The turn of December and January marks a time when we leave our old selves behind and open ourselves up to the hope of a better tomorrow. The New Year brings 365 opportunities to make changes in your life. Spending more time with family, eating healthier, losing weight or gaining muscle, earning or saving more money... But sometimes our motivation only lasts for the first few days. Why is it so hard to keep New Year’s resolutions and how can Mana help?

According to a survey conducted in December of 2019 by Ipsos, the most common New Year’s resolutions are as follows:

  • Exercise more
  • Eat healthier
  • Save more money
  • Make more time for friends, family, and self
  • Be more environmentally friendly

We can certainly agree that if everyone did these five things, the world would be a better place.

Why is it so hard to keep New Year’s resolutions?

To answer this question, we need to look at what the effort to change actually does to us physiologically. In order to function properly, our bodies must maintain a state of homeostasis, i.e. an equilibrium of internal processes. What does this have to do with keeping New Year’s resolutions, you might ask? The answer is simple. Because we can’t maintain a high level of performance at all times, we get exhausted easily. So, for example, if we decide to lose weight and suddenly reduce our calorie intake, our bodies will try to maintain the level of fat that they did previously, and this costs us energy. The same principle applies to motivation. That’s why it’s so hard to keep our resolutions—we set the bar too high in good faith and expect immediate results. 

But breaking old habits takes a while. Researchers from University College London conducted a study in 2009 in which the habits of 96 adult volunteers were examined for 12 months. They found that it takes an average minimum of 66 days to form a lasting habit, though periods ranged from 18 to 254 days. So, no need to panic or quit if things don’t work out quite like you imagined in the first few weeks of January. Remember, you’ll probably need at least 2 months.

Create a realistic plan that will naturally motivate you.

How to Hack New Year’s Resolutions?

First and foremost, take it one step at a time and don't expect instant gratification. At the beginning of the article, we listed the most common New Year’s resolutions—exercise more, eat healthier, save more money, make more time for friends, family, and self, and be more environmentally friendly. These are all major lifestyle changes that can and should last a lifetime, so cut yourself a bit of slack if things don't work out in January. There's also more good news: Mana can help you achieve all these goals. Here's how.

Exercise and diet go hand in hand. One without the other does not work in the long run. But how to take the first step? First of all, make a realistic plan that motivates you. Do you want to start running or working out? Set an initial goal of 1 km and lighter weights. Eventually you'll want to do more because you'll feel great! Go at it gradually and don't try to make all the changes at once.

However, this will be difficult without a suitable dietary adjustment. But we have great news - getting in shape can be tasty without dieting! Mana is an effective, nutritionally complete meal that gives your body all the nutrients it needs in seconds. And because it doesn't make you feel heavy, you can enjoy it both before and after your workout. With Mana, you have the added benefit of knowing exactly how many calories and nutrients you're giving your body. This allows you to control your calorie intake. 

Save money. After housing costs, we spend the most money on food. Mana is not only healthy and tasty, but also economically viable food with prices starting from 1,41 per meal! Assuming that the average home cooked meal costs €4, with our Family Pack of 140 servings you will save more than €360!

Have more time for yourself and loved ones. Do you know how much time you waste every week going to supermarkets, cooking and washing dishes? To save you some time, we've done the math... And we've come up with a solution. If we assume that an average home-cooked meal takes about 30 minutes to prepare, then if you have Mana at least once a day, you'll save more than 15 hours a month that you can dedicate to yourself and your loved ones! Because ManaPowder you just need to mix with water and ManaDrink is ready-made. Change seems complicated, but it's actually simple - start eating efficiently and you'll have more time to live!

Help the environment. There are many things you can do to help the environment, but one of the big ones is keeping a plant-focused diet. Mana can assist with this, too, because it’s made with sustainable ingredients and technology. Every ingredient we use is thoroughly tested in our own and state-certified labs, and subject to clinical study by other global institutions, which helps us select only those ingredients that have high nutritional content relative to their ecological footprint. We take a number of other steps to help the environment as well, which you can read about here.

So if you too are one of the people who look forward to the new year, try to approach your desire for change a little differently this time. Better. With respect not only for yourself, but also for our planet and the people around you. No matter what resolutions you choose to make this year, with Mana you have the opportunity to make your journey much easier. And remember, it's not about how quickly you achieve your goals... It's all about getting started and persevering.Sources:

[1] Statista.com. (2019) America's Top New Year's Resolutions for 2020.
https://www.statista.com/chart/20309/us-new-years-resolutions-2020/

[2] Psychology Today. (2015) Why Is It So Darn Hard to Keep New Year’s Resolutions? https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/motivate/201512/why-is-it-so-darn-hard-keep-new-year-s-resolutions

[3] Verywellmind.com. (2020) How the Process of Homeostasis Works. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-homeostasis-2795237

[4] P Lally, Cornelia H. M. Van Jaarsveld, Henry W. W. Potts, Jane Wardle. (2010) How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. http://repositorio.ispa.pt/bitstream/10400.12/3364/1/IJSP_998-1009.pdf

[5] F. L. Greenway, International Journal of Obesity. (2015) Physiological adaptations to weight loss and factors favouring weight regain. https://bit.ly/3Hkwxde