Woo hoo, 2021 is here!

It’s safe to say, we are all ready for a new year and a return to some normalcy to life. It is a time to press the reset button. Each new year brings hope for change and a chance to start anew.

Besides popping some bubbly, toasting to new beginnings and ringing in the new year, a tradition is sharing New Year’s resolutions.

The most popular New Year’s resolutions remain the same year in and out.

In 2020, three of the top four are about fitness – 50% resolve to exercise more, 43% to eat healthier and 37% want to lose weight.  Saving money rounds out the list with 49% of Americans resolving to save more money.

However, 80% of people give up on their resolutions by mid-February. There are any number of reasons, but it boils down to not knowing your why and not having a plan.

If you want to exercise more, why is it important to you?Are you tired of huffing and puffing when you walk up three flights of stairs? Are you deep down worried dying of a disease you could have prevented by taking better care of yourself? 

Once you know why doing, having or being that goal is important, now you need a plan.

What would a plan look like to make sure you are successful?

If you to want to save more money, what would you do to make that happen? Would it mean taking on a side job to bring in a little extra? Would it mean cutting out your twice daily iced coffee to stash away $10 a day? 

What’s your plan?

If you aren’t sure where to start with your plan, consider starting with the goal and working  backwards. For example, let’s say you want to save $2,000 by the end of June.  That means you have six months which would mean $333 per month or $83 a week.

What could you do to earn that extra or save that much each week? If that was my goal, I could save the $70 I make teaching two fitness classes per week and also eliminate lunch out. 

Having a plan and then working that plan is what will get to to your goal. 

Do you know your why?

There are loads of tools and resources out there to make sure you are successful.  The key is you’ve gotta want it badly enough and you need to understand your why.  Just saving more money isn’t the why, but rather you want to take your family on a two-week vacation to Disney World or you want to have a down payment for a house.

Whatever it is, you need to drill down and understand what is going to make you stay focused, motivated and serve as a reminder to keep working towards that end goal. 

My Why

My goal for 2020 was to launch my lifestyle blog, Susanne Suite Style.  My “why” includes helping women in their 50s to feel and look amazing, rock their style and feel confident.

Many of my friends come to me for fashion advice. Shopping and picking out clothes for others is my secret power. We all want to feel fabulous and look beautiful. By showing you how to pull together an outfit, to show off your best asset, to make you think differently about your body is something I get a real kick out of doing.

One friend was attending her class reunion and normally wore mumus. Just so you know, she is a very tall woman and she felt self-conscious about her body.  She is a pear-shape and saw herself as overweight. I had her try out an A-line skirt, silk button up blouse, heels and fabulous jewelry. She commented that it was an outfit that she would never choose for herself. I asked her what her husband would say and her response, “you look beautiful and sexy.”  She was a bombshell….I’d kill for curves like hers.

Another one of my whys is I eventually want to be location independent.

In addition to my love of fashion is my love of travel. Along with travel, I enjoy learning about other cultures, trying the cuisine and immersing myself in a location which explains why my blog, in addition to fashion, includes travel, food and drink as topics.

Recently, I was reading my December edition of “International Living.” The magazine is a treasure and great resource if you have ever considered retiring or living in a different country. Perhaps one of these days. I’ll be writing to you from Bali, or Morocco or perhaps Zanzibar.

So ask yourself what do you really want in 2021 and then why do you want it?  Once you have your why, then it’s time to make a plan.

If exercise, weight loss and saving more moolah are part of your vision for the new year. I have some resources to help you stay motivated and hold you accountable.

But remember, you need to drill down and understand your why.  Once you know that, then you need a plan.  Make sure your resolution aka goal is realistic and attainable. Be sure to track your progress, celebrate small wins and give yourself a deadline.

Resolution Resources for 2021

More Exercise

Step Tracker app – free to use. Records your steps (recommended 10,000 daily), offers GPS tracking, calories, time and mileage. It provides your daily, weekly and monthly averages. It also sends little motivational messages and accomplishments along with confetti and cheers.

I have this app on my phone and love seeing how many steps I’ve logged. Exercise shouldn’t be complicated. If you are just getting started, try walking. Set a goal for number of days per week, minutes per day and or # of steps.

If you want a recommendation, I suggest starting at 4x a week, 20 minutes a day and then increase five minutes per workout weekly until you reach 45 – 60 minutes.

This simple step tracker auto tracks your daily steps, burned calories , walking distance, duration, pace, health data, etc., and displays them in intuitive graphs for easy checking.

Map My Fitness by Under Armour– free and available on IOS, Android and Website.  Do you love a sense of community? Then you’re going to love this app. Not only is it free, but you can interact with other members, share completed workouts, and receive/give encouragement from people on similar fitness journeys.

Plus, you can join challenges and compete with other members. Did I mention that it’s free?

You can easily track and log workouts. The app allows you to build your own workout routine with access to over 800 workouts and share your routines with others.

Beach Body on Demand – Personally, I belong to BBoD. I’ve been a long-time fan. I mean where else can you access 1,500 workouts?

Literally any kind of workout you can come up with….you can find on BBoD: cardio, yoga, barre, boxing, weight training, sculpting, low impact, HIIT, dance, running, short workouts, family, rest and recovery.

When COVID hit, I started doing more BBoD and thought, whatever…..I won’t get much of a workout.  Holy mother of sore muscles and sweat gods….the Piyo workout with Chalene Johnson called drench is killer.  There is a reason it’s called drench.

Another favorite of mine is Autumn Calabreze.  Yea, I love to hate her. They also have nutrition plans so it’s a one stop shop. However, it isn’t free. You will pay $99 yearly, $59 for six months or $38.89 quarterly.  Yearly, that’s only $.27 a day.

Weight Loss

Intermittent fasting, keto, paleo, gluten free, plant based, Mediterranean, good God almighty, it is so freakin’ overwhelming.

I really don’t support dieting and the reason is….diets are something you go on and then off.

My philosophy is about living a healthy lifestyle which includes exercise and eating healthy.

I realize that diets work for many people but I believe the main reason is there is accountability built into programs such as Weight Watches, Nutrisystem, the Perfect Plan, etc.

The key is to do the research and track your calories or popular today, macros.

My Fitness Pal is an app that tracks calories consumed and burned. The trick is to measure and to be exact about your food intake. I know how easy it is to think, oh I didn’t eat that much and plug in 100 calories.

When you start to actually look at the calories along with macros (protein, fat and carbs) you realize how much you are actually ingesting. My habits are fairly basic….I opt for lean proteins (chicken, turkey and fish), vegetables, fruits  and healthy carbs.

I do love me some carbs and sweets especially chocolate. I avoid having things in the house that might tempt me.  Which means if it isn’t in the pantry, I can’t eat it.

Another key factor is mindset.  I remember a fellow fitness friend who after exercising made the comment that in the past, she exercised and thought, oh now I can eat whatever I want. Her mindset change was to eat something healthy after exercising.  Food is not the reward!  Food is fuel for your beautiful body and to stay healthy and to live longer, you need to make choices to fuel the right things.  If you mind is ruling your food choices, it is time to work with a nutrition coach who can help you reset how you think about food.

Healthy Eating

Which feeds (pun intended) into the next topic of eating healthy.  I’ve recently discovered the Clean Eating magazine. 

The website offers so much support for clean eating.

You can find meal planning for gluten sensitive folks, anti-inflammatory diet, budget friendly and so much other great information.

They cover subjects on having a clean pantry, supplements and more. In addition, they offer advice from a group of clean eating experts – medical doctor, dermatologist, dietitian and a chef.

I like them most for their amazing healthy recipes. Healthy food can taste great!

If you like to watch videos and want things to be simple, not boring or restrictive, check out Dani Spies.

She offers simple tricks, hacks and hints to making meal preparation easy along with healthy, tasty meals for you and your family. Her channel is “Clean and Delicious.”  She focuses on making healthy eating simple by  working with eating real, whole, seasonal and tasty ingredients.

If you love to cook and simply want the recipe for making healthier meals, then you must get The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor which is the top pick (best overall) for healthy cookbooks. If you want the complete list, click here

Saving Money

Mint is an app to manage all of your finances.

It is a financial manager in an app. It is free and shows you where you money is going, balance on bills, credit score and more. As Mint helps you manage your money, it can also help you find savings along the way. They analyze thousands of checking, savings, credit card, brokerage, CD and IRA rollover offers—   make recommendations that could help save you the most based on your lifestyle and goals.

Well known New York Times Best Selling author on personal finance, Suze Orman, is a woman to follow. Currently, she has a podcast, “Suze Orman Women & Money Podcast.” If you love to read vs just listen, you might check out her book  “Women & Money – Be Strong, Be Smart, Be Secure.” Available on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble.

YNAB – You Need a Budget Ironically, this budgeting app isn’t free. They offer a 34 day free trial and then monthly ($11.99) and yearly  plan ($84).

They focus on what is in front of you vs. looking back at what you’ve already spent.  They’ll help you think through your priorities—immediate, short-term, and long-term—and allocate your money accordingly.

Better yet, they teach you how to use your budget to make spending decisions and how easy it is to adjust your budget throughout the month.

Now it’s time to sit down, decide on what you want to achieve in 2021, get to your why, make a plan and then as Nike says, Just do it!