4 Fitness & Nutrition Tips to Skip this New Year - and 4 to try

Ah, the New Year. The season to become a newer, better version of yourself. To finally change once and for all. To become the version of yourself that you want to be. Motivation is high. You can't wait to get started. Or, maybe you couldn't care less.

The other week, my boyfriend was very sick and very bored.

"This is a great time to redesign your life!" I told him. "I always do it when I'm sick!"

His response to me was: "Why do I need to redesign my life? Is there something wrong with it?"

Oops. I never even considered that. I've spent so much of my life obsessing over how to become better, how to fix all of my problems, how to finally "arrive" and fully live as the perfect person I strive to be.

The issue is that I will never get there. And I have sacrificed so much joy and appreciation in the present in my relentless pursuit of more.

Maybe you go through the same cycle. Self-help books, podcasts, news articles — everyone is shouting at us that we need to change, "lock in," uplevel our lives. But what if all we really need to do is just... less, but better?

Here are 4 New Year tips that you have full permission to skip, no matter how much the internet tells you that you can't, and what to do instead.

Going on a diet, detox, or cleanse — even if you're not calling it that. By now, you probably know that dieting is an incredibly unsustainable, miserable way to go about getting healthy and/or losing weight. But some people are sneaky. You might not even realize that you're dieting — intermittent fasting, cleanses, detoxes, cutting out sugar for 30 days — these are all diets in disguise. Now, I am not saying you can't do these things. If they work for you, fine. But why are you doing them? Every action has an opposite and equal reaction. If you think you ate too many sweets over the holidays, get to the bottom of why you felt the need to eat past fullness or ignore how certain foods made you feel. Change the way that you eat sweets so that you can enjoy them and never have to live without them. Try not to just white-knuckle your way through an abstinence period.

Instead: Add one vegetable to a meal you already eat. Eat the same foods, just more slowly. Notice what makes you feel good vs. what you "should" eat. Trust the process.

Following someone else's exact fitness routine. There's more to exercise programming than most people think. This is why custom programs and a good personal trainer are so valuable. Following an online routine or one created by AI is not a winning strategy. There is so much nuance that goes into it. Your body, your limitations, and your goals are different from that internet influencer. And whatever ChatGPT spits out? It's often just recycled 90's Muscle & Fitness routines (yes, this actually happens).

Instead: Pick one type of movement you actually enjoy. Build around your real schedule, not an influencer's. Ask "Would I do this for 6 months?" before starting.

Trying to do an overhaul. Motivation is intoxicating. But it's also fleeting. So please, don't make your plans for the year in a motivation haze. It's important to push ourselves out of our comfort zones, do hard things, and stick to the promises we make to ourselves. But when you try to do too much at once, you end up beating yourself up and thinking you're a failure instead of realizing that the system you set up was inevitably going to fail. There's nothing wrong with you — so take things slow, and choose lifelong changes over quick fixes that disappear within months.

Instead: Change one thing for two weeks before adding another. Make the smallest possible version of the habit. Stack a new habit onto something you already do.

"Getting back on track." I am guilty of using this verbiage. It's a really great metaphor, but it's not a good mindset. Life is full of ups and downs. There is no track you have to stay on. The road unfolds before us every single day, and we can never know what's coming. Put your time and energy towards doing the best that you can do today. And let "your best" be flexible.

Instead: Tell yourself, "I'm just continuing." Drop the idea of a track entirely. Start from where you are without the guilt narrative.

There's no pressure for this year to be the best. But maybe it can be the first one you actually enjoy for what it is.