A New Year usually brings New Year resolutions. What do you think of when you think about a New Year’s resolution? For most, it’s a chance to wipe the slate clean, or start over. According to research conducted by the University of Scranton, 45% of Americans will make a New Year’s resolution but only 8% of those people will actually achieve their New Year’s goals. Forbes magazine suggests people set themselves up for failure by making goals that are so long they are unrealistic.
The number one resolution for 2014 was to lose weight, so I can assume the same can be said for 2015. If your resolution is to lose weight, I want to support you by offering some realistic goals that you can set for yourself in hopes to make the goal an effective and achievable one. From experience, it all starts by staying active and eating cleaner. Set a concrete, quantifiable goal. A goal to “lose weight” is too broad. You need to be specific so you can have something tangible to measure. A better goal would be “I will lose 10 pounds by June 1”. You can lose one or more pounds a month the healthy way if you put in the work and discipline. If you are new to dieting, one thing I can recommend is that you eat whole foods and limit your sugars. A whole food is anything that is not processed. Just think of it as one or two ingredients or less.
Make the goal an effective and achievable one.
Examples of these whole foods are meat, fruit and vegetables. You can certainly cook them together to create a meal. For example, place chicken in a crock pot, add some chicken broth and veggies and have yourself a good clean meal that isn’t so plain. Also, when going grocery shopping, stay on the outside perimeters of the store. Stay away from anything that is boxed, has a list of names that you cannot pronounce or has a longer shelf life than usual. If your goal is to work out more, be specific. Set goals like, “I will make it to the gym three days this week” or “I will do 160 minutes of cardio this week”. I have learned that waking up early and getting my work out or cardio done first thing in the morning works best for me. That way, anything that comes up throughout the day will not throw me off from reaching my goals. You can lead by example. If you have problems getting up earlier in the morning, set your alarm and put a goal picture as your screen saver so you see that when your alarm goes off. If a morning workout is not an option for you, you have to plan. Write it down in your calendar like anything else important. If work, kids or other obligations get in the way of one of your afternoon workouts, there is still no excuse. Get some small dumbbells and an a yoga mat and workout at home before you end your day.
You have to plan… like anything else important.
You can do it! You are important and you have to make time for yourself. Make it an attainable goal and then make it happen! Happy New Year and good luck!
