Anne-Charlotte PasseraHave you ever been able to keep your New Year’s Resolutions?
Be honest.
Fiou! Here I thought I was alone in this.
We all step into the New Year with the best intentions, right? The most common New Year’s resolutions is for self-improvement. We decide to exercise more, loose weight, quit smoking, quit drinking, etc… Does that ring a bell?
It’s not a coincidence that you see more people at the gym in the first weeks of January, not to mention that there are often special memberships to join the gym at that time of year.
But you see, the novelty wears off, and life gets in the way. We usually don’t make it past the first few weeks before we end up just where we started.
It’s like playing a game of Snakes and Ladders. You’re going along the path, maybe taking short cuts and going up the ladders and then BAM! A snake got in your way and you have to start over. Then you beat yourself up because you failed, you lost. The problem isn’t you though, it was the dice!
Reasons we make New Year’s resolutions
Babylonians are said to have started the tradition over 4,000 years ago.
They’d make promises to gods during a 12 day New Year celebration. If they kept their promises, the gods would look favourably on them for the year ahead. (trafalgar.com)
Nowadays, we make these resolutions to better ourselves so that we feel better.
It is however a misconception that you can rely on will power and motivation alone for it to work.
We are all doomed to fail!
Because we live in a high pace society where we can get things with just a click of a button, we expect that results and desired changes will magically appear in the blink of an eye. I’m sorry to burst your bubble but that won’t happen.
That being said, what if I told you that there was a better way to keep your New Year’s resolutions? Would you believe me? Probably not.
That’s OK because I didn’t come up with the plan, so you don’t have take my word for it.
How to keep your New Year’s resolutions
Even though will power and motivation are important to keep your New Year’s resolutions in check, they are rarely enough.
I’ve been reading: Feel Better in 5 by Dr Rangan Chatterjee.
Marie Forleo sent me an email one day about her interview of Dr. Chatterjee where they discussed his book. Shortly after watching the video, I ran out to my local bookstore and bought his book.
The idea behind his book is to start feeling better within days. For people like us, who wants to see tangible results fast, this book will surely interest you.
Doing the prescribed exercices, 5 minutes, three times a day, 5 times a week, will lead to meaningful and long-lasting changes.
Dr. Chatterjee indicates in his book that you:
shouldn’t focus on the destination but on the journey instead.
Since we are creatures of habits, you have to make your new behaviours easy in order to make them become habits. If it’s hard, you’ll consistently fail.
Dr. Chatterjee created these “health snacks” to have actual biological effects that will rewire you. They are short enough to fit in your busy day but long enough to gain real benefit.
It might seem a little out there for you but look at it this way. Half of the activities that we engage in every single day are out of habit. Think of something that you do every single day. Do you brush your teeth? Make your bed? Make yourself coffee in the morning? All these are habits.
Mind, body, heart
We often only focus on one area when trying to improve our health. That’s one reason why the benefits are short-lived.
Dr. Chatterjee’s idea is a 360 degree approach where your entire system is looked after. The mind to reduce stress and anxiety, the body to get you moving, and your heart to strengthen the connections.
You see, everything is connected.
“Our minds and bodies are all part of one connected system. We are not compartmentalized.” p.25
dr. chatterjee
How we choose to live our daily life defines how healthy we are. If you make good choices, you will feel well. On the other hand, if you make poor choices, you will struggle and feel sick.
More often than not, our lifestyle choices are the root cause of our problems.
Perhaps you eat too much sugar, drink too much alcohol and you have decided to reduce it. But why do you think it has become a problem for you? Maybe it helps you manage and cope with the stress in your life. However, if you don’t deal with the stress factors in your life, you’ll never be able to change the behaviour.
By making small adjustments to your lifestyle, and practicing 3 exercises daily that you can integrate into a preexistent routine, you’ll be able to succeed.
Unique New Year’s Resolutions
In order to create new habits that last, life is after all not a marathon, you have to start easy with little mental or physical effort.
“The easier you make a behavior, the less motivation you require to do it” p.26
dr. chatterjee
The goal of these 5 minute health snacks is to find a balance between ease, simplicity and effectiveness. Remember this: this program bends around your life, not the other way around.
One way of achieving this is by connecting these health snacks to habits that are already there. Perhaps when you make your bed or brush your teeth, do the dance snack. Tea or coffee drinker? While you wait for your brew, why not do the desk jockey workout? This is something that I have been doing as I have an office job. This body exercise is specially geared towards people who sit all day.
Good sleep
How do you sleep at night? My short answer would be my king size bed is not big enough.
Don’t sleep with your phone next to you nor in the same room. This will help you relaxe and sleep better. Besides, it will force you to actually get up for when your alarm clock goes off.
I found that spraying some lavender onto my bed sheets and pillows helps me sleep better.
Good night sleep tight recipe:
Mix the following ingredients together in a small spray bottle.
- 10ml vodka or witch hazel hydrosol
- 5 drops of lavender essential oil
- 5 drops of basil or ravintsara essential oil
- 20ml of previously boiled water
Need more ideas on what you can do with essential oils? Read about it HERE.
Make your bed in the morning, which is something I like to do. When I come home from a busy day at work, it makes it a more inviting and a restful place to return to.
Self-care and positive self-talk
I don’t know about you, but I am my worst ennemy. Have you ever paid attention on how you talk to yourself or about yourself?
Here are some of Dr. Chatterjee’s suggestions:
- Don’t tell yourself I don’t do that anymore, instead replace it by NOT NOW.
- Let me put my sweatpants on or get my yoga mat out. Don’t tell yourself you have a health snack coming up. Instead break the activity down into a step.
- Be your own best friend.
- Use phrases like: it would be great to, I’ll feel calmer after…
This is especially important when you are a new mom and need to preserve your mental health.
I’m going to be a better mom today if I do my 5-minute health snack.
If you are looking for inspiration on what books to read, I put a list together of books that have really helped me get through some tough times. Read Here.
Dr. Chatterjee recommends that you celebrate every single time you take a step on your journey. You can do it visually by using a calendar and writing it down or using an empty jar. For each completed task, add a dry bean or rice grain into it. It’s a powerful representation of where you are on your journey.
The more intense the positive emotion you feel alongside your new behaviour, the quicker you’ll turn it into an automatic habit.
Combinations of healthy snacks to try
What’s great about this book is that there is no right way of doing these health snacks. You can pick and choose which ever ones you want. Some of these snacks you might actually already be doing unknowingly such as dancing, drawing, going outside. You decide on the combination of the health snacks just as long as you pick one from each category: mind, body, heart.
However, if you are looking for something specific, Dr. Chatterjee does suggest combinations that have seemed to work with his patients. You can try his suggestions and if one of them is not to your liking, that’s ok, switch it for another snack in the same category.
These health snacks can be done whenever you want and longer than 5 minutes. It really is up to you.
| FOCUS | |
| Mind | Breath counting |
| Body | Yoga movements |
| Heart | Write 5 things that you are grateful for in your life |
| STRESS | |
| Mind | Nature walk |
| Body | Yoga movements |
| Heart | Something to that makes you feel good |
| HAPPINESS | |
| Mind | 5 minutes in nature |
| Body | Whole-body workout |
| Heart | Kindness practice |
| DEPRESSION | |
| Mind | Blueberry smoothie |
| Body | Dancing |
| Heart | Celebrate others |
My health snacks combinations
I bet you’re wondering if I’ve tried any of these snacks. Well, yes, as a matter of fact.
Body
As mentioned earlier, I have started doing the Desk Jockey Workout.
My husband and kids laugh at me every time I do it as they think it is pointless. So I hide in the bathroom while I brush my teeth and do the exercises. They don’t understand the benefits. I’m not trying to lose weight here.
The goal is to undo the damage of sitting down all day. I’ve had back problems in the past and I really don’t want them to come back. This snack is helpful for: back pain, neck pain, shoulder discomfort, and stiffness.
Heart
Also, with my family for the heart health snack, we’ve been playing the Gratitude Game.
This is a great snack to try because it allows us to talk differently to each other. It’s something that I had started doing a while back because I was tired of always asking my kids: how was school today and getting the short answer: fine.
Replace that question by: what made you smile today? Or, what have you done today to make someone else happy? And just go from there.
Mind
Finally, for the mind, there are a few exercises that you can do which involves writing. Since I write all day as is, it doesn’t appeal to me, nor making smoothies. However, one health snack that I can easily do is 5 minutes in nature. You don’t need to live in the countryside to be able to do this health snack.
Some of the benefits of going for walks or just being outside according to Dr. Chatterjee are:
- Lowers stress levels
- Lessens depression
- Improves focus
- Immune system boost
“Walking is the best remedy for mankind.”
hippocrates
If you have dogs or kids, you are probably doing this health snack already. I’ve been “forcing” myself to go on longer walks with the dogs when Nouki is willing to cooperate. It’s not always easy to do so during our Canadian winters as the idea of having to put on layers of clothing to go out repels me. However, just like us humans, dogs need to go out and not only to do #1 and #2.
Thanks to the 2020 Pandemic, I’ve rediscovered the Park Maisonneuve in Montreal. My dogs and I LOVE going there. It’s big enough for everyone. The best part is that it has wooded areas that work as a buffer from all the city noise. This is where we enjoy walking the most and can enjoy some peace and quiet.
Obviously, there are other places in and around Montreal where you can take pleasure walking with your kids and the dogs. I’ve put this list together of places that allow dogs to get their 5 minutes in nature dose.
Now that you know that there are easy ways to keep your New Year’s resolutions, which health snacks are you going to try?
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