Sunrise at Alta, UT
With each new year comes the effort to make and keep resolutions. I prefer striving toward a better me year-round though. I try living each day intentionally and with an aim to challenge myself and adjust as experience teaches me life lessons.
Still, books with tips to being a better you flood our office about this time of year, and the advice they offer isn’t all bad. For example, Jessica Cassity’s Better Each Day and Brett Blumenthal’s 52 Small Changes give practical advice that’ll keep you striving for the best week in and week out through the year. The advice comes in small doses that make it easy to incorporate positive change on a daily or weekly basis. Their tips that best apply to outdoorsy women:
Drink. Do whatever it takes to hydrate. If it’s tough in some way: Set up reminders. Add lemon juice to your water or sodium-free club soda. Drink unsweeted, decaffeinated, all natural beverages, like herbal tea. Carry a BPA-free water bottle.
Sleep. Improve your sleep by adjusting the lighting, linens, sound and temperature in your bedroom, by maintaining a regular sleep schedule, and by exercising in the morning or afternoon rather than in the evening or at night.
Move. Stretch, sweat, and get strong.
Eat fruit and veggies. Cut back on dairy, animal proteins, and beverages that pack a ton of empty calories. But do satisfy your hunger and substitute flavorful veggies in place of meats, applesauce for oil when baking, and Greek yogurt instead of mayo or sour cream.
Get back to nature. Go fishing. Watch a sunrise. Walk outside. Swim in open water.
Other simple tips: Be present. Participate in your life. Give thanks. Strengthen relationships. Find your own spirituality. Give Back. Laugh out loud. Breathe.
What are some of your daily habits that keep you active and outdoors?
