I am personally obsessed with doing it NOW, and not waiting for a magical day where we become someone we are not, because that day never comes! Prioritizing yourself in the last weeks of the year is so important. Why? Because a huge part of symptom reduction with IBD and IBS is a calm nervous system.
Giving yourself time to use the bathroom, scheduling breaks in your days and weeks, not saying yes to every holiday invitation, eating a protein rich breakfast no matter what the days plans are and drinking plenty of water are all things you get to do today to make these weeks go smoothly leading up to the new year. Plus, you have a huge head start in forming these new habits when 1/1 does arrive.
Want to make 2025 your healthiest year yet? Here are the top tips I use myself and help my clients with.
1. Create a plan
If you dream of easier meal times and days without the stress of not knowing what the heck to eat, this is the best thing you can do for yourself. Planning when you are up for it helps us make better choices all week long when we are tired and burnt out or not feeling well. The most basic form of this is writing three columns on paper for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Under each meal, list 2-3 things you can make easily. Perhaps that is a crock pot meal, baked oats for breakfast, chicken soup to bring for lunch. Hang the list up on the fridge and grab whatever you need to create it from the store that week. When you feel stuck, check your list!
Sometimes we need a little help- consider a delivery service like hungry root that you can plan ahead of time and sit back until it shows up for 1-2 meals per week.
2. List a few starter goals
Examples of these are
- Eat 1 purple or red fruit/veg per day for one month (get specific and list the kinds)
- Eat 3 green bananas per week (green-ish, very good for your gut)
- Add oats into your diet weekly
- Drink an extra glass of water/decaf tea per day this week (and keep building on that until you get to 8)
- Eat a fruit or veg with every meal
- Get 20 minutes of time outside per day this week
- Eat protein at every meal to aid in a healthy gut lining and help to heal any ulcers/wounds on intestines from IBD
These are buildable, so you’ll gain a quick win and be able to add to that foundation week after week.
3. Stop skipping meals
This is especially important if you have diarrhea. I know you don’t feel well, I have been there and had Crohn’s for 30 years. But if you do not eat at regular intervals, you won’t have any energy, and you won’t be able to heal. If you are “too busy to eat” then ask yourself: If I do not have time to nourish myself, what can I realistically expect from my body in return?
4. Make this the year you WIN
Do not do everything at once. ’75 hard’ is a great example of this: we throw out the “old you” and ring in the new with a gallon of water, twice daily workouts, and a bunch of other stuff that likely will not make it past the week, let alone for 75 days. Instead, use your small goals and your planning ahead to make small changes. There is a reason the self help superstars write about habit stacking and consistency that starts small. You NEED wins in order to keep going. “Become someone else, someone who does all the things” is not the vibe, because the world needs your unique self. If we were all machines, it would be a super boring existence. If you sit at a desk all day, shoot for 3,000 daily steps at first. Get there by parking farther away, taking the stairs, going for a post dinner walk, etc and then if that goes well, continue to increase those daily steps to build muscle, bring oxygenated blood to your intestines, regulate bowel movements, and relax your mind for a more peaceful existence and more energy to do all the things you love.
You’ve got this! Start small, and be consistent. If there was a quick fix, you would feel better already.
Molly Ostrander MS, RDN, IFNCP is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, chef, and gut health expert with over 30 years of experience managing Crohn’s disease and helping women overcome diarrhea, constipation, and bloating. After 15 years as a professional chef, Molly returned to school to pursue her master’s degree and board certification, later expanding her expertise with advanced training in integrative and functional nutrition. Now pursuing her doctorate, Molly combines evidence-based research and personalized care to help restore gut health, rebalance the mind, and empower individuals to live healthier, fuller lives. You can learn more from Molly on her website, follow her on Instagram at @womensguthealth, and watch her videos on YouTube.
Molly Ostrander
