As the festive season winds down and New Year’s resolutions and goals ramp up, what challenges have you got on your list?
Some of the most common lifestyle changes include losing weight, exercising more, and ditching alcohol. As we all know, the trick is making sure you follow through, which is often a lot harder than it seems. Getting your resolution started is actually the easy bit, sticking to it for the long haul is where the real challenge lies.
How to stick to your New Year’s resolutions
Even the most well-intentioned resolutions have a habit of slipping away, to become a guilty secret that are resurrected again in a year, or not. Follow these tips to give yourself a better chance of sticking to them.
First thing is to be honest and realistic about what you can achieve. There is no point signing up for a marathon if you have never run further than the bathroom. That is not to say you can’t build up to running a marathon, but you will do yourself no favours diving in at the deep end.
You also need to be organised and have a plan - which usually means doing some research about what you are getting yourself into. There will be issues of cost and time commitment to think about. Is it realistic to sign up for a 6am boot camp three times a week?
You also need a fair amount of discipline to get through the first few days, weeks or months of a lifestyle change. This is where a partner, friend or crew can help - as they can kick your butt and motivate you to get out of bed on that cold, wet morning.
Making the change
As we mentioned, weight loss, exercise and giving up alcohol are popular goals for many of us, as we look to make changes to our lifestyle.
You should also consider spending more time outdoors. A study in the Environmental Science and Technology journal, found that getting active in natural environments helped to revitalise participants’ outlook on life, while giving them an energy boost and decreasing tension, confusion, anger and depression. Combine time outdoors with exercise and you have a powerful combination to turbo-charge your fitness and mental wellbeing.
Giving up alcohol
If you are looking to give up alcohol then there are small lifestyle changes you can make to give yourself a better chance of succeeding.
Start by reducing the amount of alcohol you drink, rather than going cold turkey. Removing alcohol from your home environment and avoiding pubs and bars is usually a good idea, especially early on - and tell people what you are doing so you can get encouragement for the challenge ahead. You may also simply want to reduce the amount you drink and make changes to your lifestyle that are more about moderation than giving it up completely. It’s all about making a lifestyle choice that suits you.
The must-have drink if you have New Year’s resolutions
If you want to make a move away from alcohol, then Edenvale is the ideal choice to help you keep socializing while sticking to those goals for a healthier you.
When we remove alcohol from our wine, so are large quantities of sugar, which translates into less calories per glass. For example, the removal of 13% alcohol by volume translates to a 60 % reduction in calories. This could help you reach your weight loss goals - preferably in conjunction with a healthy balanced diet and exercise programme.
You may be surprised at how good our range tastes.
A blind tasting of 30 tasters from leading consumer advocacy group Choice recently gave our Sparkling Cuvee the thumbs up, ranking it number 1 over a range of other non-alcoholic sparkling wines. Comments included, "...more like Champagne", "an appropriate substitute for alcoholic wine" and "I'd drink this again".
Give it a go - you’ll soon be enjoying all the health benefits like improved energy levels, deeper sleep, and you may even lose some weight.
Looking to make the transition to a low or alcohol-free lifestyle? You can shop all our varietals online, or check availability at your local stockist. Selected products are also available in the beverage aisle at these retailers:
