Tuesday, January 29, 2013

New Year's Resolutions????

Well, the end of January is approaching- how are you doing with your New Year's resolution?  That's what this post is about:  those darn New Year's resolutions!!!  Exercise and eating healthy are a year round commitment- not just one for the first 6 weeks of the new year.

I can't stress enough that you have to be very intentional with exercising and healthy eating.  Treat exercising like you would an important appointment- put it on your calendar or on your to do list; set an alarm for it on your iphone and treat it as you would a meeting with a colleague.  Do you want to stop the yo-yoing of "on again, off again exercising"?  Most things take 21 days to become habits.  Exercising takes 6 months to become a habit.  That means you have to be so conscientious about making it happen, especially the first 6 months.

Same goes for eating healthy.  Make a meal plan for the week and get your prep work done ahead of time.  We eat the most unhealthy when we don't have a plan come dinner time.  We do fast food or prepackaged junk when we don't have time to prepare a healthy meal.  Keep veggies pre-chopped in your refrigerator, ready to go, so that you don't reach for something unhealthy instead.  Which brings me to the next point:  Don't keep unhealthy food in your house!!  If it's not there, you can't eat it!  We have to have a plan if we want to succeed- it doesn't happen on it's own.

Focus on the benefits of both exercising and eating healthy.  Doing both of those makes us feel healthier!  We have more energy and less sickness.  We reduce our risk of a multitude of diseases.  Our mood and our sleep are better.  The benefits are countless.  Focus on that- don't focus on the food you think you're missing out on or the time sitting in front of a tv or computer that you're losing.  Health has long lasting benefits, not just immediate ones!

So, get rid of the New Years resolutions and make it a new lifestyle instead!!