Instead of planning a big New Year’s Resolution, stick to small, more realistic goals that you know you can achieve. Take one day at a time and choose a task or activity for each day. Grab a friend, your spouse or the whole family and follow this January daily challenge. Not a fan of one of the suggestions? Choose something else or create a plan as a family.
1. Try 1 new fruit or vegetable that you have never had before, or one you don’t eat often. Get the family involved with how you will fix it.
2. Call a friend or relative you have not spoken to in a while.
3. Take a 20-minute walk (or other exercise as tolerated).
4. Clean out the pantry.
5. Go to bed 1 hour earlier than usual.
6. Eat 5 servings of fruit and/or vegetables today (1 cup raw, ½ cup cooked or canned, or 2 cups leafy greens= 1 serving).
7. Stretch before bed.
8. Try a new recipe for your evening meal.
9. Take a bath or do something else relaxing (without your cell phone)
10. Find 5 things in your home to get rid of, donate or throw away.
11. Track water intake (for every beverage you drink that is not water, drink equivalent of that in water)
12. Plan a meatless meal for tonight.
13. Take 20! Turn off your phone off and sit in a quiet place for 20 minutes to pray, meditate, reflect.
14. Clean out the fridge
15. Plan and prepare all your meals for tomorrow.
16. Journal! This can be your thoughts, feelings, daily activities, food intake etc.
17. Pay it forward. Do an unexpected favor for someone, send a handwritten card, or visit a friend/family member.
18. Gratitude list: make a list of 15 people/things you are grateful for.
19. Solve a Sudoku, word find, puzzle or other brain-quizzing activity.
20. Practice your manners. Focus on saying please and thank you, looking others in the eye and acknowledging their presence, pay attention to your nonverbal cues/actions, etc.
21. Give up the TV tonight and do an activity with your kids and/or spouse.
22. Focus on your happiness today. It takes time and patience to learn how to find joy in the little things and not to let problems bring you down.
23. Pick one cabinet or closet to clean out or tidy up
24. Schedule an annual checkup with your doctor, vision appointment and/or dental cleaning with your dentist.
25. Ask for help! We all have things we need help with, but asking for help can sometimes be the hardest task.
26. Give up sweets/added sugars for 1 day.
27. Recycle! Reduce the amount of waste you put in our earth. Paper, cardboard, plastic beverage containers, yogurt containers, tin and steel, aluminum cans and so much more can be recycled instead of stuffed into our ground.
28. Start a personal development book or daily devotional.
29. Try a new fitness/wellness class, exercise DVD or extracurricular activity.
30. Try a new whole grain such as kamut, quinoa, farrow, black rice, millet, etc.
31. Volunteer for 1 hour.
32. Visit someone at the nursing home.
33. Go to the library and check out a new book.
Blog post provided by:
Katie Foster, RDN, LD
Nutrition Services
Hannibal Regional