Perhaps we have finally recovered from the holidays…emotionally, financially, physically. Many people like the idea of a re-set and what better time than a new year. The marketing folks love this which is why all your feeds are filled with custom workout plans (just click to learn more), or “I lost 20 pounds in one month on ___”. I am not anti-New Years Resolutions, but please take a look at your resolutions and if you are brave enough comment below. I want to help you form healthy and manageable lifestyles. Lifestyles are different than swearing off carbs or gluten until the end of time or exercising 7 days a week. Resolutions such as those set us up to fail. There are going to be PLENTY of days or weeks for various reasons that you are not able to exercise and that is okay. Let me say that again, THAT IS OKAY! When we set such rigid and, I am sorry, unrealistic goals we may as well not bother because what happens the minute we ran out the door so fast we did not pack breakfast, rushed to work on time for two back to back meetings (it’s now been 15 hours since we ate last) and there are complimentary bagels in the staff lounge? Of course, you grab the bagel and smear it with butter, who wouldn’t. But then what? You immediately fill will regret and remind yourself that you swore off carbs forever. Now you are beating yourself up wondering why you can never stick with any goal and why even bother. You may try another week or so, but before you even realize it you basically forgot you set this resolution to begin with. Sticking with the swearing off carbs…let’s say this is really important to you or you have a food sensitivity. That’s okay. This can be a resolution. What I propose is not just writing down your resolutions on a piece of paper but writing down steps to achieve them. First and foremost, they need to be realistic. For example, changing the I must workout 7 days a week to I am going to workout as a much as I can in a given week while tuning in and recognizing what my body needs. As far as cutting out gluten. How do you do that? Maybe come up as many meals as you can think of that are conducive to this lifestyle change or vow to do this once per week. Make a list of your meals every Sunday along with the corresponding grocery list for what you need to buy. Maybe wake up 10 minutes earlier to pack your lunch. These are just examples, but now, we actually have a way to follow this goal which leads to our success. If we slip up or do not follow our resolutions perfectly that’s okay. You can always re-evaluate. Maybe we decide we would like to exercise at least three times per week, because that feels realistic and doable. Write these goals down in a place where we can check in with ourselves. Remember my last blog about ending the day with what went right? Here is where we congratulate our efforts. What went right? Maybe our son or daughter asked us to go out for pizza for dinner and we decided that was more important than swearing off carbs. Write that down! Setting goals is admirable. The desire to make changes to our lives to better ourselves is a great thing, but let’s make sure we have an action plan to achieve these goals so we do not end up beating ourselves up. If you need more help with this please reach out, we are happy to help!
Health and happiness always,
Ashley
