52 Steps to a New You

The Summer can be a difficult time to keep healthy with lots of BBQs, visitors, drinks, it can be easy to fall out of your healthy habits. Everyone will be getting back to the routine come September. There is a tendency, like at New Year, to go mad, making drastic changes trying to offset the damage done over the Summer, or maybe lose a little holiday weight. Quite often these changes don’t take hold as it was all a bit too much too soon. Little gradual changes are a great way to instil good healthy habits that will last a lifetime.  One change at a time, giving each change a chance to settle in and then moving on to the next one, while keeping the previous one going. Soon all these little changes add up to a whole new you!

Here we’ve laid out 52 small changes for you to add one small change each week of the year, which could mean a new and improved you this time next year! Print the list and stick on your fridge and follow the list or pick and choose as you like, checking off as you go. Good luck!

1. Drink more water (filtered or bottled)
2. Eat more vegetables
3. Eat more fruit
4. Add more green to your diet
5. Add seeds to your daily diet
6. Eat a variety of nuts
7. Eat protein at every meal/ snack
8. Eat a little avocado each day
9. Eliminate gluten
10. Drink lemon water every morning
11. Add beneficial oils e.g extra virgin olive oil
12. Change marg/spreads to real butter
13. Cook with coconut oil
14. Try goats milk, raw milk or nut milks
15. Use natural beauty products
16. Add an extra half hour exercise a day
17. Eliminate dairy
18. Try alternative grains e.g oats, millet, buckwheat, spelt
19. Add nut/seed butters to your day
20. Change all white to brown
21. Cut out sugar
22. Add a little seaweed to your diet
23. Add sprouts to your diet (maybe sprout your own!)
24. Go to a country market
25. Make your own soup
26. Plant some veg
27. Grow your own herbs
28. Keep blood sugar balanced by eating regular low GI meals/snack (no 6 helps with this)
29. Change to dark chocolate (you can gradually move from milk to 70%, to 85% & 90%)
30. Eat mindfully
31. Use more herbs & spices
32. Eat more brightly coloured fruit/veg e.g beetroot, blueberries
33. Use flaxseed/ chia seeds
34. Freeze banana/avocado/berries for smoothies
35. Prep meals the night before
36. Keep a food diary
37. Practice mindfulness/ meditation
38. Chew food well (each bite at least 20 times)
39. Drink herbal tea
40. Don’t rush food only eat when calm, take a few belly breaths first
41. Try a green juice/smoothie
42. Keep healthy snacks where u need them to avoid reaching for wrong thing
43. Read labels
44. Eat local food
45. Eat more oily fish (tinned salmon/mackerel is an easy option)
46. Up your 5 a day to 8 or more a day (fit veg/fruit into every meal/snack)
47. Eat fermented food e.g kimchi, kefir, etc
48. Add good quality natural probiotic yogurt to your day
49. Have a few vegetarian days in the week
50. Eat organic
51. Read up on the benefit of healthy eating, recipes, etc , do your own research
52. Cut down alcohol

Kara Reilly, Current Student