great if I said, you could just go grab 10 new recipes, start using those, and you’ll be totally reinvigforated. The truth is, sometimes too many changes at once, becomes stressful, and thus easy to ditch and resort back to quick, easy fixes that can be unhealthy and sabotage our previous efforts. I suggest instead that you pick maybe 2-3 new recipes, and try them out on the weekend, when you have time for new ingredients, following a new set of directions, and unexpected cooking times.
This is also a great time to include the kids, as they are more likely to eat something, if they’ve had a hand in the process. Even just letting them pick the veggies at the store, gives them a sense of ownership over their food, resulting in less resistance.
After you’ve added a new recipe or two, you can grab your go to recipes, and see what you can add or change about them to liven things up. Swap out veggies, use pesto instead of marinara, add a Mediterranean flare instead of Asian. All of these little flavor tweaks can easily take something you know and trust (to be hassle free), and livens things up while still keeping you on track.
Don’t Give Up
This is how the healthy people do it. They recognize the rut, and instead of just giving up, they start to play. They try new foods, new preparations, make a variation on an old standby, and most importantly, they cut themselves some slack.
A true change of habit is takes time. The only way to get there is to keep doing more of the things you want, and less of those you don’t.
Seize Every Moment!
Leanne
How’s your new years resolution going? Any obstacles you overcame to get back on track?
I for one have needed a serious kick in the butt to get myself out in this cold weather! So I brave it a few times, and cut myself some slack and workout indoors when I’m just not feeling it.
