Say No Weigh to New Year’s Resolutions!

If you’ve ever been to a gym the first week of January you’ve witnessed the herds of people crowding the cardio machines. Then as the weeks go by, the numbers trail off and everyone slips back into their old routine. I’m asking you to give yourself permission to let go of the New Year’s resolution to lose weight…go ahead, it's okay. Let go of that arbitrary number in your head.

Change doesn’t magically happen. It’s a process that takes time. It took years and years for us to develop the eating habits and behaviors that we currently have and one New Year’s resolution is not going to negate that.

A part of the process is falling off the healthy eating band wagon and getting back on. You cannot fail at changing your eating behavior and weight loss as long as you keep pushing forward and getting over the hurdles of yesterday. I know many of us have given up after one glitch in our exercise or eating healthy routine and immediately fell back into our old and comfortable ways.

I’m asking you to shift the focus this year to something tangible, feasible, and positive that YOU know YOU are capable of and are willing to stick to. Work on adopting healthy habits. The rest will fall in place. The arbitrary weight loss goals, the added pressure, and the lack of a game plan makes New Year’s resolutions hardly sustainable.

Tips to get started immediately

• Tell your friends and family- study after study shows that support from other people and letting them know your goals and plans helps you stay focused and on track. Don’t be afraid to tell your pizza and ice cream eating buddy that you are trying to lose weight and you can’t engage in the same behavior. They’ll understand or you’ll find a different way to spend time together.

• Buy a scale and tape measure- Now, I’m not a fan of obsessing over the scale, but a once a week weigh in and an every two week body measurement is a great way to track your progress.

• Dumbbells- Get a couple of different pairs of dumbbells, ones that are light with some resistance, about 5lbs, and another with a little extra resistance. Keep these around the office or at home and in between commercials, or water cooler breaks, work on some exercises. There are tons of exercises online and you can check out different exercise DVDs from the library.

• Out of sight, out of mind- You can’t control the greater environment around us where fast food chains dominate street corners, but you can control your home environment. Change the grocery list to include fresh and healthy foods and remove the junk so you won’t even be tempted to indulge.

• Find other ways to reward yourself- Ironically, even when we lose weight, sometimes we feel it gives us license to indulge because we’ve “earned it,” but this is a dangerous road, my friend. Find other ways to reward yourself such as buying a new outfit or a new weight loss gadget like a heart rate monitor or a fitness DVD, or even a massage!

• Document everything! – If you don’t have time to do this throughout the day, set aside a time in the evening, hardly 15 minutes, to document what you ate, any exercise, and your weight. Post this somewhere you’ll see every day. Even without trying to change your eating behavior, documenting everything will make you more aware of what you're eating. If you want extra insurance, have someone hold you accountable to filling out this food diary.

• Portion control- The mantra and all things holy of nutritionists- portion control! It takes getting used to, but it’ll become a regular part of your behavior if you do this enough. There are even plates and bowls that you can buy that help you portion control.

Good luck and I wish you a happy and healthy New Year!!!!