We’re approaching the new years and if you’re anything like the majority of us, you’re teetering on the edge of serving yourself a new years resolution so big that its bound to come with a heaping side of guilt once you fall off the wagon or you’ve already decided there will be no resolutions this year because you fear this inevitable fall. What’s the point in that resolution anyway, right?
Wrong. There are plenty of reasons to have goals and aspire to achieve them. Your health goals are no less important than your relationship or career goals. Do you swear yourself off of building another relationship after an unforeseen or unfortunate ending to an existing one? And if you’ve ever lost a job or landed one that bored you to tears, did you throw in the towel and refuse to apply for another? The answer to both of these questions is most likely no. However, most of us give up on our health goals year after year and decide that we are no longer deserving of them when the going gets tough.
There are flaws in our current resolution setting; the biggest ones being that we aim so high that we are bound to fail, we put ourselves in situations that test us, we lack support, we beat ourselves up the entire way and then we forget why we started altogether. This new years we challenge you to approach your new-year’s resolutions differently by following these vital strategies for sticking to your commitments!
Aim low. Like super low. Like so low that you’re asking yourself if this is even going to make a difference. Because the reality is that it’s the small changes are more important to focus on that the big ones. If your goal is to exercise 5 days a week but you are currently not exercising at all, aiming for 5 days of exercise a week one is too big of a goal. Instead, try committing yourself to 1-2 daysand increase that number once the current routine becomes habit, meaning it’s easyand effortless to execute.
Avoid temptation. Happy hour wouldn’t be an ideal place for a recovering alcoholic to spend his/her Friday night. In the same respect, filling your house with hyper-palatable, binge-worthy foods but hoping you’ll be able moderate your intake of them is a recipe for disaster. Stock your fridge with guilt-free foods and engage in NFR’s (non-food rewards) as you progress, like buying a new workout outfit, seeing a new movie, or getting a massage.
Surround yourself with support. We’ve all heard the saying “You are who you surround yourself with” and when that comes to achieving health goals, this couldn’t be truer. Find a friend, partner, or family member that you can count on to motivate you throughout your journey!
Offer yourself grace. You are bound to slip up. You will miss a workout and eat more than you throughout of cake and you might do both in the same day and that’s okay. Do not let a bad decision turn into a bad day, or even worse, a bad week. If you slip up, accept and enjoy it but make your next decision better. Don’t wait until tomorrow.
Keep your ‘why’close. There are few things as adults that we have to do, and getting healthy is one of those things. Sure, it’s ideal, but not mandatory. And it is highly unlikely that you have set these goals for yourself because you have to. So what is the reason? It is crucial to get very clear on why you are striving to lose the weight, increase muscle mass, regain your mobility, or eat more vegetables because at the end of the day you’re the reason is all you have…especially when your workout partner chooses Netflix over your workout. So make your ‘why’count.
Contact us to get on track this new years!