December 26, 2009

Let’s face it – New Year’s Resolutions, especially about weight, are a big load of hooey and we all know it!  Just consider that a majority of people make New Year’s Resolutions and then break them before the month of January is over!  If you are one of the “strong” ones then perhaps you’ll make it until March.  There seems to be this thought that we can let ourselves go and then get “back on the wagon” on January 1.  Hooey, I tell you!  I see you nodding your head and getting that slight grin!  You think the same thing but are not ready to admit it, at least not yet anyway! 

Personally, I swore off New Year’s resolutions a long time ago when I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I was never going to keep the resolution to lose weight.  I discovered that I needed to live in the “now,” not the future (or the past for that matter).  Stop and think about this – take a moment – how much of your life has been spent trying to live in the future or being weighed down (literally) by the past?  I hear so many patients (and friends) say things like “I can eat what I want now, because I’m going to start again on New Year’s” or “It’s the holiday’s, I only get Aunt Suzy’s cookies then so it’s ok to eat one each time I pass the cookie jar” or “I’ll start again on Monday” yet Monday never comes.  Or, how about these “when I lose 50 more lbs. then I will learn to dance” or, “when I lose all the weight then I will take the trip to Europe I’ve always dreamed of.”  What about right now?  Start keeping your resolutions today. 

Today is the day that you choose how your life will be tomorrow – if you continue to put off today, the tomorrow that you desire will never come.  For instance, unless you made the choice yesterday to have surgery to lose weight, you would not be at the weight you are today which makes the possibilities for tomorrow all that much brighter!  Using this as one example you should realize that if you are not happy with where your life is today, think about the choices you made yesterday, make better ones today, enjoy the fruit of those choices tomorrow. 

If you are insistent on putting off until January 1 the choices that are necessary to take care of yourself, then start now to make the plan for how you will carry it out and be successful with it.  If it is losing weight, how are you going to make your environment compatible with weight loss?  If it is quitting smoking, how will you start changing the associations that you have with a cigarette?  If it is exercising, how will you start now to carve out the time to do it?  Start now by making choices today that set you up for success tomorrow so that when you look back at yesterday you know you did everything you could to make yourself successful!

An excellent way to set yourself up for success with weight loss is Focus28 and the excellent programs and products that they offer.  If you need help with the structure that is necessary to lose weight then sign-up for a Bootcamp!  While it sounds rigorous, the plan is simple to use and the products are fantastic!

Best of wishes for a healthy, happy and successful 2010!

Tammy