Written by:

Jen Cox - AdvDip NAT + WHM.

@keeperandkin

I have a love/hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions.

On the one hand I do love the annual reminder to check in on yo’ self. As humans we’re pretty great at losing perspective (I am a specialist) so thinking honestly about what you’ve done, what you plan to do and the next steps to make your dreams happen is definitely good practice.

However, it’s far from a perfect system.  US News found that 80% of New Year’s Resolutions fail by February, because any change –positive or negative – involves some form of emotional stress.  Since most of us are already maxxed out in this department, there’s little room to move which means if you made a resolution and broke it: welcome to the club, we’re (almost) all here.  

The good news is we can start afresh. When it comes to choosing new goals, there are a few tricks to making them more attainable.

1. Limit the list: Studies shown that a list of more than three goals will make your brain ‘nope’ at the lot. Keep it super short at 1 – 3 only, or risk having the whole bunch chucked in the too hard basket.
2. Be as realistic as possible: since change is stressful, be selective. Choose only things that will have the most impact of good in your life, with the least change, effort or input required.
3. Look for multiple benefits: sometimes we need more than just one reason to do the right thing. If your goal is genuinely for the greater good of yourself, the planet and the people you love, it’s on the list.

Keeping focus in the sphere of stressing less, here are three goals I can get behind. They’re easy to do, have multiple benefits and will make your world a better, less stressed place.

~ Upgraded coffee: caffeine is stressful for the body. When taken with food it will negatively impact your nutrient absorption but when taken alone it creates a cortisol spike. This spike means blood sugar disturbance, aggravated stress hormones and ultimately drained adrenals glands.  It is also acidic and can damage the balance of your gut bacteria… the thing is though, I love it. So, if you’re like me, try bio hacking your beany BFF with an upgrade rather than ditching it all together.

For those playing at home this means swapping out milk or sweeteners in favour of MCT oil (short for Medium Chain Triglycerides) and ghee/butter or coconut oil then blitzing it ‘Bulletproof Style’ into a frothy latte.  The fat content will balance your blood sugar and cortisol response while providing the brain fuel you need to focus and slay.  If you’re feeling it, adding a dusting of cinnamon is the final fancy touch for prebiotic, blood sugar balancing and anti-inflammatory effects.

Further to this coffee upgrade, if you don’t make your coffee at home there is something to be said for allowing yourself the luxury of taking 10 minutes out of your day to sit in at the café rather rush out to-go. It honours the truth that you do deserve breaks in your busy day and enforces a short one where you may otherwise be on the run.  It is also good for the planet because single use plastics do, in fact, suck.  Multiple wins there.

~ Take a daily probiotic: there are a billion reasons that probiotics are good for you and any future mini-you’s. Microbiome exposure is a Mumma’s first birthday gift to her newborn.  It influences their long-term health outcomes in several important ways and provides the start to their own beneficial bacterial ecosystem.

Probiotics also play important roles in stress and anxiety management. We have only scratched the surface in this research area, but clever words like ‘psychobiotics’ have been made up to describe the pre and probiotics that help produce neurotransmitters.  These little legends influence the balance of stress hormones and tinker with other areas that directly impact stress levels: think immunity, energy production, nutrient absorption and sleep.  It’s safe to say then, that a daily Probiotic is the poster child for minimal effort with maximum positive impact for yourself and your whole family.

~ Hydrate: if you want to feel less stressed and think more clearly water is so simple and effective. My resolution to support this is simple and easy: it doesn’t involve overcommitting and honours the fact that I have lost every water bottle I have ever owned.  Add water and a pinch of sea salt to the largest jar or novelty Schutzenfest stein you own (no judgment) then leave it somewhere obvious for yourself each evening.  Next step: down the whole thing as a matter of priority when you wake up.  The salt actually helps your body to absorb and use the water you ingest so even if you forget that we’re just cucumbers with feelings, you’ll be off to a great start.

Team this one up with goal number two and add a dose of probiotics straight from the fridge when you wake to really maximise on our minimal effort for maximum results aspect.  Studies have shown that consuming probiotics before food in the morning is one of the best ways to ensure that they get to where they need to go.

And that is it. Simple, arguably lazy but doable for the greater good. Bring on Feb 1^st.

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