BY EMMET RUSHE: January 2015 is here.
The new wave of ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ will have started as people set out to undo the Christmas excess and ‘finally’ reach their goals. There are literally hundreds of options available to help you along your way this January.
Yet with all these options available, statistics show us that 90% of New Year’s Resolutioners won’t make it to the end of January.
Why then is it so hard to stick to our New Year’s Goals?
Quite simply, you are expecting too much of yourself too quickly at the beginning.
If you were planning to run a marathon, you wouldn’t turn up on race day with all your new training gear and expect to finish the race, would you?
So why is it that most people think they can simply change a lifetime of bad habits in the first 4 weeks of January?
The truth is, it isn’t your fault. We have been lead to believe through the media, television and internet, that huge rapid weekly weight loss is the norm and anything else is simply a failure.
This is simply not true.
Weight loss is not linear.
Your weight will fluctuate day to day and week to week.
You weight loss will stall; do not panic when it does.
If you see every slight set back as a complete failure, you are destined to fail before you even begin.
Try not to run head first into January with all guns blazing.
Take a step back and have a look at what you are trying to actually achieve.
For the majority of people, an extreme lifestyle shift quite often ends in failure.
So what do we do?
We look for what is going to give us the MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF RESULTS WITH THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF EFFORT
We will be using the ‘2 week rule’ with this.
The ‘2 week rule’ will determine if you are able to stick to one habit change before moving onto another one.
What we are trying to do with this is to breed habits that will last.
Change your breakfast from high sugar cereals; have an omelette with vegetables in it, or have porridge oats with berries. Try and stick to this every day for 2 weeks.
Once you can master this without missing, it is time for another habit change.
If you snack on high sugar cereal bars or chocolate and crisps, try changing these for a portion of fruit and nuts.
A portion size is one piece of fruit and a palmful of any nut except peanuts. Again, aim for a 2 week period of time and if you can master this, without failing, it’s time to change another habit.
If you drink a lot of fizzy high sugar drinks, try and swap them for the ‘diet’ or ‘free’ variety rather than cutting them out altogether.
If you go ‘cold turkey’ after drinking a lot of sugary drinks for a long period of time, you will have withdrawal symptoms. This can lead to you slipping back into old habits before long. Switching to the diet or free alternatives can help you to cut calories without feeling too deprived from what you were used to.
This system is not a quick fix. It is not intended to help you to lose a large amount of weight in a short period of time, but rest assured, if you start making small dietary changes, not only will you lose weight, you will be more likely to keep it off.
These small changes can help you to breed new habits and because you are allowing a suitable time frame to adjust to these changes, you are more likely to succeed in keeping them. It will take slightly longer to achieve your goals, but you will achieve them.
P.S . If your New Year’s plans are the same ones that you have tried and failed at for the past few years, maybe it’s time to try something else. Try stepping outside your comfort zone and try something new. You might just love it.
#TrainSmart
To keep up-to-date with tips and information on how to stick to your goals in 2015, check out my page through the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rushe-Fitness/120518884715118
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