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Health & Wellness

2013-01-02 14:42:17

Sticking to that New Years Resolution!

A-The New Year!! Time for the ever so popular 'NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS'. I love the New Year because of that very reason. I want to see everyone get healthy and feel better and I want to see them succeed. I get excited when I go to the gym and it's packed two days after the first of January. But when March hits, it's back to the same routine for so many. Why is that? Most people will tell me they felt so much better and saw the doctor less. Then why stop? What can make our New Years Resolutions become a way of life instead of a two month attempt? Your chances of sticking to a New Year's resolution is better than you think. Making a resolution to lose weight makes you 10 times more likely to succeed than those who don't make resolutions. Most people want to be healthier but are afraid of change or failure. Allow yourself to be better or you’ll just stay where you are. You will make mistakes. Be strong enough to get back up and start again. Most of the time you cannot do this alone and that's okay. It's okay to need help and motivation. You’ll need someone to say, “Good job!” or that you're sabotaging yourself. Someone to be honest with you, yet helpful. Here are some tips on ways to make sure you don’t give up on your resolution: 1. GOALS:-Making only one or two specific resolutions improves your chances of sticking to your goals. Tell family and friends about your goals and enlist their support. Write down your resolutions, breaking them down into smaller goals. Celebrate your achievements. 2. Don’t quit – We are so impatient. We want results instantly. It didn't take you two weeks to gain the weight. It won’t take you two weeks to lose it. You have to be patient and persist. You are stronger than you think, so push through that little voice that is telling you that you did enough. Add 5 more minutes to the 'enough'. 3. Get help –Find a group of people that are doing the same thing as you are. People need that to succeed and it’s okay. Sometimes that is all it takes to help someone to keep trying. Weight loss can be a very emotional thing. Support is necessary. 4. Get healthy in your eating habits- 66% of Americans have no basic knowledge of how to eat healthy. Again, if you have questions regarding this, seek help. The answer isn't to stop eating. That will mess you up more. Ask and learn. Include specific language in your resolution to help you focus on eating a balanced diet and increasing physical activity. 5. Don’t be perfect – Perfectionism equals falling, tumbling, and ending up in a different zip code. It’s okay to eat something not so good for you every now and again. However, you need to eat healthy, good foods most of the time. Then it's okay to have ice cream or pizza once or twice a month. Don't let perfectionism kill your resolution. 6. Reward yourself but not just with food- This is difficult because many grow up in situations where food has been used as reward or comfort. You don't want to go to ice cream because you just lost 15 lbs. It enforces habits that got you overweight in the first place. Buy yourself some new clothes that cements the fact you have done well and reminds you of your success. Food helps us live and feeds our bodies to do so. We shouldn't live to eat. We need to eat to live. More than 172,000 premature deaths each year are related to obesity, the majority resulting from cardiovascular disease. Sticking to your weight-loss resolutions will have positive effects on your health. A modest loss of 5% of your body weight lowers your chances of stroke and developing coronary heart disease, and improves your cholesterol and blood pressure levels. What better reason to set and stick to that New Year's resolution this year?!