On January 1st every year, shortly after promising to never drink that much ever again, most people will take a few minutes to think about new beginnings.  A new year – there are new (or maybe continuing) challenges to face and goals to accomplish.  You may or may not believe in resolutions, but the fact is most of us have something in our lives that we want to make better.  The question is, HOW?

The “how” may be easier said than done, but the fact remains, nothing (except scars maybe) gets better by doing nothing.  You must take action and therein is the problem that stops people in their tracks before they even get started.  People tend to focus on the end result rather than the journey or the steps that are required to get them there.  You may say “I want to lose 25 pounds” and after a week of moderately changing your diet and hitting the gym 2 times you step on the scale to realize you’ve lost 3 pounds, that’s a pretty good start, only 22 left!  So you do the same thing on week two and you step on the scale and you’ve lost 1 pound.  About now is when, instead of rejoicing that they are still progressing toward their goal they look forward 21 more weeks and start to question their commitment.  Then the disastrous week three comes around and they’ve gained 2 pounds back and now instead of 20 more weeks to go it’s 22 and they can’t understand why they didn’t lose 3 pounds just like they did during week 1!  We’ve all been there, right?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  If you were to make a line graph for the weight loss of every single person who has ever lost weight throughout history, not a SINGLE one of them would be a straight line on a downward slope.  There will be jagged lines, much like the stripes on Charlie Brown’s shirt, and the successful ones will have more downward slopes than upward slopes.  We all have setbacks.  It’s just a fact of life, so prepare yourself for it.   Whatever you do, don’t use that as an excuse not to start.

Set a Goal

The first thing you need to do is a set your goal.  Once you have your goal, and this is very important so pay attention – write it down in big letters on colored paper and post it on your refrigerator, or your bathroom wall or some other place that you will see it every day.  (There is one exception to this rule, and that is if your goal is to murder your boss and dump the body, you MAY want to keep that one to yourself, but I do  not advocate that in any way.) The reason you want to write it down is to make it more tangible to you.  An arbitrary goal that you once placed in your mind is easily forgotten and since nobody else ever saw it, you can act like you never really had it.  If it’s written down and your family or friends see it and know about it, you are more likely to be motivated to stick to it.

Baby Steps

If your goal is to lose 20 pounds that’s fantastic!  Now, break that goal into steps that will get you to that goal.  An example may be to eat more home cooked meals where you can control the ingredients and nutrition.  So you may commit to cutting down the eating out by 1 or 2 times per week and cook at home.  Do some research on easy to prepare recipes (I’m partial to easy crockpot recipes that can simmer and cook while I’m at work) that reduce the burden of preparing meals.  Be honest, most of us eat out not because the food is better, but we just don’t have the time, patience or energy to cook and then clean up the mess.

Maybe you’ll also commit to turning up that exercise dial just a little bit.  General guidelines for improving overall health are pretty basic.  30-60 minutes of moderate exercise 3 to 5 days a week.  That’s it, nothing earth shattering.  Take a brisk 30 minute walk, Monday/Wednesday/Friday and Saturday. Get your heartrate elevated for that entire 30 minutes and you will start to see some changes immediately.  Remember my 80/20 rule.  Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise.  You cannot out-exercise a bad diet.

Evaluate

If you’ve set your goal and you’ve broken it down into easy steps and have been committed to that plan, every so often, say 3-4 weeks, take a good honest look at how well you’re sticking to it.  Evaluate the progress and compare it, honestly, to your level of commitment.  Maybe you can step it up a little bit, or maybe you’ve only cut back on eating out 1-2 times per month instead of per week.  Tweak the plan as needed to make sure you are still progressing toward that goal you read every day in big bold letters on your refrigerator.  Be hones with yourself and be honest with others.  Ask for accountability from friends and loved ones.  If you haven’t yet gotten yourself a workout partner, or a friend with a similar goal, think about finding one that you can share your experience with, and talk about the journey.

Celebrate

When you hit milestones, such as making it 1/4 or 1/2 way to your goal, celebrate it.  Take those old jeans that you haven’t been able to fit into for years and try them on.  See how well they fit now.  Wear them out, brag to your friends and celebrate the fact that you’ve just accomplished something important!  I don’t personally recommend rewarding yourself with a big cheat day or food that may set you back.  You’re not a dog, don’t reward yourself that way.  Yes, you’ve had a victory celebrate it in a way that honors what you’ve done rather than undoing it.  This is where I see a lot of people have serious backslides.

Stay Focused

Remember that this isn’t a race to a finish, this is a race that will last your entire life.  You are building a new you for good, not a temporary new you.  You are creating new habits, a new lifestyle and new and healthy way of living.  Because once you hit that goal, you will want to set new goals, and I can promise you that none of your new goals will be to go back to square one and start all over again at that previous weight.   My motto is NEVER. GIVE. UP.  If you can stick to the steps above and make them a part of your DNA will most definitely make 2016 your best year yet!