New Year’s resolution hints for all year

It is not too late for a few New Year’s res­o­lu­tions. One of the most pop­u­lar promises is los­ing weight. This under­tak­ing often involves many life style changes. Start small. Elim­i­nat­ing a few calo­ries daily is a healthy change. Avoid­ing dou­ble por­tions, late night snacks or sugar in cof­fee can reverse the num­bers on the scale.

Stay pos­i­tive. Avoid striv­ing for per­fec­tion. A glass half full is health­ier than a glass half empty even though each con­tains the same amount. Overeat­ing does occur but instead of a per­pet­ual habit, a one time indul­gence can be con­sid­ered a treat and an invi­ta­tion to return to more strin­gent portions.

Decid­ing to stop gain­ing is a strate­gic deci­sion. In order to start los­ing, the gaining’s gotta stop. While avoid­ing the number-climb, the num­ber begins to decline with­out much more thought.

There are oppor­tu­ni­ties for growth along the path of chang­ing life style habits. Inves­ti­gate what hin­dered achiev­ing the goal and try to make cor­rec­tions. Fine tune the trans­for­ma­tion. Rome wasn’t built in a day nor was 50 pounds lost in a week. The path is long and the road can be bumpy. Pre­pare for set­backs and do not be sur­prised when they occur. Real­is­tic goals occur while unre­al­is­tic goals do not. Do not make absolute res­o­lu­tions. Resolv­ing to do or die can result in unre­solved inten­tions. Instead of say­ing I will lose 50 pounds in a week start with 1 or 2 pounds in a week. It may take an entire 50 weeks to dis­solve 50 pounds but the resolve will result.

No man is an island as evi­denced by the fact that peo­ple love to talk about them­selves. Tell oth­ers of your res­o­lu­tions and pas­sion to address your body shape. The more a per­son hears their own voice tell oth­ers of their plans, the more they are apt to con­vince them­selves. Part­ners in a goal help to shape goals and pro­vide a nudge in the right direc­tion should the course get off track. The more the merrier.

The suc­cess of a goal depends upon the desire to ful­fill it. Mak­ing weight loss a mean­ing­ful goal will increase attain­ing it. Pro­ceed with the goal of los­ing weight because it is impor­tant to you, not soci­ety. If there is not a strong, inter­nal moti­va­tion to change eat­ing habits, suc­cess will be limited.

By June of the com­ing year 60 per­cent of those who resolved will have for­got­ten their New Year’s res­o­lu­tions. Less than half of those vow­ing to change eat­ing habits will still be try­ing to make a difference.

Fat may still be cov­er­ing the frame but the reward is in the effort. One exces­sive pound lost is health­ier than another one gained. It is best to take weight change pound by pound.

A healthy res­o­lu­tion is to lose fat but gain mus­cle. Researchers report that it is more advan­ta­geous to be over­weight with a strong mus­cle mass than thin, close to ideal body weight with less mus­cle mass.

Resolve to flex those mus­cles to improve the body. Resolve to tell that world that a health­ier body is attain­able. One step at a time, bal­anc­ing life with a glass half full. It is not too late to make a New Year’s resolution. 

Bob­bie Ran­dall is a cer­ti­fied dia­betes edu­ca­tor, reg­is­tered, licensed dietit­ian. She super­vises a dia­betes self-management train­ing pro­gram at Aultman-Orrville Hos­pi­tal, Orrville. Con­tact her at brandall@dunlap hospital.org or 330–684-4776.

Posted by Bobbie Randall on Jan 19 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.