Starting over in 2017 with… chocolate?

My New Year’s resolutions always start out strong and fire-y and then by mid-February, I sizzle out pretty spectacularly. I’ve got the usual stereotypical resolutions: eat better, exercise more, etc. I get all pumped and excited for the first few weeks and go at my resolutions with a vengeance. But eventually it becomes too overwhelming and I burn out. I scour the internet for tricks and hacks but get overloaded with information that is quite frankly too generic for me to practice. But this year, with the help of chocolate, I’m going to try something different.

This year instead of going all-out at the beginning of the year, I’m going to practice advice that I’ve heard from just about everybody -- I’m going to start slow and deliberate. Instead of extreme measures, I’m creating a plan to accomplish my resolutions in tiny steps. I’ve also been told to incorporate something fun and motivating in the process. After much deliberation, I’ve decided to try and accomplish two goals:  cut down on sweets and exercise more regularly. After a few week of regular exercise, I will treat myself with my favorite chocolate bar. I think by treating the chocolate as a reward rather than as a quick pick-me-up, I will hopefully be motivated to work hard towards my goal and perhaps appreciate the chocolate even more.

Another great piece of advice I got from my co-workers in the Down to Earth Wellness department is to swap out an unhealthy dish with a healthier version. I talked about my current usual eating habits with a couple of them. We discussed what I would like to cut out and what I would like to start eating more. Right away we identified that I love drinking smoothies and knowing my obsession with chocolate, they suggested a few chocolate protein smoothie powders that I might incorporate into my daily diet. I tried a few different samples the other day and I’m hooked! The chocolate flavor in an otherwise very green-tasting smoothie made it taste like dessert rather than a wholesome snack. You’d think this would be fairly obvious, but sometimes it takes a little push to get you going. I talked to the Wellness team a little longer and got even more great recommendations, including a boxed detox cleanse, probiotics and multi-vitamin. All of this was crafted specifically to my needs and they helped me find the ones that I thought would work best for me.

So this year, I’m going to incorporate healthy chocolate in my everyday life as well as treat myself to my favorite sugary chocolate once in a while as a reward. Every year I’ve attempted to read online all kinds of advice for starting the year off strong but this year I learned that a personal chit-chat with knowledgeable folks like my Wellness co-workers (and maybe a little chocolate) really helped me filter out the information overload and actually get products that make sense for me and my goals. I have a feeling there will be no burnout for me this time… but lots of goal-crushing and chocolate!

Happy Healthy New Year!

Cynthia Cruz
Marketing Coordinator
Down to Earth