2021: A Fresh Start
A Resolution Worth Sticking To with Lianna Nielsen
This is the time of year when we all attempt to clean up our acts, create new habits and lose those extra holiday pounds. As a health coach this tends to be a pretty busy time of year for me but 2021 is feeling a bit different. While there are still people looking to lose that extra holiday weight, there is also the fun new addition of pandemic weight (thank you 2020!), and for the first time there seems to be a bit more intention behind it.
Vanity aside, people are starting to realize that ignoring their health is an even bigger risk these days amidst the seemingly unending global pandemic. We now know that both chronic inflammation and obesity, both caused at least partially by unhealthy diets, can exacerbate symptoms of Covid. For better or worse this is making the world look a little more closely at their health and diet—a silver lining to a dumpster fire of a year.
What’s most exciting to me about this year is that there is more interest in making lasting changes, building sustainable habits, and creating life balance instead of the normal quick fix most people tend to look for January 1st.
I got into nutrition when the stress of acting, bartending, and generally having too much fun as a twenty-something in NYC turned into an autoimmune disease (total bummer). I was forced to slow down, examine my life, and change my habits—especially my diet. What started out as a journey to heal my physical body quickly turned into something far more significant.
Anyone can read the latest diet book or decide to give up sugar, but if you want to actually make a lasting change and transform your body or your lifestyle you need to go deeper. Most people are aware that they need to eat more veggies or cut back on booze—but struggle to do it permanently. So many bad habits are actually attempts to avoid how we feel because our lives are unbalanced. Much of the time, extra weight and disease stem from a deep disconnection from ourselves, and the fact that we are living inauthentically.
We can only truly be healthy when our lives are balanced: healthy relationships, enjoyable work, a positive self-image, a healthy diet, proper stress management, and regular physical activity. Health doesn’t exist in a vacuum of calories and portion size—when one area of life is out of balance it tends to manifest as cravings, addiction and disease. So just changing your diet alone, while incredibly important, won’t be as effective as examining why you’re overeating or constantly indulging.
So if you are one of the many starting the year with the intention of self-improvement, I encourage you to incorporate an inside-out, as well as, an outside-in approach. That means in addition to trying to improve your diet, sleep and/or exercise, also take time to slow down, check in and examine your mental and emotional thought patterns. Consider incorporating a meditation or mindfulness practice (which actually helps with weight-loss), journaling or a gratitude practice. Lasting change comes from understanding the root cause of our behaviors and taking the time to investigate why you do the things you—this is the most effective way to improve your habits, health and lifestyle.
