Tag: resolutions

When Resolutions Work

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Veganuary, RED January, Dry January, Dedicate – 30 Days of Yoga…

These are just a few of the January “challenges” (for want of a better word) that I saw floating around online over the last few weeks, either to benefit a charity or because people wanted a personal challenge with which to kick off 2019. And even though I saw some grumblings in the dark recesses of Twitter about how “running every day is bad for you” (seriously, what’s your damage Heather?), I think switching up your lifestyle with a clear start and finish can only be seen as a good thing.

Let’s look at the timing of the whole endeavour. Some people may argue that going off the booze or dairy in what is arguably the most difficult month of the year is a terrible, terrible idea. But think about it – if you’re going to cut things out of your life/diet, it seems like a sensible time to do it when a) you don’t have a huge amount of money to spend on such things and every drink in the pub comes with a side order of “oh gawwwwd why is payday so far away?!” and b) a load of other people are challenging themselves in the same way, so you have a ready-built support group online if not in real life.

Then there’s the duration of January challenges. It’s fairly well known that it takes 21 days to make a habit, so if you were able stick it out for just the first 3 weeks you may well have made a change that’s going to become as normal to you as brushing your teeth. That’s how I’ve always viewed exercise – as a routine part of my day that I happen to really enjoy (unlike flossing – the tooth version as opposed to the dance).

For me, things like Dry January and RED January don’t appeal. I usually only have a drink around once a fortnight, and I generally do a form of exercise 6 days a week as standard (although RED stands for Run Every Day, the premise is actually to do a form of exercise every day), and make sure to have a day off. My body craves rest days and would not stand up to running every day, but some folk I know have been doing that and having no issues whatsoever. Some are even pushing their 10k PBs (hi Justin!). Everyone is different, and judging folk because they’re doing something you don’t quite fancy trying yourself is just a mega time vacuum. Maybe go for a run instead?

So did I do any resolutions myself? Kind of. I did Adriene’s 30 days of yoga, enjoying having a structured yoga workout “flow” its way into my inbox every day without having to spend time scrolling through her epic video library. I didn’t do every workout every day, and instead sometimes doubled up on weekends. But I did all 30 workouts in January and I LOVED it. I feel stronger and my flexibility has definitely improved.

adriene and benji

Overall, all of these challenges have something in common – they all gave people the opportunity to try something new, and in doing so, helped them to perhaps find something they love, be that clearing their minds by running, cutting meat and dairy out of their diets or taking the time to focus on their breathing for 20 minutes a day. I’m going to keep doing Adriene’s yoga every day (even if I do have to put a bit of effort in to select the video each time) and I’m glad that January gave me a reason to commit to a challenge that has made me feel flipping awesome, inside and out.

 

Resolution Substitution

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I hate new year’s resolutions, and only partly because I’m terrible at sticking to them. Past failures have included doing a sun salutation every morning (I lasted around 11 days), writing a novel (something of a work in progress), and getting at least 7 hours sleep a night (ooh cat videos you say? It’s 11:43pm but let’s watch 20 in a row!).

The fact is, why are we all setting ourselves up for failure at the very beginning of the year when we’re all full of chocolate fudge brownie Wensleydale cheese (yes, that is actually a thing) and missing Prosecco being a socially acceptable breakfast? We’re out of money, it’s cold, and the sparkle of Christmas has pretty much gone. That’s hardly a recipe for a good time to make successful life changes.

prosecco.gif

Apparently, you have to do something every day for 66 days before it becomes a habit. If you start on January 1st that’s March 7th people. I don’t know about you, but that seems like a really long time. And this is coming from someone who already has plans with Theemiddlesis for March 2017. In a nutshell, this is why I think new year resolutions suck. Why do you want to limit bettering yourself to just one day of the year, and a potentially hungover one at that?

It was on the 13th January 2015 that I signed up for my first ever triathlon. Back in April I decided to start taking my running more seriously by getting a coach in the form of Alan “Baldrick” Baldock and starting this blog. In August I joined Ely Runners. Around this time I also wanted to try adding more yoga and foam rolling into my regime. But rather than say “I will do this daily!” and feel crap when I failed, I decided to aim for two times a week. And sometimes I do it twice, sometimes five times, or sometimes not at all when life gets a bit busy. But the point is I didn’t set myself unrealistic targets, and by doing even a little bit it’s an improvement on what I was doing before. I’m now a whizz at doing crow pose to headstand and then back to crow pose, and I’m even managing a wobbly one legged wheel pose on a good day. By not setting myself a whole bunch of ridiculous (unreachable) targets all at once, I’m getting stronger and faster, bit by bit.

I guess the point I want to make is that we shouldn’t be so strict with ourselves. If you want to make a change, don’t wait until one day out of 365 to do it. Just do it when the time feels right for you. And don’t set yourself such rigid boundaries either – often it’s the small increments that matter in the longer term.

Wonderwoman

(But if you fancy taking up running and want a buddy to come with, give me a shout!).