25 changes for 2025

[ToriTheStoryteller]

I started a thread at the start of 2024 called "one small change each week". 2024 thread
Loved updating it and chatting to people who were also trying to make changes but maybe felt a bit overwhelmed by the usual mindset of "right, I'm losing 2 stone, cutting sugar, getting a new job and taking up 3 sports" only to feel like a failure before January is out!

It went well - the old me would have said it was a disaster as I probably kept approx 8-10 habits, but the new me thinks that's brilliant, to have 8 habits that I wasn't keeping to a year ago.

So, onto 2025. Just to encourage a bit more oomph into my brain, I'm planning on 25 for 25: 25 small changes that will improve my life next year.

Wanna join? 🙂

1. Do a weights session 2x per week.

I've had to change gyms and I don't like the new one as much, but seeing a few older relations over Christmas, all with physical issues, is the push I need to want to get stronger.

My week was a bit hit and miss too: I kept forgetting to find my old email of physio exercises for my old injury! The joy of peri-meno, I'd remember while I was driving, or at 3am, then forget for another 12 hours. But I have just found it so can start with it today!

Gym weights sessions are going well, two again last week plus another at home. I was reading on one thread about weights/strength training and one post was really motivating, making me realise I'm not pushing it enough at the gym, so I'll really focus on increasing the weight and lowering the reps. At the moment I'm doing 15 reps and only just failing on the last two: I should be trying harder, so I'm going to push it so I'm doing 10 reps on higher weights.

@NinaFinch are you good with Excel? Martin Lewis has a good budget planner on MSE site - it takes a while initially but it's worth it because it takes account of everything, eg birthdays, annual insurance, etc, so that you see how much you need each month for the whole year's spending.

I've then adapted that so that we add in our spending each week and we can see whether we are where we should be for the month: eg, if the budget for food is £500 but we've already spent £2000 by the 10th, then we have to look at what we can do to stay in budget for the rest of that month.

£2000🤣🤣🤣. Meant £200, mind you when I have a week when I need to top up on olive oil, cheese and coffee, it might not be that far off 🤣

I haven’t felt I’ve been particularly disciplined with habits but actually thinking about it I’ve managed a few.

Doing back stretches before I get out of bed
Taking vitamins in the morning and others at night

This week I’m going to concentrate on not using my iPad or phone in bed but read instead. I ended up down a rabbit hole of One Direction and Harry Styles stuff the other night. I’m 60! 😂

Thank you @ToriTheStoryteller, I will have a look at that frankly £2000 on food doesn't feel too far off the mark some months

Hello all,

I totally struggled to meet my new habits yesterday but it was blue Monday. I think for now I’m going to stick to more water, more protein and calories controlled. I lost 4.5lbs last week!

I think the spirit of this thread is a few consisent small changes to improve our lives so make sure a few changes stick is more important than the pace of change.

It’s lovely to read through and read all the updates. Small win’s and not giving up when it is hard for a day, week or longer. My goals were to take a daily vitamin and to declutter a small area regularly.

I have moved where I put the vitamins, now they live on top of the Soda Stream, it has gone so well I have had to buy more. This doesn’t normally happen! The declutter a drawer etc hasn’t been so successful but I am going to add a new goal of a personal admin session weekly. I am rubbish at this but realised that when I am trying to declutter I am often then just presented with admin tasks I haven’t done. Like all the empty photo albums I have bought but never filled with the photos I have printed off. So fingers crossed the two together will be good. First task - actually pay my tax bill rather then thinking just delay it because I am getting interest, it will be a tiny bit of interest and it’s not worth the head ache.

@Readingtheworld I've been doing the vitamins too, need to order more in fact! The weekly admin session sounds useful, I try to do mine when the DC are at their sports activity this morning - it's only an hour but should be more like two to get there on time, catch up with their team mates afterwards etc - however DP (who takes them) is so bloody disorganised that he's always running out of the door at the last minute. screeching that they're going to be late it's so annoying - he booked the activity, he wants them to do it, I do absolutely everything else from packing the kit to making breakfast for the DC - and he STILL manages to be late!

I'm adding to my list to do 30 minutes of study in my hour Lunch break... allthough I normally go for a walk to town, and that's good so it's just a trial this week. I'll also continue my other goals and get better at doing my s diet and physio exceises. I'll redress next week, may scrap the no-s diet if it's not working for me

The diet one is going really badly.

I have got some clothes listed on Vinted and Olio though so have made some small steps in decluttering.

@RidingMyBike me too... so far today I've had a snack and a small piece of cake today with lunch. My plan is no snacks no sweets no seconds except on s days (Saturday, Sunday, special or sick)...well maybe we need to break the diet into more manageable chunks. Eg I have been managing to do overnight intermittent fasting for about 3 weeks, not eating for 11/12 hours overnight. So I stop eating at 6:30 pm then aim for that time for breakfast... could probably push breakfast later but with two children and working I feel better if I eat early. So maybe I'll just do no snacks and allow sweets and seconds for now...

Oh I like the S day idea! That sounds doable. Diet-wise today has gone really well so I'm feeling more positive.

I've added in ten squats a day.

I need to work out how to put a timer on my social media to limit that.

Lovely to see all the updates. Been a bit busy but I'm back now! So, progress so far:

1. Weights 2x weekly. Going well and I was really motivated by someone getting a bit of a kick up the arse on a Weights thread, being told not to faff around with small weights. I really pushed myself on it and went straight from 30kg on the leg press to 45kg - it was so hard that it made me feel a real sense of achievement afterwards!
2. Specific exercises for an old injury. Bit sporadic, but I had a session with a PT this week who has set up a program of daily exercises and also given me loads of advice on how to keep correct form doing weights to help with the injury too. So I feel like I'm motivated on this one at last.

For me, motivation is like rocking on a chair, it has to slowly build momentum until it hits the tipping point and I'm off.😂

So, onto the next one. I did say I was going to be a bit braver this year so I need to address my weight in a bit more of a structured way, so #3 is going to be a slightly pared down 5:2 - not counting exact calories but no snacking or eating after 6pm, then 2 days of yoghurt, nuts and fruit for breakfast and an omelette for dinner. I did it for a while last year and I enjoyed it, but then life went a bit shit!! So now I want to start it up again.

@ToriTheStoryteller I was thinking about getting more serious about dieting this month. January is a tough month for resolutions, with the darkness. I stress eat and since starting a course in September I have put on a lot of weight. I don't weigh myself but clothes are tight. I've been fruitless at trying the no-s diet (look it up) so like the rocking chair analogy I'll start with no snacks this week and add another when I'm doing that well. Thing is I have an essay due soon then it's revision for exams.

I’m still finding it hard to get to bed by 10pm so need a new strategy! I only managed to do it twice last week.

I’m so tired in the daytime and getting up each morning is a real struggle but I just feel like I’m not ready for bed at 10. It might be linked to phone use so I’m going to try changing some settings to make my phone less appealing and see if that helps. Honestly, less phone time would be a real bonus too!

Morning,
Many of my January resolutions have gone by the wayside with illness and deadlines. However, this week I'm going to stick to no snacks or sweets on weekdays. Days are getting lighter, should help with motivation.

@2in2022twoyearson mine too. I was doing so well, then we were all ill, DH has been away with work, currently have no bathroom, DH has a lingering chest infection and we’ve started DD1 autism assessment process. Getting through this week and maybe losing a little bit of weight is my plan.

There's a bit of a theme here as I'm really struggling too. I know why, it always comes down to sleep and I'm watching too much TV in bed as DS is being a bit erratic with bedtimes so I don't want to drop off then get called in to him.

So, it's a reset this weekend. I'm going to give myself a week to get my bedtime back on track with no phone after 8pm and no TV in bed. Then I know ill feel so much more able to approach everything else again.

I got up this morning and thought enough is enough, DS is almost a teen so I have no reason to feel as shattered as if I had a newborn!

For those who are struggling with phone use I've downloaded the opal app (I'm using the free version). You can create manual blocks for certain apps eg I can't access insta during the working day. You are allowed breaks but getting to them is quite a faff which is offputting in itself! Each week you get a summary of how you performed. Since using it I've reduced my screen time by 25% on average.

I started the new year by leaving my phone downstairs when I go to bed. I have found that I go to sleep more easily and don’t waste hours scrolling (often on Mumsnet!). Earlier this week I had lent my room to guests staying so my alarm clock wasn’t available and I took my phone to bed for the alarm. Didn’t stop scrolling till the early hours and woke up like a zombie.
Conclusion is that I have zero self control and I will continue with phone cold turkey every night. 😁

Ha ha, I am similar in that since DS decided my alarm clock is now his, I'm using my phone as an alarm...with the same predictable results!!

This week I will be buying myself a new alarm clock so the phone can stay in the kitchen after dinner every night.

@hedwigshandbag great tip, I will check out that app to ban me from MN apart from half an hour in the evening!

I was on the thread in a burst of new Year optimism and thought I had failed miserably but realised today am doing myself a disservice as I have built up the following consistently since Jan:

1. some form of exercise - gym/weights or ref pilates - 5 x week. The other days I try to get in 10000 steps, normally dog walking at the weekends. Making sure I get the most of of my gym membership 😄
2. read a book a week
3. eat food cooked from scratch 4 x week, thanks to some batch cooking
4. stopped wandering around to the local co-op every day and so I have managed to mostly quit carbonated drinks and random snacks and I'm not spending so much money
5. am on a MFP logon streak of 30 days to track calories

In March I'd like to:

1. add in a swim x 1 a week - although I am so loathe to give up my one morning when I can grab a coffee and go back to bed
2. Make something! I have fabric and a pattern to make a fancy cushion
3. Join the library and go once a week post pilates

Wow @StripyRedSocks that's seriously impressive!

My sleep has already got better by going cold turkey on evening screen time. I set my phone to make Chrome and any messaging inaccessible after 8pm, and frankly I'm so tired by then that my brain is unlikely to try and get around it to cheat!!

After weeks of waking before 4am, today it was 6.30, plus I'm getting to sleep much earlier as I'm reading a book for 15 mins before dropping off quickly. I can't underestimate how amazing it will feel to hopefully wake up at the weekend and not want to go straight back to bed again!

Thank you @ToriTheStoryteller - I was busy moaning to myself that I hadn't done the whole vitamin/water/10K steps every day that I hadn't considered what I HAD achieved. I haven't managed to cut down on my phone usage yet though 😄Baby steps 😄

I'm pleased that a few habits have stuck so far: taking vitamins every day, Duolingo every day, logging my spending every day even though it just serves to remind me how skint I am

There's a lot more to work on though - really want to get to grips with batch cooking and try to stay on top of the cleaning more effectively!

We had more illness last weekend, this time norovirus, at least I had a reduced appoitite until about 2 days ago. We've been off work and school with half term so had a reset. My resolutions are going to be easy this week then I'll turn it up a notch next week for Lent.
This week

No s diet no snacks, no sweets (I'll add no seconds next weekend if I'm successful with the first two)

Do a bedtime routine including having the following days lunch and breakfast prepared.

Do my physio knee exceises daily, add a core and arms exercise too.

Lunchtime walk.