3 Easy Habits to Add to Your Routine If Your New Year’s Goals Could Use a Boost

If your ultimate wellness plan isn't going as successfully as you, well, planned, Brigitte Zeitlin, RD and Manitoba Harvest have some advice for using February as a blank slate for starting fresh with your goals—beginning with assessing how achievable they are.

"An all-or-nothing approach can leave you feeling overwhelmed with so many changes that it becomes exhausting to keep up," Zeitlin says. "Small changes actually leave you feeling more invigorated about reaching your goals."

"Small changes actually leave you feeling more invigorated about reaching your goals."

Instead of trying to totally revamp your whole life (I'm going to go to the gym every day forever), focus on making small healthy lifestyle changes that are easier to maintain (I'm going to add one more workout per week). And just like that, February just became your new favorite goal-setting month.

Keep scrolling for 3 of Zeitlin's go-to healthy lifestyle changes that will help you hit your wellness goals.

Switch wine night to a workout

Just because you've decided to prioritize your health doesn't mean you have to swear off your social life and move into the gym (pls don't). Instead of leaving the group chat at the first mention of happy hour, suggest that your girls trade sangria for a sweat sesh one night per week.

"I love meeting up with my friends for a drink after work, but I swap one girls' night of booze per week, for one girls' night of spin or yoga," Zeitlin says. "We still get to catch up, have fun, and hang, while adding in one extra dry night to the week." And if anyone complains that spending the hour on your yoga mats means no time to discuss RHONY, you can always stop for smoothies after.

Sprinkle hemp hearts on everything

Need to up your iron? Hemp seeds. Want to add a bit more plant-based protein to your day? Hemp seeds. Want to improve—you get the gist. Manitoba Harvest's Hemp Hearts (aka shelled hemp seeds) are packed with nutrients and add a nutty flavor to anything you sprinkle them on.

"With omegas 3 and 6 and plant-based protein, hemp hearts help you feel more satisfied and energized," Zeitlin says. About three spoonfuls of hemp seeds provides 10 grams of protein, which helps you stay fuller for longer, she says. Plus, they contain B vitamins as an added bonus.

"With omegas 3 and 6 and plant-based protein, hemp hearts help you feel more satisfied and energized."

Start your morning by sprinkling the hemp hearts on avocado toast, oatmeal, or yogurt, or if you're more of an on-the-go breakfast type, grab a Hemp Yeah! Bar. For dinner, Zeitlin recommends adding hemp hearts to stir fries, soups, stews, and salads—any meal that can benefit from an extra boost of nutrition and crunch (so, basically anything). Thanks to these little guys, even your big bowl of mac 'n' cheese can be nutritious.

Hydrate... Then hydrate some more

It's so easy to do, yet so easy to forget. But no matter what your health goals are, you're likely going to have a hard time achieving them if you're not drinking plenty of water.

"Dehydration leads to lower energy, irritability, increased sugar cravings, less effective workouts, and dry, flaky skin," says Zeitlin. "Dehydration also contributes to overeating when you aren’t hungry because our bodies interpret thirst as hunger, so you [raid] the office pantry when really what you need is some H20."

Even in the winter time when you may not be sweating as much, you should still aim to drink at least 64 ounces of water every day. So fill up your water bottle, stock up on hemp seeds, set up your gym date, and bask in your healthified February mood.

Sponsored by Manitoba Harvest

Top photo: Bonninstudio