Happy New Year Podcast Episode

Transcript of Podcast 

Please note this transcription is generated by software. There may be some errors. I hope you find it useful.

Hello, and welcome to fit and fabulous with me, Doctor Orlena Kerek. Happy 2022? Isn't the beginning of a new year super, super exciting? I hope that you have had an amazing holiday. We have certainly had an amazing holiday here in Spain, some beautiful sunny days. Some not so beautiful sunny days. Hey, that's life.

I have been swimming in the sea, super proud of myself there. I've seen some amazing things this morning. I didn't even know how to explain it to you. Some kind of, I don't know, sea slug, which I don't know what it's called, but it was very interesting. It's kind of transparent and amazing. And I saw a stingray a few days ago.

In fact, I've seen two stingrays in the last week, which is just absolutely amazing. So today there are a few things that I want to talk to you about the first thing. I want to talk about is, as you may know, if you have been following along on the podcast, we have been living in a little house near the beach for the last year was we have been having works done on our house.

And just before Christmas, at the beginning of December, we moved back into our house. Oh my goodness. So amazing. I have been waiting for this moment for. Five whole years, but like five years was when I started this idea of, Hey, I'm going to buy a house. I'm going to create my dream house now. Before Christmas, super stressful.

We had work men around that wake up would wake up, get ready for school. The doorbell would ring. I was still in my pajamas work. Men would be knocking on the door. They were even painting on Christmas Eve and decorating. And my mum came stay. She couldn't use the bathroom, her downstairs bathroom for 24 hours while they were waiting still not finished, but whilst they were waiting for it to be drying, so super, super stressful.

How to Notice When You Reach Your Health Goals!

Also amazing. So easy to get knocked sideways and not think about how amazing it is that I have arrived at my dream home, even though it is still not done the garden isn't done, there's still bits and pieces that still need doing so much of it needs finishing off. The point I'm trying to make is that we spend so long looking towards our goals, and then when our goals around.

We hardly notice. And I have had to make sure that I noticed that my house is amazing. And I take times to think, you know what you are here in this house now. I definitely make sure, I think that when I'm lying in bed, it's really strange. We have the same bed as in the small house, but I lie in the bed thinking, wow, it just feel so much more spacious.

I think it's because I don't like roll over and hit the wall. So it is more spacious, but the bed is the same size and a quiet times I'll be tidying up in the kitchen or, you know, as mothers do just generally tidying up when the children are quietly reading or. And then it will just wash over me. Oh my goodness.

I'm actually here. I'm in my most amazing house, but so much of the time I'm busy thinking about other things and although I am amazingly grateful to be in my house, it's so easy to not have that in the forefront of our brains, to just our brains adapt so quickly and Hey, yep. Amazing house. Isn't that just.

Whereas I know that I have been working towards this goal for so, so, so many years and it feels amazing. But my point is when we arrive, we still have to keep that excitement, that vision alive. It's almost like. And I know I've mentioned this before on the podcast, but it's like when you're driving along a road and you don't want to be so focused on where you're going, that you don't see a child we're ramping.

That steps out in front of you, but equally you don't want to be just looking at that meter in front of the road, because that's what I did when I learned to drive and oh my goodness, such a bumpy ride that you're swerving. And like, if you just, if you drive like that, it just doesn't work. You have to have your eye on the future, but you also have to have your eyes on the present and you need to get the balance, right.

Did Keep Your Health Goals Over the Holidays?

So I think that was just a thought that I wanted to share with you, that we spent so long creating our goals. And then when we get there, we just accepted as normal rather than really, really focusing on the fact that, Hey, this is new normal, and it's absolutely amazing. So my next question is what are you doing in January?

Would You Like Help Reaching Your Health Goals?

We have been talking about. And my group program, the healthy you healthy family group program, such an amazing program. If you're interested in joining, then come and join quickly because the price is going to go up next week. So if you're interested in joining, then just email me at

Email: [email protected]

 and we can chat about it. But in that group program, the ladies in the group program, we've been meeting up over Christmas and saying, oh my goodness, it's so easy to. You know, get derailed by Christmas time. And a lot of people, you know, huge, great wins saying, Hey, I didn't get hugely derailed by Christmas time.

And other years I've put on a stone over Christmas time, and that does not happen to this time, but it's normal for, you know, things to go, not like routine in the holiday season, but I think it's really, really good reason to do something different in January. And I know everybody talks about new year's resolutions.

What Health Goals do You Have for January?

And how new year's resolutions last until February the seventh? Well, there's a reason for that. And that reason is that you haven't created a habit, but also I think it's really good. Exercise to just do something different for a month. It doesn't have to be forever. You don't have to have a new year's resolution that says, Hey, I'm going to do this.

And I'm never, ever, ever, ever going to eat chocolate ever again in my entire life, you can just say, Hey, I'm going to do something for January. I'm going to just reset a little bit in January and then come February. I'm going to evaluate where I am. So what am I doing in January? Number one, I am having dry January.

This is the third year in a row that I have had a dry January. And for people out there who are thinking, oh my goodness, I would love to have a dry January, but like my friend on Facebook, think that it's going to last until about the 10th. What I would say to you is, well, number one, make sure you haven't got any alcohol in the house, but that makes it so, so, so much easier.

But actually what I found is it's so easy once you've made that decision. And once you know that you're going to stick to it, I don't have a think about Friday and Saturday in January, because I know that I'm not going to have a drink in Friday and Saturday, and it's not as bad as it sounds. I promise you it's actually really liberating and it's amazing how much better you feel when you just make these tweaks.

And I know that as much as I enjoy a beer or a glass of wine, I always wake up in the morning, even with just a small amount of alcohol. Oh, my goodness. I just don't feel as amazing as I feel when I don't drink alcohol. So that's one of the things I'm doing in January. Another thing that I'm doing in January is vegan January vegan, Yuri, as it is commonly known.

And I have often spent times being vegetarian, not long periods of time, but lots of times when I've cut out meat and I've never really done. Going all in and trying to be vegan. And the reason is coffee. I find it really difficult. I love my coffee and I normally drink white coffee and I have tried every single different kind of milk out there.

And none of them really always pleasant to me as cow's milk. So the question comes, why do I want to be vegan? Well, partly for environmental reasons, but also partly because of. I am seeing a big wave of, Hey, I suspect veganism is healthier for you than eating meat and all the dairy products. So I have been having, wait for it, drum roll, please.

Black coffee. And I have tried this before, and I don't know whether it's because I've changed my brand of coffee, but this time round, it just feels so easy. So I have done five whole days. It's the third as I recalled this and I started two days before Christmas, sorry. Before new year's five, whole days of black coffee and it's taking a little bit of getting.

But that is fine. And it's not as disastrous as I thought. So my question to you is what are you doing in January and there's loads of options that you could do? Things that I would suggest are just eating more vegetables, just try and increase your vegetable consumption. Well, you might have a goal which is about exercise.

Now, if you need some help thinking. What you would like to do, then feel free to email me. I'm happy to chat to you. I'm happy to give you advice over email, or if you're on Facebook, if you're in the Facebook group, you can just put a shout out there in the Facebook group. So my question to you is what are you doing this January that is going to help you get to your goal of healthy, amazing.

You let's make. 2022, the most healthy, amazing intentional year of your life have a fantastic week. And I will be back again next week. Bye-bye.

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Written By Dr Orlena

Dr Orlena Kerek (MBChB from the University of Bristol, UK) trained as a pediatric doctor. She is now a family health coach. She helps busy mums who want to feel amazing by eating healthy food, enjoy a healthy life, get back into their honeymoon shorts and teach their kids healthy habits all without thinking about it.