Did you start the New Year with a resolution to improve your diet and fitness? Let me guess, now you find it’s March already, you stuck to it for a few weeks at best, and it’s now a dim and distant memory.
A New Year signifies new beginnings to many of us and gives us the opportunity to reflect on the positive changes we would like to make to our lifestyles. The beginning of a new year is a busy time of year for me because two of the most common New Year resolutions are to lose weight and get fit. People come to me at the beginning of January with an abundance of enthusiasm and motivation to achieve their goals but when most people realise that, although I can give them all the tools they need to achieve their goals, I can’t do it for them and that they have to be 100% committed outside of the hour or two they work with me their motivation starts to dwindle. I am firmly of the opinion that New Year’s resolutions do not work and this is why:
- The goal is not personal – I will use women as an example because many of us are notoriously bad at putting ourselves first!! Your resolution was to lose weight because you think you should to fit in with the societal norm or to please your family.
- It is not a realistic goal – how many times have you heard someone say ‘’I want to lose a stone before I go on holiday in two weeks?’’
- The goal is not specific or structured – you are a serial dieter, which means that dieting does not work (if it did why are you still doing it???) You need a proven plan and a support network to help you achieve your goal and keep you accountable.
- The goals made are not measurable – join a club or buddy up with someone. Taking the above points into account set yourself small, achievable goals. Set a start date and the date that you want to achieve your first goal by. Two weeks is perfect amount of time, it’s short enough to keep you focused and not too long for you to lose interest.
The bottom line is that we are all human and from time to time you will slip up and make mistakes. I’ve learned an awful lot over the years both personally and professionally and if I can give you one piece of advice in relation to diets it would be this.
Do your body a really big favour and stop dieting. Do not start a diet that allows you to eat an unlimited amount of anything and/or processed food. Make eating healthily a way of life and not ‘a diet’.
Your health is your wealth.
Leigh x
