Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is coming. Most people are starting to think about New Year's Resolutions for 2013. I am not a full believer of the whole New Year's Resolution idea. How many people actually follow through on the goals that they set? Why is there such a failure rate? Is it because the goals are so lofty or that people are trying to make too many changes at once? Do you promise that you'll do ____ to change by ____ amount of time?
The reason I don't like the concept of resolutions is that I don't think you should promise that you'll change your life on one certain day of the year. If you've been following my blog, you know that I believe in making changes a step at a time during your whole life. We all know it's not easy to change. It's not easy to suddenly start going to the gym religiously or to give up your favorite fried food. So, what happens when you swear this to yourself on January 1 each year? Usually, failure by the end of the month. Make resolutions to yourself on any given day and work on it all year. Stop piling on the pressure and then being disappointed when you fail a few weeks later.
I can tell you that year after year when I go to my gym on January 2nd (because it's closed on the 1st), it is packed. Last year, all of the treadmills and ellipticals where full. It was buzzing with people that were certain that this was the year that fitness would be a central part of their lives. Thoughts of good changes filled the air. By the end of January, it was back to the same regular people that are always there. The new faces weren't showing up anymore. I think this is very unfortunate. I WANT to see all of these new people succeed in their health and fitness goals. You all need to know that it takes 6 months of doing something regularly to make it a habit.
What can you do? Pick one small thing to change. Work on it for a month, then add another small thing to change. If you do this every month, you'll change 12 major things in one year! It won't seem so hard or overwhelming! The pressure won't be on you to do it all starting January 1. Pick things like "I'll eat more vegetables" or "I'll drink half my body weight in water every day." If it's fitness, pick something like "I'll try a new class" or "I'll look up some weight lifting routines." Step out of your comfort zone a bit. Write it down and then look at it again next year at this time and see how much you've changed! It's good to keep a record of goals, changes, and even the food you are eating daily.
I will not be making any New Year's Resolutions. I will be making All Year Long Resolutions. You have your whole life to work on Getting FIT. Being FIT. Staying FIT.
