Looking for a New Year's Resolution Idea that Isn’t About Weight Loss?

Congratulations, you’ve survived the non-stop hustle and bustle of the holidays! Hopefully you've had a chance to catch your breath after a full month of magic-making. And, if you haven’t, give yourself a chance to take that breath of relaxation now!

If you're looking for a New Year's resolution idea, we encourage you to go easy on yourself. Seeking a healthier, happier lifestyle is an amazing goal – but let's think beyond weight loss.

Life can be beautifully sporadic and chaotic, especially with little ones in the mix! Balancing our little ones’ needs with our own needs can make it especially difficult to focus on ourselves. As parents, we want to make sure that we’re choosing goals that will make us feel good AND are sustainable for our own lifestyles. 

Wanting to be healthier is a great start to a New Year’s Resolution. However, living a healthier lifestyle encompasses a lot more than just a number on the scale. When we focus primarily on losing weight, we tend to ignore other really important aspects of our health.

If you’re looking for a healthier New Year’s resolution idea, we have some suggestions on promises you can make to yourself that are better for your physical health, mental health and even the health of our homes and the planet!

If you’re choosing to focus on your physical health this year, we have some great suggestions for you! Since our physical health encompasses far more than the number on the scale, here are some suggestions that are less restrictive and more sustainable for individual lifestyles. 

Not having enough sleep can lead to a wide variety of problems including obesity. It can also lead to issues like

• Heart disease
• Kidney disease
• High blood pressure
• Depression
• And more 

We understand that getting enough sleep with littles around can be tricky. We’re a team of parents – we’ve been there! For tips on navigating sleeping troubles from your littles, check out our blog post, Baby, Sleep and Your Mental Health.

Creating an exercise routine around an activity that you don’t enjoy can be frustrating and unsustainable. It’s important to find physical activities that we like so that we feel motivated, and even excited, to do them. You don’t need to sign up for a crossfit boot camp or bend yourself into pretzels at pilates if that’s not your thing. Some examples of simple physical activities you may already enjoy:

• Walking
• Jogging
• Riding a bike
• Swimming

Planning time to be active in a way that works with your schedule and lifestyle can make it easier to incorporate this change all year long. 

Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Taking care of your body and mind doesn’t have to be a drastic change – here are two super-sustainable New Year’s resolution ideas to take care of your mental health.

For some much needed R&R after a long day, many of us turn to our phones or televisions. However, increased screen exposure and spending too much time scrolling on social media has been linked to anxiety and depression in some. It also has a negative impact on sleep. 

Choosing to spend less time on our phones can benefit our moods, allow us to be more present and even boost productivity! 

Speaking of being more present … that sounds like a great resolution, too! The phrase “stop and smell the roses” exists for a reason. It’s easy to become distracted by our surroundings in everyday life (and by our cell phones!). However, practicing more mindfulness techniques like breathing exercises can pull us back into the present moment and away from our wandering thoughts. (Plus, being mindful can even reduce stress and anxiety.)

Our home’s health is important, too! And, not to mention, the space we live in has an impact on our emotions and overall health. Luckily, we have some suggestions on ways you can take care of your home in the new year. 

Your home health can certainly impact your overall wellness. It’s important to choose household products, like cleaners and fragrances, that don’t pollute our home’s indoor air with toxic chemicals. (Find more non-toxic cleaning tips here!).

Getting rid of clutter in your space is good for your home and your mental health, too! Clutter in your space has been linked to several negative effects including stress and increased cortisol levels. Not to mention, a cluttered space can lead to less productivity and is certainly less relaxing than a tidy one!

Taking care of the planet is something we love! Choosing non-toxic and environmentally friendly items (like our non-toxic crib mattresses and kids mattresses) is only one of the many ways we can take care of Mother Earth.

Believe it or not, but the way we eat impacts the environment. The meat industry accounts for 14.5% of the world’s greenhouse gasses every year. However, this doesn’t mean that you and your family have to give up meat entirely! 

Consuming less meat and dairy products can help ease this amount of greenhouse gasses. And, if this is too much of a drastic change for you and your family, you can also choose to buy meat and dairy products from a local, sustainable farm. 

An estimated one-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten each year. And, when food is thrown away, most of it ends up in our landfills. By reducing your food waste at home and buying more sustainably, you can help the planet and your family’s budget, too.

The New Year is a great time to reimagine the goals we have for ourselves rather than focus strictly on the numbers on a scale! By choosing more sustainable New Year’s resolution ideas, we have the ability to be friendlier to our health, our homes and the planet. 

New Year’s resolutions get a bad rep. But making resolutions that work with our lifestyles and habits – not against them – can help us keep these promises all year long.

Looking for more ideas? Check out our Guide to Everyday Non-toxic Living.