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.

That's a great idea about putting the lists in working order @ToriTheStoryteller, I really must organise mine again - I use a habit app too but, shame of shames, fell out of the habit of using it

I really like this A Piece of Cake podcast on goal setting - Gregg is annoying as usual but his guest is fab!

How did it go with the lists @ToriTheStoryteller ?

I'm still struggling to put time aside to work on mine - listened to another great podcast today with James Clear talking about habits - it was very inspiring but still didn't help me to actually find time to work on anything...!

How's everyone doing, coming up to half way through the year?

I could do with getting more healthy habbits. I have kept up with using a daily moisturizer, that I didn't used to do....and I walk quite a bit, eg every lunch break and more on a wesn.

have a goal to get fit. This week I will go back to intermittent fasting. I found it useful to prep breakfast if I felt hungry in the evening. I listened to a podcast with dr mark hyman and they gave a tip to eat a protein breakfast, and that porridge is not so healthy, gives insulin spikes! But add fat and protein to them and it is...I do often add peanut butter. So intermittent fasting + protein breakfast are my goal for this week.

Oh dear, head has been well and truly in the sand for a while then!
I hope everyone is doing ok with their positive habits this year. It would be great to hear your updates.
Things have been getting in the way a bit recently so I've reacted in my usual way of not keeping the thread going, then feeling rubbish about it, then leaving it longer, blah blah blah. Story of my life.

So, I'm here to keep myself going and stay accountable and be proud of what I am still achieving whilst shit continues to rain down.🤣

Recap on 2024's habits that are going strong:
15 min walk early am: mixed between a walk if I'm wfh or a 30 min cycle when I go to work. Average 4-5 times per week.
10 mins morning/night routine: part of my normal day now. HRT and vitamins being replaced on time (a 3 month prescription no longer lasts 4 months!), flossing every night but still forget most mornings!
Fruit with lunch: yes!
Contact friend/relation every week: yes! Even if I'm feeling down, I'm probably messaging or talking to at least 3 people each week.
Meal planning: this has changed a bit. Basically every week I do a different slow cooker meal, freeze it, and most weekday meals are a portion of those with veg or salad.
Eating at the table: probably 4 nights, plus all meals at weekends. DS protests every time but we definitely talk more and he ends up choosing the music (yay, K-pop Demon Hunters again🤣).
Water house plants: this one makes me happy! A few weeks ago I divided my peace lillies and potted lots of spider plant babies so I'm kerping them alive enough to grow more!

2025' habits:
Weights 2x weekly: this is going well, but I need to commit to the gym more to make real progress, as often one of the sessions will be at home so those are more HIIT rather than heavy weight workouts.
Once school restarts I'll be back in a proper routine of having my early mornings back.
Increased water intake: this has been good, I drink less tea now as well.
Looking after hands and nails: the moisturising is still a bit hit and miss but the nails are actually looking good: long enough to have white tips and I'm not scratching the skin around them!
Exercise for specific old injury: I had a PT session for this so I do incorporate that into my gym routine, but I definitely need to spend 10 mins a day doing it at home too.
5:2: this has adapted and is probably my biggest single achievement so far. I found that on the low calorie days I was eating a huge dinner as I was too hungry so I spent a week calorie-counting to understand the content of some foods I hadn't been aware of.
Then I used that to just be more aware of what I was eating, to not view one day in isolation and to be more sensible.
So I don't snack now, lunch every day is protein + salad and overall the carbs have been reduced a lot. If I'm going out for dinner, for the day either side I eat less, so if I choose to have pudding then I know I've eaten fewer calories either side to balance it out.
It's slow going but I'm losing weight, my skin looks better than it did a year ago and I feel less tired too!

Next habit, it's the first one I made in 2024 and the one that's crept back to bite me:

NO PHONE USE AFTER 8PM🤣

Sounds great. I've been keeping up with the intermittent fasting, except 2 weeks holiday when we were eating late, after which I was the heaviest I've ever been. 13 hours is doable for me.

I've been moisturising my face daily.

I've been journalling, but not consistently and it really helps my mental health and helps me feel more in control, or at least aware of my life and the bigger picture.

Can't think of others off the top of my head.

Contacting a friend of family once a week is a great one. I'm going to say an old friend for me as I've lost contact with so many people, but they are all there on my phone. So many contact a different person every week. However opposite to that I want to cut down on my phone use.

As we come towards the end of the year, how has everyone been doing?

I’ve increased my water and protein intake and have lost some weight as a result. I moisturise most days whereas before it was unheard of.

Exercise and phone use habits have been the hardest for me to crack so that’s something I’ll try to focus on next year I think, but I’m healthier and happier than I was this time last year and that’s an achievement worth celebrating.

@Squidgytoo lovely to hear an update! That's great to hear about what you've maintained and the positive impact.

I had some health issues after my August update, but overall I'm still really happy with what I've managed to put in place this year:

Weights 2x weekly: I had to take a break but got back into this a month ago, so starting to see progress again.
Increased water intake: going well. I don't have many hot drinks now so definitely drink more water every day.
Looking after hands and nails: up and down! My nails are stronger now and I do moisturise every day but I need to stop picking when I'm stressed.
Exercise for specific old injury: this is part of my routine now and I find that my posture has improved as I'm managing to support the injured area and hold myself more upright. This is really positive as I had been feeling a bit stuck on what to do about it for a long time.
5:2: I had to change my diet for a medical procedure: it's not 5:2 but it's made a big difference to what I eat, how much, etc. My relationship with food switched overnight to prioritising nutrition, quality and feeling good. I don't care if I'm hungry an hour before dinner, I don't reach for food if I'm bored or tired, I just appreciate good food in moderation.

Hope everyone else has some positive habits that they have embedded, ready to go into 2026!

We opened our time capsule. This time last year I was struggling with knee pain, I haven't had it for months. One thing I did to improve was set physio excersices followed by starting couch to 5k. My knees did start hurting again at the beginning of the programme but a few weeks in they're fine. I haven't followed it consistently but even the small amount I do has had a big positive excersice.

I'm looking forward to having one day a week to myself as my ds is doing an extra day nursery, and I dropped a working day. I will make sure I excersice on that day as well as getting all the things done that currently have to do left/done at the weekend.

I have also moisturized when I haven't before.