I’m always very excited for a new year to start! It’s the perfect opportunity to change things up and even though it’s fairly arbitrary and many will argue that you can technically do this any day of the year, for me (and many others) it’s a great time to rethink and reset things.
Like so many others, there are definitely a lot of things on my list that I’d like to get better at or do better, and the goal is to NOT overdo what you want to change, because we want to see lasting change!
Now the list below is obviously super personal for me, and you may or may not resonate with what I’ve chosen, and that’s okay! I want you to pick things that you’ve wanted to test or trial, things that have been on your mind for some time now, or things that you want to jump back into again after a hiatus.
My Goals for 2019
Whole30
For those of you who aren’t following me on instagram, I announced a few days ago that for January, we’d be completing a Whole30. A Whole30 is basically strict paleo, but without any paleo treats, alcohol or sugar of ANY kind. Paleo has always felt REALLY good in my body and a whole30 is a great way to help not only reset and get into a paleo groove, but also help establish a new connection to our food and emotions around eating. You should join me if you feel so inclined! Check me out on instagram for daily updates, what I’m cooking and how things are going!
Meditate Daily
For Christmas I got a BEAUUUUUTIFUL meditation chair from The Stillness Room because I’ve known for literally years that not only is meditation good, but that my body and mind REALLY need it! I was in a car accident a few years ago and find meditation really challenging from a physical standpoint as sitting up straight can lead to back pain and discomfort for me. This beautiful hand-carved wood chair provides the back support I need to help ease some of the pain, and a specific place to go and meditate! My goal is to do 2-sessions per day…one in the morning that’s a quiet/breath-work meditation and one before bed that’s a guided meditation from my favourite free app, Insight Timer. Meditation is hard for a lot of people (including me!) so my plan is to start with super short durations and slowly build up from there.
Settle Into Telemedicine
If you’ve been on my email list for a little while or are already a patient of mine, you’ll know that as of January 15th, I’m switching my practice to Telemedicine only and closing my physical clinic location! For a variety of reasons (one being that I’m able to serve more rural patients across Alberta and another being that patients love the ease and decreased hassle of coming into the office), I’m so excited about making the switch. This means that you won’t have to deal with getting to the clinic and finding/paying for parking, finding a sitter for the kids, or dealing with Calgary roads in the winter and we can literally do video visits from anywhere you like! The platform that we’re using is really similar to facetime or skype but is a Health Canada compliant version. It’s SUPER easy to use and you can do visits on your phone, tablet or computer. Click here if you want to book in to see me for a telemedicine visit!
Drink More Water
This is a pretty personal story, and definitely a, “Do as I say, not as I do” situation (so far anyway!), but I’m TERRIBLE at drinking enough water everyday! I even had a bout last year with kidney stones that required emergency surgery and took my body a long time to recover (it’s common that dehydration can be a cause for kidney stones!). For me, I’m just never that thirsty, so I really do need constant reminders to drink, drink, drink and hit my minimal ideal amount of 2L per day. The free app called “Daily Water” is a helpful tool that I utilize myself and get patients to use too as it helps with tracking and reminders so that you aren’t getting to the end of the day and realize you haven’t had much (or any) water to drink yet. We also want to make sure you’re drinking good water, and my suggestion is to find reverse osmosis water that’s clean and free of contaminants.
Nature Walks
This is going to be a HUGE personal mission for 2019, but you’re all also going to get it on your homework sheets when you see me as a patient! Our connection to ourselves, our food and the earth is so broken and modern society is often the culprit. There are LITERALLY tons of studies to show that getting out into nature is good for our bodies-it helps to lower our stress hormone cortisol, increases our vitamin D levels with sun exposure and helps with fitness levels (among many other benefits!). We’re spoiled in Calgary that we have access (even IN town) to so many great parks and areas, that there’s really no excuse! We have a black lab too who LOVES to run around in the woods as well, and so my goal for 2019 is to get into nature at LEAST 2-3 times per week to reap all its benefits.
Regular Content Creation!
I need you to help me be accountable to this one! I wasn’t as consistent as I wanted to be last year when it came to producing regular helpful content for my email list and patients…posts across my blog and social media were all over the place and I want to focus and share my message and super simple health tips on a really regular basis to support you as best as I can! I didn’t spend so much time in school learning things just to keep them all locked up in my brain! My goal is with this to blog weekly on my website and consistently post on social media too! For January I’m doing an instagram challenge and will be posting daily content that you can enjoy if you’d like!
What are YOUR resolutions for the year?
I want to hear what you’ve got planned for 2019! Come find me on social media (facebook or instagram) and let me know! I want to help hold you accountable to your goals too and would LOVE to see you as a patient if you want some more one on one support!
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