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What to focus on…. In 2022

In my latest podcast, on the Happy Apple, I discussed 2 things to give up entirely in 2022. If you missed it, catch up here, before reading on.

Now that you’ve given these things up, you’ll have some extra brain space to redirect to something that you SHOULD be focusing on in 2022, instead. Oh, and by the way… all of this is in the context of inspiring you towards a lifetime of good eating. And AWAY from a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and torturing yourself about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ choices. 

Anyhow… back to what you SHOULD be focusing on this year and that’s your VALUES

Now that I’m NOT talking to people about their weight much at all, I’ve got far more time to work with people around their values. Identifying your values and then checking in to ensure you are living aligned with them has a profoundly positive effect on the food you will choose to eat and the way you will look after your body. It is another avenue to help flick the switch from ‘short term’ change to ‘long term healthy lifestyle.’ The link between values and healthy choices may not be that obvious, so let me explain it to you properly. 

Below is a list of 10 common values

Success 

Happiness

Family

Kindness

Friendship

Growth

Education

Meaningful work

Wealth 

Self Respect

(*I’ve left off ‘health’ for a deliberate reason, despite it being a very common value.) 

Now, take a good look at the list and consider picking your own top 3 (you don’t have to pick 3 from this list; feel free to bring in your own). I can bet you, that no matter which 3 you PICKED all of them rely on you being the healthiest version of yourself possible in order to really, truly live aligned with your values. Am I right?

Ok, so take for example the value of ‘education’ because you might regard that as a value harder to tie back to healthy eating. To commit to lifelong learning is going to require…

-Stable energy levels so you can study

-An abundance of nutrients from fresh food to optimize your concentration levels

-A commitment to move regularly to ease out some of the aches and creaks from sitting for a prolonged period… and to give that brain a bit of a break too!

Therefore, if you truly want to live aligned with your value of education, then you do need to look after yourself… Am I right?

Similar could be said for ‘success’ and ‘meaningful work.’ And if family is one of your values, the link is even more obvious…. you want to be around for a long time to spend time with them AND you want lots of energy so you can all do fun things together! 

Hopefully, I’ve made my point now. And by just thinking about your values, you are already moving away from a ‘diet’ centric mentality and moving more towards healthy living. This is because ‘diet’ centric living is epitomized by goals…. The goal of say reaching a certain weight, or wearing a bikini. Goals are something you tick off once they are achieved. Values, on the other hand, can’t be ‘achieved’ because they represent a way of being. It’s rare for your values to change so they inspire a lifelong commitment, rather than just something to aim for until it’s ticked off.  

Anyhow, my point is, if you really want to make better food choices and look after yourself physically for the long term, forget ‘goal’ setting and instead think ‘value aligning.’ After all, a life lived aligned with your values is said to be the only way to achieve true, authentic happiness.

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