Setting Intentions for a Healthy New Year

Thank you to Blue Apron for sponsoring this post. 

It’s almost the new year, and the new year often brings renewed commitment to healthy, more mindful living.  This year more than any other I know we are all looking forward to a fresh slate. It has been a very stressful year for most people, and maybe health in terms of food or fitness (vs. health in terms of not getting covid) is the last thing on your mind right now – and that’s okay. But I know that some of you may still be thinking about how you can prioritize your health in the new year – whether it be mental, physical, spiritual, or emotional. Perhaps it’s even the welcome distraction you need right now.  I love that many people prioritize their health in the new year, and I like to do so as well; the new year always feels like a nice fresh start, a time of resetting and refocusing. And I’m sure we can all agree we won’t be sad to say goodbye to 2020…  When it comes to setting health-related goals for the new year, though, I’ve always been a fan of setting measurable intentions rather than resolutions. I know that resolutions do work for some, but for me (and, I’ve found, for my nutrition clients), big resolutions, while made with good intentions, are often a bit broad and overwhelming and can be hard to translate into real action. As I hope I’ve shown on this blog, I fully believe in the power of small daily actions that lead up to something bigger. Whenever I have a nutrition counseling session with a client, we end the meeting or call with goal setting. I find that setting small daily or weekly goals really helps with making healthy living a lifestyle change vs. a quick fix or a huge overwhelming goal that is never reached. 

So – what am I talking about? Here are some examples of how to turn a broad resolution into a more specific action.

Resolution: I will eat healthier this year. 

• –> Instead, try a more measurable/specific intention, like: “I will eat one vegetable per day this week.” Or, “I will cook dinner at home instead of ordering takeout twice per week.”

Resolution: I will exercise more this year.

• –> Instead, try this more specific version, and update it each week: “I will do one strength workout per week.” or “I will run twice per week.” Or… insert your own preferred form of exercise, but make it specific and measurable.
• Another helpful goal may be to sit down every Sunday and schedule workouts into your calendar for the week – I almost always do this and it really helps keep me on track so that I prioritize exercise time vs. just hoping it will happen at some point.

You can rework your goals every month, or whenever it makes sense to you. The idea is that as the intentions start to become habit, you will then build upon them, leading up to big change over time (but done in a sustainable, step-by-step way).  For those of you who are interested in both eating healthier and also cooking at home more in the new year, consider checking out Blue Apron. I have partnered with Blue Apron and written so many posts about them for a reason – it’s because they are awesome, and they make getting nourishing, unique meals on the table far more doable and less stressful than it would be doing it on our own.  The way Blue Apron works is that every week you select the meals you’d like for upcoming weeks. There are about 10 options to choose from each week, and you choose 3 meals and either 2 or 4 servings. Alternatively, they also have a “meal prep” plan, so there’s a lot to choose from! You can change these setting options each week or skip weeks anytime you need/want to, so it’s nice and flexible. The recipe instructions are easy to follow and you receive exactly the amount of ingredients that you need to make the recipes, so there’s no waste and no ingredient odds and ends going bad in your fridge.  Having someone else do the meal planning and grocery shopping for those 3 meals for us every single week makes such a huge difference; it saves us a significant amount of time and stress.  One of the things we really love about Blue Apron, besides the quality of the ingredients and the creativity of the meals, is how much variety they offer each week! They are actually now offering even more versatility than ever, too, because they just launched a “customizable” option, where for certain recipes you can swap out or add a different or extra protein, or even swap out the starch for more veggies.  They are also launching special wellness-focused meals in the new year, which I’m excited to try out! Four wellness recipes will be available per week in January and three recipes per week in February and March, and the recipes will be very veggie-forward with a fiber-packed carbohydrate, healthy fats, and a lean protein. But don’t worry, if you’re imagining bland chicken with boiled veggies and plain rice, that’s definitely not the case with Blue Apron – their wellness meals will be just as creative and delicious as ever, and you can view them on their website now!  For example, the first week of January, their wellness recipes are:

• Yellow Curry and Lemongrass Tilapia. 
• Veracruz Style Shrimp with Farro. Yum, farro is one of my fave nutritious whole grains!
• Mushroom and Red Rice Grain Bowl with a Ginger Miso Dressing. Did you know that miso is a fermented food, which means it will provide the gut with beneficial bacteria?
• Cilantro Baked Chicken with Tahini Roasted Veggies. Tahini is full of healthy fats and omega 3’s, and can also help prevent iron deficiency! This meal is also a sheet pan dinner which is always a win for quick and easy and minimal clean up.

If you’d like to check out Blue Apron, click here to receive $60 off over your first 3 boxes. Happy cooking, and let me know which meals are your favorites! Did you set a New Year’s Resolution? What is it? And if you like the idea of daily action, what are some examples of how you can turn your original resolution into daily action? You can do this!  One of my goals this year is to do yoga once per week – I am having a hard time making it happen since I can’t go to classes in person right now, and virtual/online yoga isn’t quite the same. But I am making it a priority and am going to schedule it into my calendar each week because it’s so good for me both physically as well as mentally!