Tonight and tomorrow are traditionally times when people look back on what the past year has meant in their lives and proclaim their New Year's Resolutions. Resolutions are things we wish to do to improve our lives. They are personal goals we want to achieve. We state we will make them publicly. A new year, a clean slate. It all sounds good, but most people don't get out of January before they have in some way fallen by the way side of their good intentions. It is my opinion that this happens because we all tend to set our goals too high. Most have trouble keeping a promise to give up something during Lent and that is not as extensive as huge life changes for the entire year.
It is my wish for the New Year that some of you will set more healthy goals for yourself and your families. Due to the incident in my brain almost 3 yrs ago, I know how critical your health today, can be to your survival should something happen to your health tomorrow. I also am greatly inspired from my experience of coming face to face with the reality that if you don't have your health you don't have much of anything. We all are familiar with these words, but I have lived them. We cannot stop aging, but we can choose to do it as healthy and gracefully as we can.
If your goal is one of fitness, take a Calendar, and in January, mark on the calendar which days you will get exercise, even if it's walking 30 mins. around your block for 3 days. If for one week you can do this, say on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, you will feel you have made one goal you set. This helps to motivate you to committing to do this same thing for the entire month. Maybe you add one extra day every 2 weeks, or increase by 5 mins each week. If at the end of the month you have achieved your goal, then invest a few minutes in deciding what you will do for exercise for February. If you dislike cold weather, the mall is a great place to walk indoors and window shop or people watch at the same time. Music makes it enjoyable for me, but sometimes I walk with a neighbor and we use the time to also catch up on each other's lives. Make it enjoyable and you will want to keep doing it. Setting reasonable, realistic goals, then rewarding yourself after each month in some way, you are more likely to make it for an entire year. If you miss a day, commit to not quit, but fit in another day in its place.
I bet you will feel so much better, have a clearer mind, sleep better, look better, and not want to stop after one month. Planning out little goals will help you get to the end of 2015 without giving in on your resolution. Expect and accept setbacks. They happen. Brush yourself off and get right back at it. Another goal can be to walk a 5K. Find one online 6 months from now and walk with that in mind. You are preparing for something special. You will love how you feel.
The same advice I give for diet. Diest don't work for most people. The goal should be in my opinion to practice "mindful eating" If you think about every bite you put in your mouth as is they s good for me? Is this the best choice for now? A realistic goal for January might be to try eating better one meal a day. Instead of a pastry and coffee, try having a piece of fruit and a Greek yogurt with your coffee instead? Small changes overtime build to big improvements. February you could focus on portion sizes, March maybe add another meal a day to plan out with healthy options. Again, expect set backs. That's life. Just pull out that calendar and adjust your goal for that week or month. If your dream is to lose weight, to run a 5k, or complete a 1/2 marathon, go for it! Many little steps add up to giving you a chance at your dream becoming reality. Baby steps work. Reachable realistic goals set you up for success. Planning it out will insure your progress. You are worth it!
Your life depends on it.
Happy New Year!
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