It’s the beginning of January and time for New Year’s resolutions. I’m personally not a big fan of resolutions because, let’s face it, they don’t stick. The top New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight and get out of debt. You’ll have to talk to Drummond Osborn for financial advice. As far as losing weight goes, it needs to be more about your health. And a resolution isn’t going to motivate you if you aren’t ready to commit.
A resolution is supposed to last us all year, but honestly, most don’t make it past the week. It really needs to be a change for the rest of your life, not just 2010.
Make commitments you can stick to. Think of starting with smaller actions to lose weight. Making big plans to go to the gym for two hours a day is unrealistic, causing you to get so disappointed with yourself that you completely stop doing anything!
- Be practical with your resolutions and small actions can lead to big things.
Get your calendar out and make a commitment to make it to workout at least three days a week. Start with 30 minutes and work your way up to an hour. Make it an appointment in your book, just like a dentist appointment. Don’t let your excuses get in the way. Tip-exercising early in the morning helps to eliminate excuses. Put your gym bag in the car so you are ready to go right after work.
Don’t completely eliminate all your favorite foods. Just focus on one meal at a time rather than the entire week. Remember, if you overeat at a meal or snack, don’t go into the mode where you might as well eat everything not nailed down! We don’t become overweight by overeating at ONE meal. So you ate more than you wanted. Big deal! Learn from it and move on to better choices next time.
The great thing about taking care of ourselves by working out and eating better is, the more you do it, the better you will feel!! You may not realize how bad you feel until you start to feel good!
Consistency is the key to weight loss. Our smallest actions add up to so much! I recently ran across a quote that perfectly fits how small things can make a huge difference:
“For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of the shoe, the horse was lost. For want of the horse, the rider was lost. For want of the rider, the battle was lost. For want of the battle, the Kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.”
Your smallest actions can so easily add up to something big.
Happy New Year!
JANET NEVILLS owns Ladies Fitness Zone in LaPorte, where she teaches Jazzercise, Pilates and Yoga. She is also a Certified Personal Trainer.
