Detox Your Attitude in 2017

By Cristy “Code Red” Nickel

Editor’s note: When it comes to detoxing, most of us think of our bodies. But detoxing our mental attitudes can be just as important – and can help us achieve our goals as well as feel better. Here, nutritionist and trainer Cristy Nickel reveals the secret to staying motivated, achieving goals, and  making your New Year’s resolutions last forever as lifelong habits.

1. Clean out your newsfeed. Whether you like it or not, social media is a part of our daily lives. Make it positive. You need to get rid of stories and people who don’t line up with your new way of thinking. Trying to eat healthier? Then “hide” your friends’ pictures of extravagantly perfect meals or lavish appetizer spreads. Get them out of your newsfeed so they’ll get out of your mind. Focus on inspirational stories and sayings.
2. Surround yourself with positive people. Who your friends are determine both who you are now and who you’re going to be. Well, what do you want your future to look like? Grab coffee with folks from your gym. Hold healthy dinner parties. Be friends with people who get things done instead of sitting back and complaining.
3. Buy some cool workout clothes. Nothing gets me more jacked up about going to the gym than a new workout outfit. Spend some money on high-quality gym clothes that fit you right and make you feel good. Oversized, ill-fitting clothes that you constantly have to tug and pull at just make you feel miserable. When you feel good in your gym clothes, you’re more likely to put them on and go! (The same holds true for the rest of your wardrobe; the better you look, the better you’ll feel about yourself.)
4. Set achievable goals. This works for every aspect of your life. The reason people quit New Year’s resolutions so quickly is because they take on too much to begin with. Everyone wants to start a strict diet and exercise program, among other goals and they’ve completely given up by the 14th. It’s too much! It’s overwhelming! Don’t pledge to go to the gym an hour every day; instead, try a yoga class three times a week. Don’t change your eating habits, or habits in other areas, all at once. Give yourself time, and be patient with yourself.
5. Plan ahead. Making decisions takes energy, so make your choices when you feel strongest mentally and physically. Decide ahead of time what you’re going to have for dinner. You can prepare the morning or the day before. That way, you’ll avoid going through the drive-through because you feel too tired to cook at night. If you want to make a move in your career, think it out before doing something on the spur of the moment that you might regret later.
6. Stay accountable. Let’s face it, at some point in the next few weeks you’re going to want to quit. You’re going to want to cheat on your diet. You’re going to skip a workout. You’re going to find yourself to negative people so you can share your frustrations. But if you’ve got a friend to back you up and hold you accountable, you’re less likely to slip up. Ultimately, you are the one who makes the choices.

You don’t have to face yet another year of disappointing results and broken promises. Instead of setting goals you know you’re never going to reach, set yourself up for success. Tell yourself that you can do it this time—and then prove yourself right!

For  more information on Cristy’s work, and to download her free book, click here.