How long will it take you to forget your New Year's resolutions this year? If you are like most people, by January 10th life has pretty much gone back to normal and nothing really has changed.
Once a year, usually shortly after Christmas most people take a good look at their lives and decide there are things that need to be changed. It may be a few extra pounds, it may be the job they hate or it can be a relationship that is going nowhere. No matter what it is, it is at this particular time of year that it is the time to scrutinize all of our flaws.
By January 10th most of these resolutions have been broken and we sit in the same position as we did on December 15th except that now we feel guilty that we are a failure, we can’t even keep a resolution let alone make changes in our lives. The problem with this recurring scenario is that it is doomed right from the get-go. Change, real change is not something that happens overnight from December 31st to January 1st. It is something that takes a very strategic plan and it has to happen gradually to become part of our lives.
Do you want to make changes to your life in 2017? Then let’s make a resolution to not make a resolution, let’s make a plan. Begin by defining exactly what it is that you would like to see happen. If it is weight loss, which is something that most of us have on the agenda, then realistically what would you like to lose? Why not start with a goal that is attainable. Ten pounds is attainable, start with that.
The next step is to set a time limit, again be realistic. By March 1st is realistic, that is five pounds a month or a little over a pound a week.
One pound is about 3500 calories. If you divide this by 7 days then you need to cut 500 calories from your diet every day. Of course, there is an alternative to the cutting; you can add 500 calories of exercise. Walking for an hour depending on your weight and the speed that you walk can burn up to 300 calories, when you consider that a donut is 285 calories, it will if nothing else, make you think about what you put in your mouth. A quick glance at this will tell you that if you walk briskly (4 mph) for an hour and skip the donut you usually eat, you will have knocked over 500 calories from your day.
This same process will work with any change you want to make in your life. Break it down into basic components. If you have a bad day or even a bad week, with a plan you don’t have to give up your whole resolution because you are a failure. You can say okay, I still have X # of weeks and if I double my efforts next week I am right back on track.
Even if you have a hard time sticking to any changes you want to make, don’t be hard on yourself. Change is never easy. Most of us have to fail several times before we succeed. Just don’t set yourself up to fail. Be realistic, be firm, be a new you for the New Year.
No comments:
Post a Comment