Welcome back and happy Sunday! I hope you have had a great start to 2024 and a great weekend! I’ve been getting some rest after a very busy week and planning for my week ahead!

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The new year is known to bring about a new energy full of refreshment, goals, and wanting to lead better and healthier lives. Setting goals might be easy for some, and more difficult for others. It may be easy to set goals but then not follow through the rest of the year. There is a huge emphasis on the “new year new me” mindset, but while yes, it is a new year, we are still the same people. We are still busy women, in the same season of life, with the same responsibilities, and a lot of the time these things do not change. I don’t say this to seem depressing (please don’t be), but more for encouragement to not pressure yourself with trying to do a bunch of new things and create more demands for yourself. Give yourself some grace!

As a new mom, full-time employee, wife, and keeper of the home; there are several things that I’ve had to learn about rhythms and healthy habits to help me try to manage it all, while not running myself into the ground. Am I successful all of the time? Nope. Do I have a good attitude about it all of the time? NOPE. But I do know that these habits DO help to lead healthier lives, and they are not just for the new year. These are practical habits that you can introduce into your daily lives and rhythms to lead more emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically healthier lives.

Meditation & Quiet Time

As a Christian woman, and I hope that you are too, this should be my FIRST habit of the day: meeting with Jesus. I am not successful with this every day, but I do know that He is my source of life, energy, encouragement, security, and my words and actions reflect Him more when I have met with Him. Don’t let time be a barrier to not meeting with Jesus! You can read the Bible for a few moments as you’re waking up, listen to the Bible during your commute, listen to worship music throughout your day, pray at any moment, or read a short devotional. Make more time for Jesus in 2024! Some of my favorite devotionals or books of guided prayers are Every Moment Holy, To Light Their Way, New Morning Mercies, and Embraced.

Take Care of Your Skin

When I became a new mom, taking care of my skin and my body kind of went to the wayside. I was just trying to keep my baby fed, healthy, and happy, haha! But once I became comfortable and confident that I sort of knew what to do, I decided that I wanted to try and care for myself a little better. It’s so easy to put yourself on the back-burner and take care of others! But taking just a few minutes every morning and/or evening to care for yourself can make such a difference. One habit I’ve been implementing is taking 3-5 extra minutes in the mornings to apply some extra skincare products. My favorite ones to use right now are eye creams or serums and a good hydrating face cream. Since my face is probably the first thing to show how much sleep I’ve been getting, that’s where I wanted to start caring for myself more. These are some of the products that I’ve been loving and these brands are the ones that I use almost exclusively: Andalou Naturals Vitamin C Eye Cream, Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Eye Serum, and Derma E Night Cream. I’ve also had an Ice Roller for the Face before and it’s such a great tool to use on your skin to wake up and de-puff those tired mama eyes.

Drink More Water

Ya, ya, ya. I’m saying it again, what we all know. But I’m saying it AGAIN 🙂 Drink more water!! In this season of life for me, I have found that I become dehydrated so much faster than before. Part of that had to do with nursing a baby, hormones, and my body adjusting, I’m sure. Staying hydrated has so many health benefits and we all should be drinking more water. It’s good for the skin, keeps headaches away, makes you feel more energized, and all the other good things. I know there is a super trendy brand of tumblers all over stores and social media, but I actually prefer something else. I’ve been using the Simple Modern 50 oz Tumbler and Simple Modern 40 oz Tumbler for a bit. Both of these hold so much water, keep things cold, and do not spill easily. The 40 oz one fits nicely in your car cupholder, and the 50 oz one is great for keeping with you during the day to make sure you get all the fluids that you need. When I was nursing, I struggled to stay hydrated even while I was drinking so much water. I learned that my electrolytes were probably getting depleted, and I started drinking a supplement 1-2 times a day. Some of my favorite brands of electrolyte supplements are Liquid IV, LMNT, Ultima Replenisher, and Nuun Hydration. All of these come in a variety of flavors and help to also make drinking water a little less boring, haha.

Get Your Steps In!

One thing I want to incorporate more in my day is exercise. I feel like I lost so much of my muscle mass during pregnancy and the early stages of being a new mom, and I still haven’t built it back up. I’ve struggled to find the time and energy to work out, if I’m being honest. But I do know the health benefits of exercising and taking care of your physical body. One way that I’m going to start working on my physical health is getting more steps in each day. I think that 10,000 steps is the recommended goal and so I’m going to start there. I have a Fitbit Inspire 2 and can’t wait to start tracking my steps and my health again. I just bought a new band for my Fitbit and think it will help to add some flair to the watch band. Some other watch options are this fitness tracker and the Fitbit Inspire 3.

Efficient Meal Planning

I am proud to say that I think I’ve become a meal planning expert! (At least for my life and my family) Each weekend, on a Saturday or Sunday, I look through the pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what things I already have at home. Based on those items, I can start to make plans for what we will eat each day and make a list of the things that I’m missing and need from the store. I typically make 2-3 meals a week and then have leftovers on the days that I am not cooking. My husband and I have a shared meal planning note in our phones that has a space to put what we will eat each dinner, and that is SO helpful to know in advance! I really only plan our dinners each week, as we are both away from the home for breakfast and lunch while we’re working. We also have a space in that shared note for our grocery list and can both add to that list if we think of anything else we need. One fun fact about me is that I have to have things written on paper so that I can manually check something off (it’s that Enneagram 3 in me). So once we make our grocery list, I then write it down on paper and most recently, I’ve been using my new Book of Lists to write all of my shopping lists! I love this book and hope that you do too. But I digress, back to the meal planning. I’ve been using this system for almost 2 years and it has really taken some stress away from always trying to figure out what to cook.

I hope that these healthy habits are things you can practice all year-round, and that they are truly helpful for your well-being. I know they are for me and benefit my overall functioning and health. I am not perfect and I do not have everything figured out all of the time, but from one busy woman to the next, let’s try these together! I’d love to know what some of your year-round healthy habits are. Feel free to leave me a comment below!

To the new year and beyond! Talk to you soon, friends!