RENEW YOU IN 2014: THREE TIPS

“Lose weight, exercise more, eat less, eat different…” All the typical New Year’s resolutions are swirling around in our heads. As we enter this New Year, I suggest a different tactic. Rather than thinking about what you don’t have, try thinking about what you do. It’s time we refreshed our resolutions. 

Reflection and positive reinforcement are excellent motivators to help you continue to thrive in 2014. What do you love about your body? What fitness exercises do you enjoy? What are you grateful for in your life? Focus on renewing these sentiments in the New Year. Renew YOU in 2014. 

For this post, I collaborated with ZICOCoconut Water, as they rolled out their ReNewYorkCity campaign. I was fortunate to work with their tasty products, as well as attend classes at Pure Yoga studio as part of my research.

So today, I bring you three tips to “Renew YOU” in the New Year. Let us reflect, rehydrate and refresh our resolutions.

1. REFLECT

The New Year gives us a breathe of fresh air. A clean slate. 365 new chances to be amazing.

I believe reflection to be one of the most important aspects of life. How do we know where we’re going if we don’t know where we came from? Being in tune with your senses and your abilities is critical to achieving anything. Reflection is also key when appreciating yourself. And appreciating oneself helps us build confidence, motivates us to succeed, and helps us to appreciate others in our life.

In the spirit of reflection, I took a guided meditation class at Pure Yoga Studio - who partnered with ZICO for their ReNewYorkCity campaign. Yoga is a great tool for reflection. Especially for those of us who have trouble turning off our minds and getting some peace and quiet (enter, New Yorkers) -- guided meditation can be very helpful. Through this meditation, we were encouraged to embark on a journey of self-love. “What do you love about yourself?” asked our instructor. “What traits do you love?” “What features do you love?” “Think of someone you love dearly. Share this love with them.” We then affirmed the answers internally. I came out of the class feeling focused, refreshed, and ready to renew myself in the New Year.

Even before entering this class, I had always been a believer in practicing self-love. Self-love helps us stay mindful of our bodies, it helps us practice good self-care, it influences who we choose as a partner. Most importantly, when you practice self-love, you live with a purpose.

2. REHYDRATE YOUR BODY & MIND

Our body and mind are interconnected and we have to respect them both in regards to total body health. As we know, staying active is imperative to our health – and so is staying hydrated (after all a significant fraction of the human body is water).  

Here are two delicious recipes (courtesy of ZICO -- and named after Just Sara Jane!), to help us rehydrate our body and mind. Bust out those blenders, friends!

Just Sara Jane Juice

Who says it can’t feel like summer in January? ZICO's electrolytes, watermelon's lycopene, and chia seeds' omega-3 fatty acids will help tighten and smooth skin for a radiant, summer glow. Blend ingredients and serve chilled.

½ Cup ZICO PineapplePure Premium Coconut Water

1/2 Cup Fresh or Frozen Raspberries

1/2 Cup Fresh Watermelon, cubed

1/4 Cup Fresh Spinach Leaves

1 /2 Cup Plain, Low-fat Greek Yogurt

1/2 Cup ice

1 Tbs Chia Seeds

The Rock Your Body

Who doesn’t love banana, peanut butter and chocolate? This smoothie packs a fantastic chocolate-y punch.

1 Cup ZICO LattePremium Coconut Water

½ Cup Ice

½ Frozen Banana

1 Tbsp. Peanut Butter

1 Square of Dark Chocolate (or for the Real Deal, Try a Pinch of Cacao Nibs or a Few Cacao Beans)

3. REFRESH YOUR RESOLUTIONS

We all know the typical New Year’s resolutions shtick. I’m suggesting you do a remix this year. Making New Year’s resolutions is fine and good, but all too often we get bogged down in making a laundry list and then are let down when we don’t achieve all we hoped. I’m not one to say “don’t dream big” - I will be the first to tell you to do just that. I do suggest however, that as you are creating your “resolutions” for the year, also include a list of “renew resolutions.”

First, write your master list. Add whatever you resolve to achieve -- your dreams, your goals, and your hopes for the future. Then, ask yourself - what are things I did great last year (or in years past) that I want to keep doing? How did I use my body in ways that I enjoyed and were good for me? How can I continue to do the things I am passionate about? How did I change the lives of those around me?

Rather than radically shifting your mind into thinking that this New Year has to be all about change, try thinking about the things that were great in the past years and how you can continue to do them. Write these down too.  Refresh your resolutions.

Life is not about defining yourself, it is about creating yourself.

In this light, may you renew all the things you love about yourself, and the things that make you unique. At the end of the day, YOU are the only YOU out there.  

x

sjb 

Some outtakes from the making of this article: 

Put some OOMPH in it! 

Hangin' with the fellas. 

Come one, come all! ZICO's here! 

Photo credit: Jenny Statler
xoxo, just sara jane