Happy New Year !

Happy New Year to all of my BalletBeats clients.  I hope that you have had a truly wonderful Christmas with your families and are now ready to plie your way through 2018 !   

Whether you are the type of person to make new year’s resolutions or not, I am sure many of you have indulged over the holidays (myself included) and are more than ready to return to your much healthier usual routines. . . i.e no more chocolate or Mince pies for breakfast!

So, I have been thinking about how I am going to get myself back on track after all the festivities and so for my first post of the year, I thought I would share the basics of my plan.   

1. Hydrate. Get into a routine of drinking 2-3 litres of water per day.  This will really help to flush out any nasty toxins and assist in fat loss.  
   
2. Clear out the rubbish. Clear out all your cupboards and fridges of manufactured food items such as chocolate, crisps, cakes, biscuits etc.  If it’s not there you cannot be tempted!  This always works for me.
   
3. Get moving.  You will be surprised at what a difference you can make to your fitness or weight loss goals just by making extra time to park further away from the station, walk to your place of work or walking the children to school.  Not only will moving more make a difference physically, but also mentally.
   
4. Accountability. Make a pact with a friend to get healthier, eat better, start an exercise class or join a gym.  You will not want to let them down and so more inclined to keep to any agreed sessions and more importantly you are more likely to WANT to train. Do not underestimate this as a source of motivation.
   
5. Alcohol.  Limit alcohol to planned occasions if you can.  Remember the body burns alcohol as energy first so all those extra nibbles that a few drinks cause you to consume will be stored as fat.  Not to mention the calories consumed the next day to assist your hangover.  
   
6. Keep meals simple.  Stick to three meals a day and each meal consisting of a hand size portion (hand in a karate chop) of protein - (chicken, steak, turkey, eggs, fish), thumb size portion of good fats (avocado, almonds) and a fist size portion of carbohydrates (rice, sweet potato) and fill up on greens with every meal too.  Try to not snack between meals, make a habit of having good main meals at first.  If you need to snack have a piece of fruit (apple, pear or handful of berries).
   
7. Put pen to paper.  When I get into a habit of eating the wrong things I find keeping a food diary on a daily basis really helps.  If everything is recorded and I am not seeing any results I can see where I need to make changes.  I do exactly the same with my training, I make sure I record the days I train. weights used and reps/sets etc.  Write down your goals. This is another HUGE part of succeeding.      
   
8. Gratitude Diary.  Every night I make sure that I write in my diary what or whom I am thankful for it allows me to process my day and helps me focus on being present which in turn makes me happy.   Gratitude has been known to improve sleep, self esteem and reduces feelings of envy, making us feel good and in turn alleviates stress.  What’s not to love about being grateful.
   
9. Choose your mindset.  Life is always going to throw us a curveball or two or three, but it’s how we deal with these problems that matters.  Be grateful, be kind and give yourself a break.
   

I hope that some of these actions will help you guys get on track.  I’ll report back on my own progress soon.

Happy New Year!

Laura
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