5 Easy and Healthy Habits to Try in In the New Year

Welcome to 5 Easy and Healthy Habits to Try in 2021. This post is sponsored by Halo Top®, but all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting my blog!

What Are Healthy Habits?

A habit is a ritual or regular tendency that can be good or bad. They start with a trigger (word, event, time, place, person), that is followed by an action meant to reward or reduce stress. After continuing this pattern of behavior, it actually creates neural pathways in our brain. Eventually, these pathways are so strong, behaviors can become automatic. This is what a “habit” is and experts say it takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form, or break, a habit.

In 2020, I picked up quite a few unhealthy habits as a coping mechanisms to handle the stress and anxiety I was feeling. While many of those routines were helping me in the moment, they were hurting me in the longterm. In the new year, I am working on creating healthy habits both mentally and physically.

Healthy Habits for the New Year

Taking Mental Health More Seriously

If you follow my Instagram @lauryncakes, you have probably seen me talk about mental health. It’s no secret that I have general anxiety, phobias, and often get panic attacks. While I see a general practitioner to help manage my mental illness, I began to feel like I needed more help. This month, I decided to stop procrastinating and make the phone call to get into a therapist. I recognized a need to have someone teach me a different way of thinking and offer tools to use when feeling out of control. Thus, I decided that one of the healthy habits I wanted to work on was going to therapy!

For a long time, I have had two big hang-ups with therapy: finding a provider and the unknown of how to pay for it. Finding a therapist ended up being easier than I ever expected and my first appointment was made for a week later as soon as the call was made. Most therapists, including mine, are very aware of money constraints and want to provide their clients with the best care at a manageable cost. Look for service providers that have sliding scales, will take your insurance, and don’t be afraid to ask if they offer discounts for sessions based on needs. 

Reducing Sugar Intake

Last year was tough for everyone, and many found themselves turning to food for comfort. I include myself in that latter statement, and often would pick up sweet treats to deal with my anxiety about the unknown. At the end of last year, I began to feel the effects on my body of eating a lot of sugar (inflammation, weight gain, brain fog, less energy). During this time, I read that sugar is metabolized the same as alcohol in the liver and can cause the same diseases if not taken in in moderation. At that point, I vowed to create more wholesome habits with food and reduce my sugar intake. My husband and I also began a keto-lifestyle to shed some of the weight we put on during pandemic lockdowns.

Luckily, I found Halo Top® Keto: Frozen Dessert (available at Walmart). They have low net carbs and sugar, plus they are a good source of protein. They are keto-lifestyle friendly with only 5-10 net carbs per pint and fewer calories than leading ice cream. Halo Top® is a dessert I can feel good about eating! I’ve been replacing my usual sweets with Halo Top® instead. My favorite Halo Top® Keto Pints are Halo Top® Banana Cream Pie and Halo Top® Keto White Chocolate Macadamia.

Managing Time with Schedules with Healthy Habits

After leaving my teaching career that was run by bells and schedules to be a full time blogger, I found the freedom invigorating! Later on into working as a full-time blogger, I found that, while having a flexible schedule is great, I still require time keeping to stay on track with my goals. This year, I want to focus on time blocking my work and creating weekly schedules. This will help me focus on a task at hand, rather than feeling frazzled and disorganized with my time.

Creating Clear Relationship Boundaries

If I’m honest, I haven’t always set clear boundaries with relationships in the past. I live with the mindset that if I disappoint someone by saying “no”, they will not want to be my friend. I read a quote last week that said to practice saying no to things when you mean it. “No, I can’t do that favor for you.” “No, I do not like that.” “No, I don’t feel comfortable with you asking me this.” The quote said that if you make these firm statements and the listening party disregards them, they never respected you to begin with. Although I usually know what I want, sometimes I won’t state it for fear of being “unloved”. In reality, the people that I want in my life will love and respect me, even if I set clear boundaries.

Moving at Least 150 min a week

Did you know that the American Heart Association has a recommendation for the amount of physical activity done in a week? They recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (that includes anything that raises your heart rate; like walking). If you prefer vigorous exercise, you only need 75 minutes of working out to keep heart health. While I’ve always enjoyed being active, I tend to workout when I feel like it without any clear goals. This year, I’m making the healthy habit of hitting 150 min of moderate-intensity movement a week!