2026 is finally upon us! For a lot of us, a new year means it’s time for new beginnings.

Every New Year, my clients commit to becoming healthier, happier, better versions of themselves. Some want complete lifestyle changes in hopes of permanently transforming physically and mentally, while others simply want to lose the extra weight they gained over the holidays. 

With so much focus on quick fixes, diet and exercise, we tend to forget about our mindset, which makes or breaks our fitness efforts. Initiating a fitness journey can be tough, but with the right mindset, we can achieve our health and fitness goals as our paths unfold.

Here are 5 ways to help you kickstart the New Year with a healthier mindset.

Understand The Journey

A journey, or a chapter in one's life, takes time, patience and perseverance. In a society that strives for perfection, you need to accept that your journey will not be perfect. You will have ups and downs, days where you won’t feel like eating clean or going to the gym, times where you will want to give up.

Once you accept that these challenges will occur and are normal, you will be able to handle any situation and will get back on track instead of throwing in the towel and stopping the journey completely.

Set Realistic Expectations and Small Goals

Mindset strengthens naturally when people set realistic goals around their lifestyles. Many mistakenly believe that being healthy takes an overwhelming amount of time. That’s why it’s so important that you specifically define what you want out of your fitness journey, which will have a huge impact on the time and effort required.

Setting goals can really help obtain a sense of direction and assist in creating new habits in small, approachable steps instead of feeling like you’re stumbling in the dark.

Write in A Journal

Journals are an underrated, yet powerful tool. Journaling allows you to express yourself without judgment. After some time, you can look back and see how far you’ve come on your journey. I did this when I first started my weight-loss transformation journey and I am so glad that I did as I do refer to it from time to time to remind myself of how far I’ve come when things get rough and I don’t feel motivated. 

Surround Yourself With Positive Messages

Unfortunately we cannot live life without discouragement or negative thoughts but we can definitely do more to avoid it and to stay positive. Staying positive during tough times is important. An effective way to strengthen one’s mindset is to feed the mind with positive affirmations, quotes and motivational messages. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I start every day with positive affirmations as soon as I wake up. There are many Instagram and Facebook accounts that revolve around sharing inspirational quotes and thoughts. Podcasts are also excellent sources for positivity and motivation-I listen to them while doing my LISS (low intensity steady state) fasted cardio every morning.

Change Your Perspective

When some of my clients initially start their programs, they struggle with nutrition and exercise because they focus on what they have not achieved instead of praising their current successes and celebrating the small wins. Focusing on the negative is common because it’s easy, and many people acquire a "glass half empty" perspective.

I teach my clients to celebrate the small non scale victories and to always pay attention to how far they’ve come from the day they’ve started their health and fitness journeys.

Remember, the body is nothing without the mind and the mind is nothing without the body. When both work in unison, amazing things can happen. 

Here’s to a healthy and strong mind & body babes. We got this!