Food For Your Soul: Dawn McGee
The beginning of a new year can feel like the perfect time to reset. But what happens when your motivation wears off? How can we maintain our healthy lifestyles throughout the rest of the year?
Tips For Staying Motivated To Maintain Your Good Health:
How are your goals going? Are you getting discouraged? Have you started thinking about giving up? If so, you’re not alone! Most people start the new year feeling confident about the goals they’ve set. But within a few weeks, many are calling it quits (in fact, the second Friday of January is labeled ‘Quitters’ Day). If you’ve lost your beginning-of-the-year motivation, don’t worry – it’s not too late to ensure you have a healthy and successful 2024! Let’s talk about a few of the things you can do to maintain your good health all year long.
“Revisit your goals and create new, simplified versions.”
1. Get Back to Basics:
It’s possible that one of the reasons you’re having trouble keeping up with your goals is that you need to restructure them. Get back to the root of your goals: Why did you choose those specific targets? What are you trying to achieve, really? What’s your purpose? What lifestyle are you trying to create for yourself? Write this down. Now look at the goals you’ve set: are they helping you create the lifestyle you want, or are they becoming another barrier? If your goals are not set properly, you may prevent yourself from making any progress.
Think about your own situation. Everybody’s health journey is different. Consider what works for you. If, like me, you’ve had joint replacement surgeries, adjust your plan to strengthen your muscles and support your joints. I know that I don’t want to replace them again, so I focus more on walking and less on the high impact of running. If I set a goal to go for a run twice a week, that wouldn’t make sense for my needs. It’s about finding a plan that fits your life.
This tip for staying motivated is key: Revisit your goals and create new, simplified versions. If your original goal was to walk two miles every day, your new goal may be to take a walk around your block every day. Build up to a more ambitious goal over time! It’s the consistency over time that matters.
2. Include Self-Care in Your Plan:
Health isn’t just about exercise and food. It’s about feeling good inside and out. Self-care is a vital piece of the puzzle! Add things like relaxing, being mindful, or doing stretches to your routine. Try journaling. Listen to music. Spend time on your hobbies, and make time for socializing with friends. These extras help you feel good overall and keep your health goals on track.
“Whatever your network looks like, the most important thing is to make sure that you feel supported.”
Your self-care shouldn’t be an afterthought. If you treat it as optional, you’ll always put it off for the things you’ve labeled as necessities. You have to decide that self-care is non-negotiable. Choose the self-care activities that work best for you, and schedule them into your daily life! Put them on your calendar like any other important appointment. Because it is.
3. Get Serious About Community & Accountability:
You can’t do it all alone. I’m constantly telling my clients that “life is a team sport”. We all need community, and an accountability network is essential to creating a healthy lifestyle.
Each person’s accountability network will look a little bit different. It may include family, a trusted friend, or even your colleagues at work. It could also include professionals, like your doctors, nutritionist, or trainer. I’ve found that coach-led groups create a wonderful balance between support and accountability – you get a dedicated community; accountability from both peers and your coach; and education tailored to your needs. Whatever your network looks like, the most important thing is to make sure that you feel supported. And if you have any tips for staying motivated share them in the comments.
Additional resources can be found in Dawn’s bio below.
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About The Author:
Dawn McGee is a Nutrition Evangelist and Lazy Cook. She is super passionate about putting the fun back into being healthy and does that by teaching women how to eat to serve their body, brain, and soul so that they can get off the sidelines and back to doing all of the things that bring them joy. She works with women who are ready to make their health a priority and just need someone to help them get started and guide them through the process.
Dawn has been coaching clients in person, online, in groups, and in a 1:1 capacity for more than a dozen years. Prior to becoming a nutrition and fitness coach, she spent over 25 years in the high-tech industry, so she truly understands the life of busy professional women.
Join her free group www.facebook.com/groups/NeverDiet and follow her on IG @dmnutrition and on FB @dmnutritioncoach to hear about all the other fun stuff she has (and get a ton of free + valuable info) If you’re ready to cut through the noise, grab her free guide to 7 Nutrition Lies here –> Free Guide: 7 Nutrition Lies We’ve All Been Fed. Join our 28-Day Jumpstart – not another diet or eating program, but the starting point to truly shift your mind and body.
The 100 days of 1% program has a deeper focus on your mind, body, and long-term lifestyle, this 3-month program will guide you in making small, meaningful progress in every area of your life as you work to achieve your optimal health, take control of your time, and crush your goals!
