A New Year New You Guide
2022 is here, and we are ready.
As you settle into the upon-us-too-quickly/couldn’t-get-here-soon-enough 2022, I’ve assembled a New Year New You list of resources that have helped me over the recent years. I discuss these things on our Monday Clubhouse, and I’m finally putting them all in one post. In writing. For the people.
Some links are affiliate links, some are not. Everything I list is what I love and use. Recipes will continue next week!
Overall Goals, Assessments, Truth, and Self-Honesty for 2022:
Your Best Year Yet by Jenny Diztler. This is the book I discuss at length on a recent Fitness Confidential podcast with Vinnie Tortorich. I’ve been doing the process outlined in this book every year since 2005. It has helped me to quickly review the previous year and look for crucial places for improvement before ever setting a goal. Then it walks you through setting your goals and whittling them down to the most important ones. If you have any interest in getting out of your own way, this is a great book to start with. You can’t get to where you wanna go without knowing where you are.
Health:
While I’m not a fan of counting as it pertains to food intake, I do love the power of knowing the truth that the key metrics from blood work can reveal.
I do full metabolic, CBC, cardio, thyroid, and female hormonal blood work panels every six months with my doctor, plus I love running experiments from time to time using blood glucose and blood ketone strips. My recent favorite experiment was when I used the Nutrisense Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor for two weeks straight (see below).
These devices show what exactly different foods, exercise, lack of sleep, alcohol, etc, do to my body. Once you have the feedback, it’s easy to make decisions going forward. For example, blueberries do not raise my blood sugar into the danger zone. Potato chips do. So now I have zero misgivings about giving up potato chips, which I know my body is responding negatively to. So I am no longer at risk of being berry-phobic (this is a real thing that people face once they cut out processed foods).
Here are some deets on devices I love:
Keto Mojo. I have enjoyed my Precision Xtra Glucose/Keto Monitor, but it doesn’t have the accompanying app/tech that Keto Mojo does. I’m getting to know my Keto Mojo, and the quick assembly of data in one app makes my life easier. Plus, I can track trends, or tag entries.
Whatever kind of blood sugar/ketone monitor you choose to buy, be warned the ketone strips are pricey. I use them sparingly and specifically only when I want to track an experiment. Whoever invents a less expensive ketone testing strip will be a very rich person indeed. Can one of y’all please get on that task? Thanks!
Here’s a link to the Keto Mojo with a 15% off discount.
NutriSense: Continous Glucose Monitor (CGM). There are a lot of CGM’s on the market, but what NutriSense has on lock is their killer app. It coordinates with other health apps like the Oura ring, the Keto Mojo, Biosense, etc. You can track experiments, there are mind-blowingly detailed analytics, and the support and information from the team at NutriSense is great (and in-line philosophically with reducing processed sugars and grains). Using the NutriSense was the only time I’ve ever really tracked my meals, and even then, I wasn’t as thorough as I could’ve been. They make it easy by letting you take a picture of what you ate so you can refer back to it and problem solve if you see an unusual spike in blood sugar.
I only did a two week run with the NutriSense as it confirmed what I believed to be true: real food doesn’t make my blood sugar go up, but processed sugars and grains do. #NSNG for life. I think this tech is fascinating and such a great tool to get real-time feedback.
If you want to take the CGM plunge, use the discount code ANNA25 at Nutrisense.io, you’ll save $25.
FasciaBlaster. This device…or I should say, these devices…are game changers for pain management and workout injuries. The rabbit hole is deep on YouTube with tutorials, and I invite you to check it out. The FasciaBlaster is a device I bought hoping to smooth out cellulite and to tighten skin (and it does work), but now I use it for workout injuries, back, neck, and hip pain, and at the first inkling of migraine pain to knock that puppy out before it gets going.
People use the variety of FasciaBlasters for so many applications as our fascia runs the entirety of our bodies. Check out their gallery of before and after photos.
I mostly use the Mini 2 and the FaceBlaster (on my neck and shoulders). I don’t use any of the oils or potions they sell, and I steer clear of any skin care product that claims to “penetrate the fat cells” as that’s pure malarky.
I have turned so many people on to the FasciaBlaster over the years that I finally felt like it was time to start sharing this publically. Bonus: NSNG only helps you get better results from FasciaBlasting.
31 Day Eat Happy Kitchen Meal Plan: This is a meal plan I’ve assembled of recipes from my cookbooks and site, organized into three meals a day to help the person new to NSNG. Also included is a 4 Day Recipe Sampler (great if you don’t have my books yet), instructions and guidelines, and my favorite Daily Planner template that I use to organize my own daily life.
NSNG Starter Kit: If you gather nothing else from this list, go read Vinnie’s NSNG 101 PDF before he decides to charge us for it.
Wealth:
I love building wealth. I started as a starving artist with tons of debt, and now I have an investment portfolio that if I stopped working tomorrow, my bills would be paid. I’m excited to share my resources with y’all, but this section deserves its own post with all the tips, books, actions, etc. that have helped me to transform my negative money beliefs into an actual portfolio. If you’re into me taking the time to outline that, lemme know with a comment here on this post.
Happiness:
The longest lasting relationship you’ll have is with yourself. But you also have to deal with family, friends, co-workers, and the rest of the world. I’ve found that happiness is not dependent on my relationship with those outside of myself. Happiness is directly correlated to me honoring the commitments I’ve made to myself and my values. When I do that, I’m a lot more fun to be around. So this year, might I offer up some happiness commitment food for thought?
Commit to choosing kindness. Commit to taking responsibility for your part in things. Commit to going the extra mile without any expectations of reciprocal behavior. Commit to showing compassion when someone is less than compassionate towards you. Commit to healing yourself and those negative beliefs when they pop up over this next year (and they will). Commit to allowing yourself a bit of grace when you act a fool. Commit to apologizing when you are wrong. Commit to forgiving those who have wronged you. Commit to this relationship with yourself, and you can’t help but shine that light out into the world and make it a better place.
Now go make good choices and let’s kick 2022 into high gear.
XOXO
Anna
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