10 Key Things to Do Before the End of 2024 to End This Year on a Health High

As 2024 draws to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on your health and fitness goals and make the most of the remaining months. To help you finish the year strong and set yourself up for success in 2025, here are 10 key things to do before the end of 2024:

1. Adjust Your Routine for Seasonal Changes

With shorter days and colder weather, it’s important to adapt your exercise routine. Schedule your outdoor steps earlier in the day to make the most of daylight, and consider using indoor options like treadmills or walking pads when the weather isn’t cooperating.

If you’re working all day, use your lunch break to get extra steps in during daylight hours.

2. Boost Your Vitamin D

As sunlight decreases, so do your vitamin D levels. From October to April, supplement with vitamin D to ensure you’re not missing out on this essential vitamin.

If you're concerned about your vitamin D levels, speak with a doctor about how much vitamin D to take.

3. Embrace Seasonal Eating

Shift your diet to align with the season. Instead of cold salads, enjoy warm, comforting foods like soups and roasted vegetables. Incorporate seasonal produce such as squash and sweet potatoes to keep your meals satisfying and nutritious.

These foods tend to be cheaper when they are in season, so make the most of these root vegetables whilst you can!

4.  Start planning your social events ahead for the end of the year.

As the social seasons heats up with Christmas parties and work do’s around the corner, it’s worth planning ahead what events you’ve got coming up.

Choose which days you want to just be present in the moment, and choose which days you want to be more conscious around your health habits.

For the rest of the time, maintain your health habits business as usual.

5. Navigate the Festive Food Temptations

The holiday season brings a plethora of festive treats – which can lead to you elbow deep in mince pies and Bailey’s before you can even say ‘Santa Claus’.

So to avoid that happening, you want to give yourself ‘unconditional permission to eat’.

What does that mean?

Well, instead of restricting these foods and putting them on a pedestal (which will only make you want them more), give yourself permission to eat these foods (and enjoy them).

This approach can reduce your cravings and allow you to consume them without guilt and actually eat a reasonable portion rather than overeating as a result of restriction.

6. Build your plate

Around the holidays, there always tends to be more buffet food available than the rest of the year. From Christmas parties to leftover Christmas dinner, you can use the ‘Build your plate’ method on all those days where you want to keep some structure to your nutrition.

Fill 25% of your plate with protein – think turkey, pigs in blankets, or your Quorn roast.

Fill 50% of your plate with vegetables – think carrots, swede, and if it floats your boat, brussels sprouts.

And 25% of your plate, carbs. Think roast potatoes, mash, Yorkshire puddings, and anything else you can think of.

Doing this will help keep you fuller for longer and reduce your risk of overeating, as well as getting in plenty of plants.

7. Anticipate and Plan for Obstacles

Identify any potential spanners you have coming up over the next few months, whether that’s a holiday, trips away with friends, meals out etc.

Plan ahead for the potential spanners and think about how you want to navigate them. The more you plan in advance, the easier it is to navigate them successfully.

8. Set Clear Goals for 2025

As the year draws to a close, the thought of New Years Resolutions (or at least New Year’s Goals) might be on your mind.

Setting clear goals for the year ahead will make you more likely to achieve them.

But my top tip?

Rather than thinking about what you want to achieve in 2025, think about who you want to be.

What version of YOU do you want to walk out of 2025 being?

What do they do different to what you do now?

Then start planning out those habits.

Pssst. If you want to make lose weight and keep it off in 2025, make it easier and know exactly which habits to do by clicking HERE and taking the Healthy Habits Quiz (it’ll show you the exact habits you need to get started with being healthier).

9. Make the Most of Extra Time

You know that weird week between Christmas and New Year where you’re sat watching Love Actually and eating leftover turkey?

Well use that extra time to get ahead on the New Year.

Why wait for January 1st to get started… use that time to get ahead.

(Or better yet… start now).

10. Stay Flexible

You might be able to tick everything on this list off with ease… or you might set off with the best of intensions, only to have a metaphorical mince pie thrown in the works, throwing off your grand-plan.

Stay flexible and when you can’t be perfect with your plan, do the Next Best Thing.

Follow these action steps to end 2024 on a high and waltz into 2025 ahead of the game. Here’s to nailing the rest of the year.