It’s easy to make a fitness resolution on New Year’s Eve; the challenge is putting it into practice and sticking with it for the long-term. Here are 5 simple ways to turn those fitness goals into a reality—not just for January, but throughout 2021 and beyond.
Find Your Why – A fitness resolution is rarely about fitness. It’s important to ask yourself why this resolution is important to you on a deeper level. What’s motivating you to make a change? Figure out exactly what that something is and use it to push yourself to keep going when you feel like throwing in the towel.
Be Specific – Don’t make vague goals. You’re more likely to stick to your goal if you make it as specific as possible. Determine exactly what you’re going to do and when you want to to achieve it!
Track Your Progress – Keeping track of your progress helps you stick to your fitness resolutions. Seeing how far you’ve come will motivate you to keep pushing.
Switch Things Up – Switching up your routine not only keeps you physically challenged but also keeps you from getting bored. New exercises also help prevent your body from adapting to your exercise routine and hitting those dreaded plateaus.
Find an Accountability Buddy – Working out with a friend will not only help you stick to your workout schedule, but you will also be there to encourage and cheer each other on.
We hope these tips help you make fitness a part of your lifestyle, let us know how you plan to stick with your new goals below!
There’s something special about the start of a new year. We’re rejuvenated with a fresh rush of motivation and a squeaky clean blank slate, providing ideal circumstances for a lifestyle change. In fact, research has shown that the most successful behavior change occurs during times of novelty, but are those resolutions sustainable? If you find that you’re making the same resolutions (does “eat healthier, lose weight” sound familiar?) year after year, maybe it’s time for a primer on how to turn resolutions into habits that stick.
Sun Basket’s Director of Nutrition, Lindsey Kane offers her suggestions on how to cultivate healthy habits that last a lifetime.
Rethink Resolutions and Get Back to Basics
The trouble with resolutions is that they’re tied to a deadline. If our real pursuit is lifelong well-being, it doesn’t make sense to think that a one-year commitment will provide a lifetime of good health. It’s better to use the momentum of the New Year to cultivate habits that you can repeat on a daily basis and maintain for the rest of your life. After all, what we do every day matters more than what we do once in a while.
Too often we overlook the fundamentals of healthy living, and place our faith in “sophisticated” and complex fads, jumping from one program to the next. This year, skip the trends and pay attention to these five basics:
1. Eat
Real food is energizing, disease-protecting, anti-aging, and mood-boosting—everything we need to live a long, happy life. Colorful fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich whole grains, high-quality proteins, and healthy fats are perfectly packaged with all the vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and energy needed to thrive. Yet, studies show an estimated 50 percent of our diet is ultra-processed foods that are devoid of beneficial nutrients, and contain toxic, artificial additives.
Our bodies are built to move but each year we become more sedentary. Studies estimate that American adults spend an average of 13 hours sitting each day. Regular exercise promotes sleep, strengthens cognitive function, improves metabolism, relieves stress, enhances physical performance, and supports healthier food choices.
Sign up here for our webinar with Sun Basket on January 14th at 4 PM EST and if you submit a question you will be entered to win $100 gift certificate to Sun Basket!
Try Sun Basket:
Login to your HealthKick account and use your exclusive discount to save on your Sun Basket order!
Wishing you a happy holiday season, from the HealthKick Team! The spirit of the holiday season revolves around reflecting upon what is important to us, the things we cherish and sharing the spirit of hope and joy with others, so we wanted to share a few ways that we as a team get into the spirit!
Giving Gifts to Children:
My absolute favorite thing to get myself into the holiday spirit is to buy gifts for children in need. I will either support Angel Tree, Operation Christmas Child or Toys for Tots. There is nothing like fulfilling a child’s holiday wish during this time of year!
Practicing Gratitude:
I’ve been doing a gratitude challenge which is lifting up my spirits lately and just being able to feel grateful for the things and people in my life. I also do deeksha every Thursday – which lifts my spirits every week and feels especially magical around the holiday season.
Make Meaningful Memories:
My husband and I’s tradition is to provide each other with memories and experiences in lieu of physical gifts every holiday season. In 10 years, I likely won’t remember the sweater he gave me. But I will always remember the special moments and memories we’ve built throughout the years.
Serve Others:
The one thing my family does (starting December 1st) is find one thing each of us can do each day to help or serve someone. For example, my oldest daughter may help my son with his homework. Or one child may pull the trash bins back to the neighbors garage.
Remember Loved Ones:
While I love the holidays, I miss loved ones, such as my dad, who are no longer here. I recently read that a great way to make a missed loved one part of the holiday is to purchase a gift with that person in mind and give it to someone less fortunate in memory. I’m looking forward to trying that this year.
Spend Time Unplugged with Family:
During the time we have all spent in Pandemic, this Holiday season I will be taking a week off to spend time away from my computer, phone, and zoom calls. I think it can be so easy to get wrapped up in today’s technology, especially when we have all been in WFH mode. This Holiday season, I hope we can all make promises to ourselves and our family that they will have our undivided attention so we can express gratitude, engage in relaxation, eat amazing food, and be around those who love us most.
Digital White Elephant Party:
My in-laws do a holiday party every year with their friends from the block where my husband and sister-in-law grew up. It’s a tradition that has been going on for around 30 years. We typically do a white elephant gift swap and this year are taking this fun tradition online with a digital white elephant using photos to select and swap ‘gifts’ and mailing or dropping them off based on location.
Watch Christmas Movies:
It’s a tradition for my family to watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ together every Christmas Eve. While we won’t all be in the same place this holiday due to travel restrictions, we plan to host a watch party where we can all view together — keeping the tradition alive while we stay safe at home!
Decorate for the Holidays:
After Thanksgiving it’s tradition to put up holiday lights and decorations throughout the house to create a fun and cheery holiday environment. We also make it a tradition to check out the holiday lights in the neighborhood!
Holiday Baking:
My biggest tradition is baking with my mom! We always make an apple pie using her mother’s recipe which is a nice way to commemorate my grandma as well. Our family also always makes a point to take daily morning walks with our dog when my brother and I are home – not really a holiday specific tip but it helps keep us all moving amongst all the holiday food!
Cut Down Your Tree:
A family tradition is to go to a fir farm, pick out our tree (the tallest we could find) and my dad would cut it down then have donuts and apple cider and decorate it together.
Donate Food:
One Holiday tradition we’ve recently incorporated in our family is donating Breakfast bags to a local shelter. Last year we did one outside of Baltimore. It ends up costing less than $100 and you help almost 90 kids.
Breakfast Bags:
Morning hospitality bags should contain a muffin, bagel, or box of cereal, a piece of fruit and/or energy bar, and a juice box.
We hope these tips and ideas help you get into the spirit of the holidays! Share with us below your favorite ways to get into the spirit!
We all have indecisive dads, picky best friends and those impossible people to shop for who seem to already have everything! To help you out HealthKick has curated a selection of items that are perfect for four types of people: The Self-Care Enthusiast, The Classic Man, The Fitness Fanatic and The Nutrition Guru. Now that you’ve found the perfect gifts for every single person on your list (perhaps including yourself!), you can rest easy and enjoy the holiday season with one less 2020 worry on your plate.
The Fitness Fanatic
From the hottest workout wear to the best fitness apps, these are our picks for the fitness fanatics in your life.
The Nutrition Guru
We all have that friend—the one who inspires us to treat our bodies well, eat nutrient-rich foods, and cook more at home. to show that you understand how seriously they take their wellbeing, choose a gift that reflects their style, from personalized vitamins and supplements, a cleanse to the best personal blender to make delicious healthy smoothies!
The Classic Man
Whether the man you’re shopping for is sporty, preppy, or just wants to be comfy there’s something here for him. Forget the gift receipt, he won’t be returning these presents.
The Self-Care Enthusiast
2020 has been a crazy year, to say the least. So giving friends and family the best self-care gifts to relax their bodies and minds is a great way to show how much you appreciate them. From massages to skincare, and beauty treatments, there’s something that will fit almost everyone’s needs and personalities.
We hope these suggestions make your holiday shopping just a little bit easier this year! You can find all of these gift ideas here!
