Keri McKibbin Personal Training

We are tempted to forget sometimes how far we have come, and we are tempted to over-congratulate ourselves by going back to the habits we had before we even started being committed to a healthy lifestyle.

Even though Christmas is almost here, it’s still a great idea to use the 80% rule.

80% of the time still eat well, and 20% of the time you can afford something you fancy.

80% of the time, still put in decent workouts because it does become about feeling good still.

When you first stared, chances are the stuff you ate too much, you drank too much maybe (I’m including pop in that too), AND your lack of exercise may have made you feel ill and in pain much of the time.

Then your lifestyle changed and 100% all of you will state the fact you just FEEL BETTER now as your lifestyle changed and sometimes dramatically.

You should be proud of how far you have come, and to keep feeling that good use the 80% rule, it not only works but keeps a good balance in your life too, so you never feel as if you are depriving yourself of anything.

2024 is next year. BUT 2023 is NOT over yet, and it’s important you keep making the most of it.

One of the most valuable lessons many of you learned this year is having your habits ENGRAINED into your life and the power that now brings you.

You tell me now you strongly associate good mental health all day after your exercise session, the chemical reaction that is proven to be set off in your brain during and after exercise is very powerful for your mood, your sense of wellbeing, and does wonders for your previous periods of anxiousness, which in the past could overwhelm you and finish you for the day.

I class a habit as something you do pretty much every day, and you do it now without thinking about it too much, you just do it..

Exercise has the added bonus of actually doing you good too.

This means that if you have been training for any length of time, you should never wish that this year ends quickly and you “get it out of the way”, because so many people would swap places with you in a heartbeat, and you should take the opportunity to cherish every day, to try and make a positive impact, to help others out too and when you do that you actually feel better yourself.

When we have a sense that our presence contributes to the well-being and happiness of others, then our mission in life seems a lot more important and we will likely take more responsibility for it, it makes us step out from the shadows when “coasting and hiding” seems the easiest option.

Christmas can be an enormously sad and desperate time for so many people, it’s our job to lift others up around us and this starts first and foremost with ourselves, because if we can’t lift ourselves, then we will be of not much value or example to others.

Your habits you have learned this year again, exercising, eating healthily and the power of encouragement, should make you have a very positive end of year, and that positivity will only rub off on others that are closest to you.