The Amalfi Coast’s 4 Best Hikes

April 22, 2019/in Hiking, Tips & Advice /by admin

Path Of The Gods Hike Amalfi Coast

First things first, when you’re hiking the Amalfi Coast, you’re not stepping on just any ordinary gravel path. Rather, you’re hiking historic trails, some of which connect charming villages, a large number of which cling to the mountains above the deep blue Mediterranean, and all of which make you want to high-five every passerby.

Hiking the Amalfi Coast epitomizes living “la dolce vita,” and while we’ve got it going on here in British Columbia with our dramatic mountains and clear lakes, there’s something truly magical about exploring Italy by foot. With a few trips under our belt and many exuberant Adventure Trekkers who attest to the Amalfi Coast’s spellbinding quality, we’re ready, nay incredibly excited, to share our favorite local hikes.

How does one even begin to whittle down the list of best hikes on the Amalfi Coast? The process was not easy–each trail deserves an honorable mention–but we managed to select just four stand-out hikes based on their views, starting and ending points, history, technicality, and duration. We considered the whole gamut. Our list has strong legs.

Here are Mountain Trek’s 4 best hikes on the Amalfi Coast

Path of the Gods

Path of the Gods is one of the best hiking trails on the Amalfi Coast, according to Mountain Trek

In particular, hiking from Praiano to Nocelle, above Positano.

Why Best Hike on Amalfi Coast: Outstanding views of the Mediterranean and the two Amalfi Coast towns. The Path of the Gods is a hike that recalls the incredible landscapes of Greek mythology.

Note: Because of its popularity, it can be packed with tourists, at times making it seem somewhat dangerous. It’s technical, and has lots of exposure on cliffs.

Hike Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain/loss: -400m/-1200ft

Distance: 8 km/5 mi.

Il Vallone delle Ferriere

Valle delle Ferriere Papermill Iron Foundry Hike is one of the best hiking trails on the Amalfi Coast, according to Mountain Trek

Also known as: Iron Foundry Valley or Paper Mills Valley hike.

Why Best Hike on Amalfi Coast: It starts in the quaint seaside town of Ravello, which was founded in the 5th century, and runs back into the mountains, descending to the coastal town of Amalfi. The hike follows a cascading creek, and is dotted with 12-14th century remains of iron factories and paper mills.

Note: Beautiful, tall chestnut trees and rare, long leaved ferns.

Hike Difficulty: Moderate

Elevation gain/loss: -400m/-1,200ft

Distance: 6 km/3.7 mi.

The Path of the Two Provinces

The Path of the Two Provinces or Santa Maria del Castello hike above Positano Amalfi Coast is one of the best hikes on the Amalfi Coast as voted by Mountain Trek

Also known as Santa Maria del Castello

Why Best Hike on Amalfi Coast: It’s the longest and steepest climb, but a favorite because it’s barely used, and has epic views of the azure blue sea far below the limestone cliffs it sits on. The trail climbs straight up the mountain above Positano for 1800’, and descends to the village of Arola, above Sorrento.

The first section of this trail has an elevation gain of about 800 meters to get to the Hamlet of Santa Maria del Castello.

Note: Allow for 5-6 hours of walking, as the path is steep and rocky in places.

Hike Difficulty: Challenging

Elevation gain/loss: +900m/2,900ft

Distance: 13.5 km/8.4 mi.

The Path of the Sirens

Path of the Sirenuse / Path of the Sirens is one of the best hiking trails on the Amalfi Coast, according to Mountain Trek

Why Best Hike on Amalfi Coast: It climbs through traditional garden farms growing artichokes, broccolini and olives, to a peak that gives the area’s best vantage point of the Sirens, the Greek mythological islands that housed singing divas dangerous to sailors. It is a unique walk surrounded by Mediterranean nature, rich in historical and mythological references and breathtaking views of the two gulfs (Gulf of Naples and Gulf of Salerno).

Note: The trail is a 4-hour hike that tops out in a pine forest before descending to the village of Torca.

Hike Difficulty: Easy

Elevation gain/loss: 300m/900ft

Distance: 8.5 km/5.2 mi.

Our final vote for “Bests of the Amalfi Coast” is for Lucy, the hiking guide who showed us the ropes. She is energetic, friendly, and eager to impart her knowledge of the Amalfi Coast. To add depth to your hiking experience, we recommend bringing her along for at least one of your hiking adventures.

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

Mountain Trek’s Morning Routine

March 20, 2019/in Tips & Advice /by admin

I see you there, scratching your head as you read, “6:15AM Smoothie + Tonic” on our schedule for every day (!) of the week at Mountain Trek. And I see you scratching even harder when you read, “6:30 AM Gentle Yoga.”

Here’s the deal with why we wake up at 6AM to drink “that stuff” within 30 minutes, and then send our bodies straight into some form of movement beyond scrolling through social media or emails. There’s a science to our program’s fine-tuned morning routine.

Request Mountain Trek White Paper

Break your fast within half an hour of getting out of bed

Mountain Trek doesn’t offer a diet; instead, our award-winning program emphasizes eating patterns. Why? this balances your blood sugar throughout the day, meaning your metabolism will work like a well-oiled machine and you will avoid energy spikes and crashes.

Eating breakfast immediately—which, at Mountain Trek, is broken into two parts, with the first part being a smoothie and tonic upon waking at 6AM—kick-starts your metabolism for the day. Also, eating within 30 minutes of waking supports your circadian rhythm, meaning you’ll sleep soundly, and it stops your liver from going into a famine response that will only hinder your ability to burn calories.

Stretch mindfully after breakfast

If you don’t keep lengthening the muscles you regenerate throughout the night, you’ll end up stiff as a board. Stretching in the morning will improve your brain activity, decrease your aches and pains, and set you up for improved energy throughout the day. If there’s one way to put a pep in your step, it’s through improving the mobility in all of your body’s main joints.

As you stretch, focus intently on the sensation in your muscles and your breathing. Close your eyes if you need to. Hold each stretch for 5 long breaths, deepening the stretch slightly with every exhale. Start from the ground up, stretching everything from your calves to your neck muscles. If you have more time before work, attending a morning yoga class is a great way to start your day.

To give you a little personal insight, my husband and I used to never eat breakfast or stretch before heading off to work in San Francisco. We went from bed to desk. That’s it. The bad habit existed because our far-too-late dinners meant our bodies never craved breakfast. Once we got on Mountain Trek’s schedule and started eating the appropriate-sized dinner at the right time, there was no going back.

By eating earlier in the evening, we slept better and woke up without food hangovers, and we couldn’t wait for our nourishing smoothie and tonic. We felt much more energetic and clear-minded. And, paired with the morning mindful stretch, we felt accomplished and confident for the day, before the clock even struck 7:30 AM.

Mountain Trek’s morning routine will help your body regain balance. It’ll kick you back into rhythm, and make you feel like a whole new you.

To experience the Mountain Trek morning routine yourself—to wake up after a night of deep sleep, fuel your body with organic nourishment and do sun-rise yoga overlooking a lake deep in the therapeutic wilderness of British Columbia, Canada—contact us or view program availability.

What’s so hot about hot springs? 5 Reasons to go for a soak

February 19, 2019/in Detox, Relaxation, Tips & Advice /by admin

Hot springs are full-steam ahead on being the #1 luxury that vacationers prioritize when picking their holiday destination. Why? Not only are they great for post-ski socializing, they work wonders for your body, physically and mentally. Japan and Europe have known about the healing powers of hot springs for thousands of years, but Canada is also home to some of the best sources of balneotherapy–the therapeutic use of water for relieving pain, stress, skin woes and more.

Our lodge in British Columbia is fortunate enough to be located in Ainsworth, home of a large healing hot spring pool that was first visited by the Ktunaxa First Nations peoples, who recuperated in the hot water after a long day of hunting, fishing, and gathering roots and berries. Mountain Trek guests have unlimited access to this marvel of nature during their stay, and here’s why it’s important to take advantage of soaking in the hot mineral waters.

What is a hot spring?

A hot spring is an all-natural body of water that is warmed geothermally. One way to classify a hot spring is that it must be well above the temperature of the surrounding earth, and usually hot springs hover around the 100 degrees Fahrenheit mark. The temperature of a given hot spring depends on the heat supplied at depth (sometimes from a magma chamber), the rate at which the water flows, and if there is a mixture of cooler groundwater into the flow of hot water.

Where are they found?

Hot springs truly are the world’s original spa – interestingly, the term ‘spa’ originates from the town of Spa, Belgium, made famous for its hot springs. Typically, hot springs are found where there is volcanic activity or magma chambers, or where there are fault lines in the Earth.

Therapeutic Benefits

Hot springs have an especially high mineral content, because heated water can hold more dissolved solids. This means they contain everything from calcium, magnesium, silica, lithium, and even radium. In other words, they’re a multivitamin for the skin. The heat in hot springs envelopes and helps soothe aching muscles, and the minerals present in the water get soaked up by the skin, stimulating certain bodily processes.

Here’s how the combination of these minerals and the hot water help us:

Musculoskeletal problems: Documented in Chinese and Japanese history, hot springs have been used to aid with swollen joints, arthritis, muscle fatigue, ligament damage, and more.

Eczema: Chronically dry, flaky skin, otherwise known as eczema, is a skin condition that affects up to 15% of Americans and Canadians. Regularly soaking in hot springs has been found to reduce eczema itching and redness.

Nasal Congestion: The heat of the water, combined with sulphur, makes for a winning way to combat nasal congestion caused by the common cold, allergies, or even chest congestion.

Circulation: Sodium bicarbonate and calcium found in mineral hot springs help with good circulation in the body. This can have numerous positive impacts, including lowering blood pressure. The weightlessness that comes with floating in the water also helps improve circulation.

Relaxation: Never to be underestimated, is the power of de-stressing and relaxation. A stressed state can lead to all kinds of health complications, such as high blood pressure, depression, and an increase in the output of the stress hormone, cortisol. When cortisol is released in stress-induced doses, our hormones are thrown off balance, which affects our mood, immune system and metabolism. Long story short, if you’d like a faster metabolism and the ability to shed those pesky pounds, you’ve got to make sure your hormones are balanced.

In regards to the different minerals in hot springs and how they help our health, here’s the lowdown:

Magnesium: aids with clear complexion, and healthy-looking skin
Potassium: eliminates toxins and promotes healthy skin
Sodium: decreases inflammation in swollen joints, and can help the lymphatic system
Sulphur: helps with respiratory problems and skin inflammations

Don’t hesitate another moment–hurry over to a healing hot spring; the rewards you’ll reap are thoroughly worth it. Or, come visit us and use ours!

SMART Goal Making With Our Fitness Director

January 24, 2019/in Tips & Advice /by admin

Mountain Trek’s Lead Guide, Cathy, leads a hike on Idaho Peak

Cathy Grierson has been Mountain Trek’s Head Guide & Fitness Director for almost two decades, and she’s not slowing down. She embodies ox-like strength and is a leading source of fitness-related non-quackery.

In an attempt to become even one hundredth as physically tuned-up as Cathy, I sat down with her to chat about how she’s diving into 2019.

Thanks for taking a few moments off from skiing to sit down with me, Cathy. 2019 has officially tiptoed in, and I wonder how you’re viewing the New Year.

My fitness resolution, or big picture “goal,” for this year is to keep moving, in any form, be it hiking, dancing, biking, skiing, spinning, HIIT, yoga, you name it. As they say, “If you keep the body guessing, you keep progressing.”

A buffet of activity, of sorts! How do you foresee sticking to this variety?

First thing’s first: you have to keep it realistic by making S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time anchored) micro-actions, one at a time.

For example, this winter, I made cross-country skiing my #1 priority for cardio fitness. Here, I’ve kept my action specific (cross-country skiing), and time-anchored (the 2018/2019 winter season).

To stay motivated and committed, I did a few things. First, I bought a cross-country ski pass for the season, and the financial investment has immediately made me more accountable. To feel like my investment has been worthwhile, I want to pay the pass off. This means that if it cost $150, and a drop-in fee is $15, I have to ski 10 times to pay it off. That’s the “measurable” part.

Second, I want to pay it off by the time I go on Mountain Trek’s South Carolina program in February. This is where the “time anchored” component comes into effect. Whatever I ski once I return will therefore be a bonus, which will feel like a reward. Overall, this means I will have to have skied 10 times from when the track opened on December 15th until I leave on February 1st. That’s a total of seven weeks. I made the decision to commit to cross-country skiing twice weekly, except for the week of Christmas, until February 1st. This statement is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time anchored.

I like how you’ve broken down your goal to make it doable. Can you elaborate on how your S.M.A.R.T action supports your objective?

By ticking all the S.M.A.R.T boxes, I’m ensuring I’ll keep moving. At the same time, I’m upholding my values by doing my part in reducing environmental impact and climate change. Instead of driving to my errands, I’m skiing to them twice per week!

I’m also going to find other cross-country skiing allies to ski and carpool with, thereby surrounding myself with like-minded athletes. Having a support network is key to upping the fun factor, and to holding yourself accountable. Having skiing buddies is important to me because if I don’t feel like going out but know someone is depending on me to go with them, I am more likely to follow through.

Lastly, I’m going to track and log each of my skiing adventures using Strava or Gaia. I’m going to record the temperature, snow conditions, distance, elevation and time, as seeing how I am improving over the season will keep me motivated.

Your organization, drive, and savviness are enviable. Did you make a goal last year, and did it last?

Yes, I made a 2018 resolution, and, yes, it lasted. I made Hot Yoga my #1 priority flexibility fitness action, which supported my long term fitness goal to “keep moving.” I went through a very similar process: I bought a pass, figured out how many times I needed to go to pay off the pass, committed to that number using the S.M.A.R.T formula, and it worked–I love hot yoga now!

Discover why micro-resolutions are twice as likely to succeed than lofty New Year’s resolutions.

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

New Year’s Resolutions with Nutritionist Jenn

January 12, 2019/in Tips & Advice /by admin

Last summer, I walked into Mountain Trek with a host of digestive issues. Food and I were not—I repeat and emphasize, NOT—on good terms. I was bloated. I was inflamed. I was crumbling.

Jenn Keirstead, Mountain Trek’s nutritionist, fixed that – and within just one week. With her emphasis on non-inflammatory foods, and appropriate meal times and portions, she was able to save me from the dark depths of a body in revolt. I picked her brain as much as her brain would allow for picking—her tolerance is remarkably high, if not infinite—and my gut and I left forever changed.

Because of Jenn’s excellence, I interviewed her to learn exactly what she’ll be doing throughout the year. I needed to get into her head to find out just how she’s always, well, a ball of sunshine. Is it what she eats? How she views life? How does she view life? I may not have gotten all the scoop this time around, but here’s a snapshot into how one nutrition specialist views New Year resolutions.

Thanks for spilling the beans on how you start your year, Jenn. What are your resolutions?

To be honest, I don’t make resolutions! Instead, I take time to look back and reflect on the previous year. I’ve noticed this habit of reflection helps me create more self-awareness, and resilience. I’ve also found it helps me establish, and achieve, more meaningful goals. As a nutritionist, I also focus on the dietary strengths and challenges of the past year. I ask myself, how did my diet seem to affect my health, my energy, my overall wellbeing?

Interesting. How do you go about asking yourself these hard questions?

I encourage you to take your time with these questions over several sittings. Let your thoughts percolate. Stay with the questions over the next few weeks. You can start by asking yourself what went well, who needs to be acknowledged, how you grew, what didn’t work so well, and how will you continue to meet your dietary and fitness needs?

MT emphasizes keeping goals doable upon returning home. How can we apply this logic to our goal-making for 2019?

To help make the goal of reflection achievable, ask yourself what the year ahead will look like. Questions such as, “Will there be big changes this new year, with work or relationships,” “Who would I like to connect with more,” and “What kind of leader/ friend/ partner would I like to be?” Try to create very specific intentions you are wanting to achieve.

How have you created and manifested your own intentions?

During my swimming career, my coach would encourage me to specifically visualize every second of the upcoming race. I found this to be one of the most helpful practices in all areas of my life. For example, my husband and I adopted a little boy this year, and during the three-year preliminary adoption process, I would constantly focus on manifesting a healthy, happy child in our world. And it has seemed to work out beautifully!

What’s one tip you can offer regarding diet this New Year?

Here’s the bottom line: small, sustainable change is much more likely to turn into a lifelong habit. Try not to aim for dietary perfection, as that often leads to increased stress and unachievable success. Baby steps will get you there. For example, something as simple as focusing on mindful eating, and putting your fork down between each bite, is an excellent place to start.

Discover why micro-resolutions are twice as likely to succeed than lofty New Year’s resolutions, and Kirk’s take on goal-making this year.

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

5 Reasons You Need to Start Hiking Right Now

January 2, 2019/in Habits to Health, Hiking, Tips & Advice /by admin

We’re meant to be outside. The terrible thing is, most of us spend over 2,000 hours at our desks yearly. That’s like watching The Titanic 616 times in a row. The stress, the long hours, the sedentary nature of our chair-bound lives—it’s all sucking the life out of us.

This year, take it outside. More specifically, go hiking. Immerse in nature. Forest bathe. Time spent hiking doesn’t just burn calories, it helps cell health, lowers stress levels, balances hormones, improves immunity, and deepens sleep. How? It all boils down to ditching your devices and immersing in nature.

Heal Your Cells

By simply trading your iPhone, iPad, iPod, i-you-name-it for a walk amongst the trees, you’ll immediately notice a sort of cellular exfoliation. You’ll feel alive. Truly alive. This is because, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, in nature, you’re exposed to terpenes, a naturally-occurring hydrocarbon in plants and animals that are neuro-protective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumorigenic. Don’t ask us exactly how they work—all we know is they do the body good.

Lower Pulse Rate

That’s just the beginning. According to the School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, forest bathing, by which they mean spending at least two hours in nature, is a meaningful way to significantly lower pulse rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Calm Your Mind

The School of Forestry and Resource Conservation’s study also found short bouts in nature to be “an effective psychological relaxation strategy.” Turns out the forest engages all of your senses—your mind stills, and you reconnect to your soul.

Lose Weight, Sleep Better & Reduce Stress

Going on a three to four hour hike can burn serious calories—over 1,500 if you really get after it. Beyond the obvious benefit of burning fat and losing weight, this type of medium-intensity, extended-duration exercise does two things. First, it elongates our deep-sleep stage, which is the most restorative stage of sleep that sees the release of growth hormones. Second, it reduces our levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is directly linked with memory loss, poor immune function, decreased bone density, increased weight gain, cholesterol, blood pressure, heart disease, and the list goes on. It’s a no-brainer that cortisol wreaks havoc.

OK, you caught us—that’s six reasons, but hey, what’s wrong with being healthier?

This is why we say now is the time to boot up—the benefits are too compelling not to. John Muir, the “Father of the National Parks,” once said, “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” No matter what you’re seeking right now, make sure you look outside first.

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning hiking-based health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

New Year’s Resolutions with Kirk – Certified Life Coach

January 2, 2019/in Tips & Advice /by admin

Last year, I took a week off from my Bay Area-based job to enjoy a week at Mountain Trek. I won’t deny the first few days were difficult—sugar is my vice—but mid-way through the program I noticed a fundamental change within—a change so monumental I decided to leave my job and start creating written content for the retreat. To kick off my role as Mountain Trek’s Content Creator here is my first interview with Kirkland Shave, Program Director.

Setting Goals With a Certified Life Coach

How do you set New Year’s Resolutions?

K: Here’s the twist: I don’t make them. Over the years, I’ve learned the changes that stick for me come from allowing enough time for daily introspection—for noticing imbalances and truly feeling, in my deeper self, where I need to create harmony.

What do you suggest to create harmony?

K: Pick something manageable. For me, I choose an action I can routinely integrate in a very real way, be it with friends and family or at work. If I don’t find a way to meld my goals with my routine, I end up self-sabotaging, giving up, and feeling defeated. Or like a failure. Neither of which are productive.

What are you currently working on?

K: Not allowing for 12 hours of non-ingestion between my last intake at night and my first meal the following day. Today’s intermittent fasting fad isn’t my motivation; doing a natural, daily fast is.

What sparked your desire to fast for 12 hours during the night?

K: I’m currently traveling through rice farming villages in South East Asia, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how everything follows the sun. Research shows that digestion while we sleep interrupts autophagy, the body’s opportunity to not utilize energy (from food), instead of going into a recycle—repair period. Ideally done for 12ish hours, this time of non-digestion naturally boosts cell health and longevity.

How do you combat the urge to eat right before turning in for the night?

K: I set my alarm to remind me to brush and floss at 7 PM. Once my teeth are clean, I think twice about looking for a snack. Am I always successful? No; I’m human. That said, by brushing my teeth right after dinner three times per week, I’m slowly but surely forming a habit. After a few months, I’ll add a day. As they say, “Inch by inch, life’s a cinch; yard by yard, life is hard.”

What 3 things does it take to help fulfill health and vitality in the wake of curveballs?

Patience
Curiosity
Incremental change—make actionable micro-resolutions you can subtly develop into habits

Using Mountain Trek’s 5 pillars of health—destress, detox, sleep, fitness, nutrition—how can I help myself feel revitalized?

K: I recommend not trying to tackle them all at once; pick one pillar and make one micro-resolution. For example, if you’d like to work on sleep, you could make a micro-resolution to be in bed (and asleep!) by 10 PM three times per week, and not wake until 6 AM at the earliest. If you’d like to work on fitness, you could resolve to take the stairs whenever you have the option of using an elevator or escalator at least twice per week. Start small and the results will be bigger.

Thanks, Kirk, for the insight. I was going to go cold turkey on sugar again this year, after only making it a couple of weeks last year, but now I’ll rethink my intention. I need to find a way to make eating less sugar something I can bake into my routine more successfully. Going cold turkey on it doesn’t work in the long run.

To set yourself up for some serious mental, physical and emotional success, read more about why your resolutions are doomed, and how it is all about the micro-resolution. For brownie points, log your micro-resolution for this year in our Micro-Resolution Tracker. Hold yourself accountable, and get after it.

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning health retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you detox, unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below:

How To Accomplish Your New Year’s Resolutions

January 1, 2019/in Habits to Health, Tips & Advice /by admin

Ringing in the New Year is supposed to be exciting. The thing is, it’s often far from it. We’re hyped up on sugar while we enjoy the night’s festivities, but when we crash, we’re reminded how our New Year’s resolutions don’t last more than a few weeks. By which I mean a maximum of two of the 52 weeks we were supposed to uphold them. We’re reminded we don’t have the willpower. We don’t have the discipline. We’re “failures”.

Just writing these words bums us out; because in reality, we’re not powerless. We’re not negligent. We’re not a failure.

If anything, we’re simply overachieving. In turn, we’re setting ourselves up for not accomplishing our goals. We’ve looked at this problem long and hard (Learn the top 5 pitfalls of typical Resolutions). Let us introduce you to what will forever change not just your sentiment around the New Year, but your life: micro-resolutions.

Micro-Resolutions are the Solution

Micro-resolutions are simple, concrete actions that compound over time to achieve a goal. Tiny behavioral changes you can form into daily habits. These are the key to making lasting changes. Micro-resolutions, even though they seem less impactful, are twice as likely to succeed as typical goals. These small wins will add up over time to be something far greater than any goal you have set in the past.

With that, this year try being less ambitious, and about making intentions so do-able they seem trivial. Because if it’s drastic, it’ll feel too foreign, and you won’t bake it into your routine. Choose a micro-resolution that can build upon an existing behavior; something specific and personal.

The less abstract your goal, the easier it will be to enforce because you won’t be quite so resistant.

Here’s an example. Last year, I made the lofty New Year’s resolution to cut out all refined sugar, primarily because I thought it would bring my hormone levels into harmony. At first, the arbitrary line I drew was no desserts, cookies, doughnuts, chocolate, candy, waffles, ice cream, and brownies. No sweetened yogurts, cakes, milkshakes, you name it, either. I was going cold turkey.

Not even one week later (yes, you have permission to laugh), I was tricking myself into chocolatey granola bars—they’re healthful and fibrous and good for the heart, no?—and jam-topped toast, because jam’s practically a fruit, right? My goal—no sugar, at all, ever—was too ambitious. It caused me to crumble, and quick.

This year, I’m tackling the same sugar-free resolution, but with a micro-resolution mindset. Instead of saying none, ever, my micro-resolution is: enjoy two desserts per week. Seems doable, right? This means I can still enjoy a vanilla yogurt every now and then, and I won’t feel so painfully deprived. By moderating my sugar intake instead of ending it, hard and fast, I’ll be able to more easily achieve my ultimate goal of hormonal balance. Win, win.

How to turn over-ambitious resolutions into manageable micro-resolutions:

RESOLUTION	MICRO-RESOLUTION
To eat healthier	To cook one new healthy recipes per week
To sit for only four hours daily	To stand at my standing desk every morning while I read my emails
To never use my electronic devices around my children	To leave my phone at the front door when I get home Monday through Friday
To lose 20lbs	To eat breakfast three times weekly
To exercise every day	To go for an energizing hike, at least 60 minutes, four times monthly
To give up alcohol	To only drink on the weekends, Friday included, after 5pm
To sleep more	To get to bed at 10 pm on Tuesday of every week

As the author John Bytheway says, “Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life’s hard.” Although setting concrete, actionable micro-resolutions will seem small and easy at first, over time they will compound into dramatic, mile-sized changes.

We also discovered that actually writing down your micro-resolutions, instead of keeping your goals to yourself, dramatically improves your chances of success. This happens because once anyone else knows about your goal, it becomes more real than ever. You are no longer accountable to just yourself, but everyone who knows what you are trying to accomplish. To help you accomplish your goals this year, we’ve created the Mountain Trek Goal Tracker, a simple accountability tool that will make you ten times more likely to succeed!

What is Mountain Trek?

Mountain Trek is the health reset you’ve been looking for. Our award-winning retreat, immersed in the lush nature of British Columbia, will help you unplug, recharge, and roll back years of stress and unhealthy habits. To learn more about the retreat, and how we can help you reset your health, please email us at info@mountaintrek.com or reach out below: