So, here we are, nearly a month into 2025. How’s this year been going for you so far? I’ve enjoyed the cold frosty mornings, and am sad to be back to slipping around in the mud on my early morning dog walks, but otherwise it’s been pretty much status quo for me. You see I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I didn’t make any and I never put pressure on my clients to do so either.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t have some hopes and intentions for the year ahead, but I know from my own experience that sadly NYRs very rarely succeed. Yes, we start January convinced that this will be the year that we stop drinking/lose a stone/give up all sugar/go to the gym 3 x a week etc. But the truth is that by about this point in the month life has got in the way, willpower is flagging, and the enormity of the task has reared its ugly head.
Instead I like to focus on building healthy habits that over the course of the year will get me and my clients closer to their goals. I always explain to clients that each time we meet I will gently layer one or two new changes over previous recommendations during their time with me, rather than give them 20 things to do in week 1. Too much too soon simply leads to overwhelm and the majority of people will then not do any of them.
By fully establishing a couple of small changes as habits before pushing them a bit further or adding something else, the changes become manageable and our bodies (and self-sabotaging brains) can handle it so much better.
So, what your habit-building look like if your goal for the year is to sort out your gut symptoms?
If bloating, irregular bowel movements and griping pain are stopping you from enjoying life to the full, then this may very well be your aim for 2025.
But what if you eat a not-so-great diet right now, and work stops you from getting out and exercising most days? Vowing to overhaul your diet and introduce a new workout regime may seem like a great thing to do, but the reality is that it may prove harder than anticipated.
Instead, you might like to try building these habits month by month:
Month 1 – focus on how you eat. To start with, try eating your meals at a table and putting your phone out of sight. To find out why this would be my starting point, have a look at a previous blog post I wrote on mindful eating and its importance for gut health.
Month 2 – think about introducing more colourful veg to your diet. Each week aim to eat the rainbow – a quick way to start to reduce inflammation that may be causing pain.
Month 3 – can you increase these plant foods so that by the end of the month you are eating 30 a week? This is something that I’ve been talking about for a while (and the supermarkets seem to have discovered recently!). Get your free guide here.
Month 4 – is it time to start introducing fermented foods to your diet? Each week this month you could try a new one – sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, kimchi etc.
And so on.
You can see how much change you would accomplish over the course of the year, and yet each month just requires a very small adjustment to your diet and/or lifestyle. In this way, by the end of the year you would have developed 12 incredible gut-supporting habits without ever feeling deprived or overwhelmed.
And don’t forget I love nothing more than working with people to calm their digestive symptoms and get them back to eating the foods they love without fear.
I invite you to book a free 30 minute health review at a time that suits you, and let’s talk about you, your symptoms, and how nutritional therapy may be the answer you’re looking for this year.
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