Every New Year, it never fails: people get a new spark of enthusiasm
for embarking on a healthy course for the year. Gym memberships soar,
health oriented websites surge in traffic, diet programs and pills are
gobbled up like no tomorrow, and personal trainers don’t have enough
hours in the day to see the new clients who’ve signed up for sessions.
Unfortunately, the enthusiasm rampant in the beginning of January
wanes after a few weeks and before you know it, gyms have membership
cancellations, websites see drops in traffic, McDonald’s gets back their
customers, and personal trainers have a more manageable number of
clients. This trend is as predictable as the ball dropping in Times
Square on New Year’s Eve.
Just because the majority of resolution makers give up, however,
doesn’t mean that you need to become a resolution dropout as well. Here
are a few ways to ensure that your attempts to make positive change in
2013 are successful:
1 - Don’t Bite Off More than You can Chew: Try making
smaller changes each week instead of making all your change at once. It
is human nature to want to do everything at the same time, but success
is often found in a more patient, methodical approach. Don’t try to over
commit yourself too early. Ease into your resolution so that you don’t
get overwhelmed or discouraged.
2 - Stay Motivated with Activities You Love: Pretending
to love running when you don’t, is not going to encourage you to
exercise. Instead, partake in activities and sports that you actually
enjoy. If you love skiing, make an effort to do it more. If you enjoy
aerobics classes, sign up for a month’s worth.
3 - Play with Your Food: Similar to exercise,
force-feeding yourself rice-cakes when you think they taste like
cardboard isn’t going to make you love healthier cuisine. Instead, make a
game of it. Experiment with different types of health foods to find the
ones you like. There are tons of healthful and nutritious foods, so
please your personal palate with what you are most likely to eat and
enjoy.
4 - The Buddy System: Take on your resolution with a
friend or family member. Teaming up with another person can help to keep
you motivated so that you are more likely to stay committed to the
change you want to make. Further, by teaming up with another individual,
you’ll feel responsible for their success as well.
5 - Be True to Yourself: If you choose to buy a
membership at a gym or embark on new foods or hire a personal trainer or
wellness coach, be sure they are a match to you and your personality.
Working out in an environment that you don’t like or getting help from a
coach that you don’t respect is not going to keep you coming back for
more.
New Year’s resolutions are a great way to make positive, healthy
change in your life. You owe it to yourself to stick with it! And you
can!
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