Beating The January Blues

Hi everyone! I thought I'd do something a bit different today, a much more chatty post really on how my month has been going but also how I've been dealing with January! I personally agree that January is like the Monday of months, especially as I'm at university so I'm dealing with the excitement of Christmas being over along with an insane amount of deadlines and also that generally rubbish feeling that you get this month! To get me through this month there is definitely a few things I've been doing to keep me plodding along without getting too stressed and miserable, have a read if you want to find out!

- Setting realistic goals. I think a big problem people have this month is that you want to achieve these really big new years resolutions (trust me I've done it as well) and I knew that I have so much going on right now that I needed to be realistic with myself so I don't get my hopes up that I'm going to achieve so much and then it just doesn't happen. I have had so many deadlines this month with university that I knew I wouldn't be able to be at the gym all the time or put up as many blog posts as I'd like, so by setting myself achievable goals among everything else I've been doing it's meant I've been able to get everything done that I would like to, definitely leaves me feeling happy!

- Keeping on top of everything. This definitely was not easy! When I came back to uni after Christmas I had three really difficult assignments due in, along with my job and then blogging as well but I managed to get through it and submit all my work before the actual deadlines which really is the most amazing feeling! It was definitely tough but I just kind of tackled all the work I had head on which is not easy for a procrastinator like me. I've felt on top of blog posts as well which makes me so happy, as I said before I knew I wasn't going to be able to put out lots of content however I've known in advance on what I wanted to put up which was a massive help and it's helped me keep up to date with posting. 

- Exercising. This was another difficult one for me! I think that it's easy to say you want to go to the gym in January, especially if you were like me and ate far too much over Christmas however when January comes round it's so difficult to actually get up and do it! I've struggled so much to muster up any gym motivation, if you have too click on that link and have a read, it's got some really small easy steps that can make a big difference! Even just doing a workout DVD at home though made me feel so much better when I don't always have time for the gym, and then when I do get the chance I just force myself in the morning to go to the gym and I will ALWAYS feel better afterwards.

- Eating better. I definitely needed to sort out my diet after December however I struggle so much to eat healthy, so for me it's just about cutting down on junk food that I eat. Don't get me wrong I will have a treat and get a takeaway now and again but I enjoy it so much more after knowing that I've eaten well the rest of the week and that I deserve it. I don't want to go on a crazy diet and lose weight for me it's more about just feeling better in myself. My problem is that I have the worst snacking habits, I'm actually addicted to crisps and I've found that a really good alternative is a raw fruit and nut bar made by a company called Natural Balance Foods, their Nakd* bars are so good as an alternative to things like chocolate bars, they keep you full for a long time and they have a really good range of flavours, my favourites are Cocoa Orange and Gingerbread. Plus they're wheat, dairy and gluten free so they're really healthy and I never feel as guilty when I have one of these instead of a packet of crisps, and they taste really nice which is a bonus!

- Planning exciting things. Definitely the thing that keeps me going the most throughout January is planning lots of fun things for the upcoming year! For the past couple of years my boyfriend and I have always booked our holiday in January and this year we did the same and we booked our holiday to Florida, I'm actually SO excited, we go in November so it's still ages away but there is nothing better than the feeling that you are officially going away. It's also my 21st birthday in February and I have the week off university and work around then so I've been planning some really fun things to do in that week when I have time to do whatever I want, the fact that it is so close 100% keeps me motivated to get through this month, I actually love being a February baby. It's also my boyfriend's 21st in June and his birthday is basically right after I finish university so we have planned his birthday this month and we are off to the Lake District for the weekend to go to South Lake Zoo (if you've never been before you should go, it's so amazing) and also to do Go Ape segways and their zip trekking adventure which isn't the course in the trees but you go and do seven ziplines over Grizedale forest, it looks so fun but really scary because you're so high but I can't wait! We are also possibly planning a few days away in Madrid in July but it all depends on his job. You can definitely tell I like to keep myself busy this month planning lots of fun stuff.

- Taking time to chill out. This is so important for me, when I'm so busy I tend to get caught up and never be able to relax but I've actually been taking any day where I am free and doing something nice with it, I met up with my friend who I worked with for a long time before she got a new job and we took her dog out for a walk and it was so nice to just catch up, it's definitely small things like that which make me feel the most chilled out. I also went to London with my boyfriend because we had hardly been able to spend any days together because of our schedules so we grabbed the first free day we could and did something fun together which I think is so important because I feel so down if I feel like we never have the chance to do anything!

January definitely is not an easy month for me and I will be so glad to see the back of it however I like to think I've made it a bit nicer for myself, however I am so ready for February! Let me know in the comments what you've been doing to get through January!

*Product sent for review purposes however all opinions are my own