New Year, Better You

As we head into the New Year, I keep hearing the phrase “New Year, New You.”  I’ve seen it on TV news shows, run across it online, and read it in every magazine.  It is a great concept – start a new year and create a new you in the process.  However, unless you’re Madonna or Sylvester Stallone, most of us can’t successfully reinvent ourselves each year.  Typically, we are who we are, and it will take more than a simple statement for us to change our lives.  Some of the top resolutions each year are life changing – lose weight, get in shape and/or eat healthy.  But, only about 50% of people keep their New Year’s resolutions for three months, and even less keep them for six months.  So many times we don’t stick to our resolutions, especially when it comes to weight loss or exercise because we either put unrealistic limits or expectations on ourselves.  Besides, who can honestly follow through if they resolve to quit sugar or workout every day of the week?   This year, instead of making a New Year’s resolution that sets you up for failure, make one that will ensure you succeed. 

Take small steps each week or month towards doing something that will make you feel better.  This approach takes away limitations and restrictions and focuses on adding exercise, healthy eating, and yes, even rest!  For example, instead of telling yourself that you can’t have dessert, just add at least one vegetable serving each day.  Rather than resolving to lose 20 pounds, make a promise to yourself that you will increase your workouts each month.  And if you are already lifting weights, add a few minutes of cardio to your routine.  Or, if you are doing cardio, add a couple of weight lifting exercises to your routine.  Also, try to get an extra 10-15 minutes of sleep each night for a week.  Just don’t overload yourself – that’s when we feel overwhelmed and are more likely to give up.  Concentrate on what you can do, not what you can’t do; and focus on what you can have rather than what you can’t have. 

And don’t think January 1^st is the only day you can make a change.  You can decide while it’s still 2011, or February 2012, that you will make an improvement and strive for a better you.  And don’t think of slip-ups as reasons to give-up.  Just because you miss a day at the gym or you eat more than one brownie, pledge to make a better choice tomorrow.  You don’t have to become a new person in the New Year to be successful, you can simply become a better you.  You will live better, look better, and feel better. 

It’s a New Year!  You don’t have to reinvent a new you – just uncover a better you!  I will help you find the better you in 2012.  I promise to help you find ways to live better, look better, and feel better.   I will make sure you haven’t given up before Valentine’s Day rolls around!  You’ll continue to see a better you all year long, and I guarantee the better you will be ringing in 2013!  Go to http://www.coachdconsulting.com/Services.html to see all the ways I can help you and those you love.  Obesity is 100% preventable and it’s time for us to all find our better selves!