103: Being kind to yourself and other health ‘ins’ no one is talking about

Hello, lovely people, and welcome to no Women's Wankery. I don't know about you, but I'm very into these 2024 health ends and health outs. I don't know if you've seen that social media trend that is saturated on Instagram and TikTok and all that jazz, but because it is the end of January, I get very reflective on the fact that we may have already broken out new year's resolutions or goals, and so if you're going yeah, maybe I have not stuck to the things I wanted to, or I'm not really living the way I want to be then I encourage you to reflect on this question Did you fail your goals or did your goals fail you? And for the remainder of 2024, can you focus on intentions rather than inflexible, rigid goals? Can you set yourself up for success instead of failure by doing this? And so, to help you, I'm sharing my own intentions and focuses for 2024 when it comes to nutrition and health, and hopefully these can inspire you to make some small and hopefully really positive changes to your health, without expecting yourself to live in a perfect, healthy lifestyle overnight, because no one does. I certainly don't, and yet I'd still consider myself a very healthy person. So that's the truth of it you can be imperfect and still be very healthy, and it does require you to nail everything all the time.

So my intentions for 2024 being gentle with myself and forgiving myself when I screw up. And this is as simple as me going um, lindy, you know what? You keep replaying that failing that thing, you said wrong, that the sake you made. You keep replaying that over your head and I asked myself. I said, lindy, are you going to forgive yourself? And if the answer is yes, then I decide that it's okay for me to stop thinking about it and I tell you what. The answer has never been no. So I just asked myself if I'm willing to forgive myself, and that is one way that I am gentle with myself. I'm accepting that I can't do everything all the time.

In 2020 to 2023, I think I had a lot of resentments and anger as a new mum. If you're a mum or a parent and you feel like your load is too big, maybe resentment is something that you understand as well, and what I learned last year is that resentment is a cue. It's a clue from your body that something has to change and what you need is more help. It's not a failing of the people around you or yourself. Resentment is simply a call from your body to say please outsource if you can. Ask your mum, your dad, your family for extra support, ask friends and, as a result, I feel so much happier. So I'm accepting everything I can't do all the time in 2024.

I was also setting aside time to do things that bring me joy. So hobbies making time for play. I think that's very important. This year I'd like to do sewing. What hobby, what enjoyable thing would you like to do? This year? We need to make time for play and I find if I don't schedule it in, it just doesn't happen.

And just a note yes, exercise can be a hobby. I was playing beach volleyball and really enjoying it. But I kind of think that we should also be embracing hobbies that aren't exercise related. That's something just to lean into. It could be something like reading a book, you know, or joining a book club or cooking. These are hobbies as well, but not everything has to revolve around exercise.

This year I'm also decluttering my space and my life from the things that don't serve me, and, my goodness, I'm not a hoarder. But you know, I open some drawers and I'm like, oh girl, you gotta offload these things and you know, what I realized is that I always thought that having more would give me more, but actually, once I'm clearing out the space, I have so much more headspace for the stuff that matters. I have more time. If you would like more time for you, more time for self-care, more space in your life, then I'm actually doing a challenge inside my Back to Basics app. It's called the F Diets Challenge and I'd love you to join me. It's for the month of February and it's all about this idea how can saying no, how can less, help us have a lot more in our lives? And if you are a people pleaser, a perfectionist, this is for you. If you are stuck in those diet rigid rules and you just go, I don't know how to rid myself of them then please join this challenge. I'll leave a link for you to join it in the show notes so you can come and do that challenge with me and I'll be supporting you and sharing what I'm learning inside the Back to Basics Facebook group at the same time. Plus, you'll get access to all the brilliant resources inside Back to Basics app which help you be consistent around healthy eating Easy recipes I really mean easy, like minimal cleaning up few ingredients, like I've got your back.

I know you don't want to be cooking different meals for you and your family. I just know you don't want to be searching the aisles for, like, an Inca berry from like the Himalayas. I don't even think that exists, that's not a real thing. But if it did, it would probably cost you your kidney in order to be able to afford it, and you just don't need that. So come inside the challenge, inside the Back to Basics app, and let's do that together.

Another thing I'm going to keep sharing my learnings and my advice with as many people as possible. I've actually started a YouTube channel this year, so if you aren't already subscribed to be on YouTube, please do come along. I am going to be posting a video once a week for the whole year, so stick around and there's a whole lot more good stuff. And if you aren't subscribed to my newsletter as well, I give advice that I haven't given anywhere inside that newsletter. So and they're not boring. You know, I know a lot of emails really suck. My emails don't suck. I pride myself on the unsuckiness of my emails. So please join my newsletter. I share lots of freebies there as well.

And, lastly, the other thing I'm doing this year is I'm okay with my house being a little bit messier. I think in years gone past I have driven myself insane with trying to have everything look like my husband says like a vogue cover. Lindy, we don't live inside a vogue magazine. That is not how he sounds, but that's in my mind. That's how he sounds, that's the thing he says to me, and so I'm limiting how much time I'm spending cleaning. I'm putting in these healthy boundaries for myself so I do not go crazy trying to wipe the food and the smear off every surface, because for two kids I just it's impossible to live in a vogue magazine, as my husband says. So that is what I'm working on this year.

What are your intentions for 2024? What's in, what's out and you know what's out for me is social media and spending way too many hours on it, following people who only post drivel and are looking for attention. I'm just not into it. I think that it used to be that you become like the people you spend the most time with, and now I think it's like you become like the people you follow on social media. So just ask yourself when they next pop in your feed. Would I like to be more like this person or less like this person and opt in or opt out as you so choose? Anyway, everyone, thank you for listening to today's episode. I'll catch you next time.