So, its 2023. A new year, new you right?! I guess it depends on how you frame it. As each and every day you’re essentially a ‘new you’. On that basis, you have 365 cracks at life this year. If you’re aiming to have more better days than in 2022, then that’s a progressive way to look at things. 

How’s your health motivation at the moment? Have you worked out your health goals for the year? It can be an over-whelming time as, going from December - which is typically the most ‘off-plan’, over-the-top, over-stimulated, over-eating, over-drinking, over-dunnit month of the year, into January – which is the exact opposite, where we detox, cut-this and that out, dry January etc – is a period of extremes. 

December is all about over-consumption…be that: food, drink, watching tv, buying presents, time with family etc. Whereas as January is typically the month where we dial back on all of that.

Some people are good at doing cold turkey, giving up something all in one go. But others are not. So, if you’re thinking about a new year’s resolution, or just want to get back into a healthier phase of life, then it may be good to consider what kind of strategy works for you. Cold turkey or steady and slow. 

I’d say that working out a longer-term goal can be helpful and the start of the year could be a good time to reflect upon this. Have your health goals changed from last year? When you’ve finalised those goals, it may be worth writing down why these are important to you.  Then its a case of working out the little steps to help you get there. What system you could create to get you to where you’d like to be.

If your system works, then our motivation may not be called into play as much as we once thought. 

I do think motivation is helpful sometimes, but I appreciate that motivation comes and goes. And motivation will be different for each and every one of us. Ultimately, if you’re wanting to get into a better state of health, it must mean something to you. What’s your reason to get better?  For all of us, that reason is unique. Do you want to enjoy your later years with the energy to spend quality time with grand-kids? Do you want to retire in good health to travel the world? Do you want to run a marathon someday? Do you want to feel energised so that you can do your favourite hobby after work? Whatever your goal, if you can make it as personal and powerful as possible, this may make it easier to aim at. 

Reminding yourself of the goal in your home and work environments could be a helpful – a gentle nudge for you into taking better actions. Say your goal is to enjoy a holiday in great health later this year, would putting a picture of that destination on your phone or laptop or wall be helpful for you? Would writing a morning journal help you with making better decisions in the day? As we’re all wired differently, it’s working out the little details in your life to help yourself out.

But on some days, you’re not going to feel like doing those things that you know will get you closer to your health goals. So, on these less motivated occasions, it may benefit you to get ahead of the game. Could it be an idea, when you know you’re motivated, to help yourself out ahead of time, when you know you’re likely to go a little off plan?

Food-wise, this could be having the right order of Natural Ketosis meals in the freezer. Or if you’d like to try a batch-cooking session a few times a month yourself, that could also help you out. As if you had all the good meals cooked ahead of time, then those less-motivated, more sluggish, busier occasions may not require as much motivation as you thought to continue to eat well. An easy one that I do once a month is to cook a big pot of minced beef, with a bunch of chopped veg and spices…and the same again for a minced lamb, then I can box up leftovers for the freezer. 

What if the design of your environment prompted you into making slightly better decisions by default? One thing that I’ve changed in the past few weeks, is that I now have my boxes of eggs out on the kitchen counter all the time (rather than in a cupboard). This reminds me to hard boil at least 4 eggs - as they are a staple lunch item for me. Previously I’d sometimes forget to do that, but now they are on show, then this is working much better for me now.

Going another step further beyond motivation…what if we took motivation out the equation? What happens if we were to turn to discipline instead? What if we just started doing the things we know we needed to do, regardless of how motivated we feel? Jocko Willink (an ex-navy seal (check out his books, podcasts, Youtube)) simply states that discipline equals freedom! Quite a simple and profound statement. I guess the army training drums in discipline to one’s identity. But could we do that to ourselves? I guess we’re all disciplined to brush our teeth – we do this when we do and don’t feel like it. But what if we cooked any day, regardless of how motivated we felt? Would that change anything for you?   

What if we always spent time doing some form of movement each day, whatever the weather or however we felt before exercising? If you have a dog, that keeps you disciplined each day - as dogs really don’t care if its raining, snowing, windy or sunny outside, they need walking each day, so you know that’s a non-negotiable action to take. What other non-negotiable, disciplined actions could you consider adding into your daily routine?

Slowly we can add one or two more things to our identity that over-ride any motivational efforts. It’s taken a while for me to get to a stage now where I see boxes of Quality Street and just see a bunch of tooth decay, depression, blood sugar spikes and fatty liver! So I don’t have any desire to eat that, thus my motivation isn’t really called into play. 

A few ideas for you all to consider on your 2023 health journeys. I shall check in again in February. 

Keep it Keto.

Health Coach Olly

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