Back in January I decided to try something different in 2016 when it comes to healthy living goals. Instead of making a big lofty goal, I thought I would try mini-goals for each month.
This year I want to focus on one healthy habit each month. I hope that by focusing intensely on one thing for a month, I will turn it into a habit that sticks with me throughout the year. Here are my:
Healthy Habits for a Healthy Year
January: Drink 8 Glasses of Water Each Day
February: Eliminate Snacking
March: Exercise 4 Days a Week
April: Eat a Big Salad for Lunch Each Day
May: Only Two Desserts a Week
June: Stretch Each Day
July: Walk 10,000 Steps per Day
August: Eat Fruits and Vegetables at Every Meal
September: Sleep at Least 8 Hours a Night
October: Observe One Sabbath a Week
November: Write in a Gratitude Journal Each Day
December: Spend 10 Minutes Outside Every Day
January’s Recap
In January I worked hard to drink at least 64 ounces of water each day. I found it difficult at first, but I was surprised at how quickly it became a habit. It was really encouraging to realize that I often hit my 64 ounces before dinner!
I definitely noticed an improvement in my overall health. I had more energy and only ate until I was full. I am actually trying to lose 20 pounds this year (baby weight that I can’t seem to shake), and I lost 6 pounds in January! This was likely due to eating more reasonably after the holidays, but I also think that drinking more water helped me avoid eating too much. A great start!
February’s Challenge: Eliminate Snacking
This month I am going to try to eliminate snacking. After reading French Kids Eat Everything and French Women Don’t Get Fat, I am convinced that most snacking is unnecessary. Now, obviously, there are some health problems that require people to eat smaller, snack-like meals throughout the day. However, most of us can get by with three good, balanced meals.
My Plan
During the week I don’t generally snack very much while I am at work. My trouble times seem to be in the evenings and on weekends. In order to counter this I am going to:
- Eat filling, tasty, balanced meals. This will require eating a bigger breakfast with fruit and protein, as well as making sure that my lunches are filling.
- Drink water or herbal tea in the evening when I feel the urge to snack. Most of the time I am not really hungry just in a “snacking mood.” I think that drinking something should help that urge.
- Keep a food journal. I’ve heard over and over that keeping track of everything that you eat can make you more mindful of what goes in your mouth. I will be using the free online site My Fitness Pal, which also tracks calories.
I want to encourage you to think about your health and fitness goals for 2016. What will you do to take care of the body God gave you? How will you focus on your health so that you can love and serve others? I challenge you today to take the time to create a few goals for yourself. You are welcome to join me and focus on one habit a month.
Here’s to a healthy you in 2016!
Have you ever kept a food journal? How did it go? Did it help you?
(Linked to With Grit and Grace.)
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I have used My Fitness Pal to track my diet. I found that entering my food for the entire day in the morning (before I even ate it) helped because I didn’t want to go back and edit my food diary with a bunch of junk food. Also, making my food diary public was helpful (heaven forbid if someone noticed that I ate 14 Oreos).
Ooh, I like the idea of entering everything in ahead of time. That might really prevent me from adding junk food. Today I had many opportunities to snack at school (a bit unusual), as it as a colleague’s birthday and we had treats. However, knowing that I had JUST committed to eliminating snacking really helped out! I didn’t want to have to tell all of the readers that I had failed on my second day. 🙂
I so need to follow along in this challenge! I was eating a Heath bar while reading this post. 😉 I have a really bad habit of skipping breakfast, eating an early lunch and then snacking all afternoon because I am hungry.
I hear you! Even just being more conscious of my eating habits over these past few days have made me realize how often I’ll grab “a little something” that I really don’t need.
I am also focusing on a different mini-goal/habit each month in 2016. Not all of my goals will focus on health, but I have a similar goal for February! I want to cut down on evening/after dinner snacking. I still snack during the day, but I have been doing OK on not snacking in the evening. I would love for this to become a regular habit!
I also have read French Kids Eat Everything and French Women Don’t Get Fat and found them very interesting. There were great takeaways, especially with the French Kids Eat Everything.
Thank you for linking up your goals at With Grit & Grace! Happy you stopped by. 🙂
How funny that we’re doing the same goal for February! Great minds think alike. 🙂
I love how you split goals into each month- that is a great idea! Thanks for linking up with us!
Oooh, this is great! I LOVE your plan for making small changes each month. So smart and much more doable and realistic. This would be a tough one for me. I’m a snacker. Good for you for tackling it! I need to add it to my list. Currently I’m working on taking a sabbath day, which I saw you had further down on your list. With working from home, I’ve found I tend to work allll the time, and I’m purposely trying to make Sundays a no-work day. I haven’t always fully done it, but I’m slowly getting better.
Hi, Sara! I agree that a month seems a lot more manageable in terms of goal setting. I also set yearly goals, but with my overall health it seemed more realistic to set smaller monthly goals. And, I’m excited about the sabbath day goal. I don’t work full-time from home (I’m a teacher), but I do spend most evenings working on the blog and my book. It can be easy to work too much!