We are just days away from the New Year. At this point at
the end of the year most of us can hardly wait until it is over. We want to
start fresh. The year we are in has a year’s worth of baggage we would just as
soon let go off by starting a new year and starting the clock over.
Some of that baggage is the weight we have gained,
particularly over the past month of holiday parties and treats we couldn’t say
“no” to. Now we are bloated, the pants are too tight and we are tired of
feeling this way.
In comes the New Year.
It comes with all new possibility. We don’t have to be the way we were.
We don’t have to hold on to the same bad habits. We can have a do-over.
Change may not be that easy to accomplish but we love, in
fact, we need to believe
it is possible. And when we look back on our lives we can point to many
times we have changed. As my mom always loved to remind me: Change is
inevitable, it is how you manage that change that makes the difference in how
you succeed in life.
Sometimes the most important element in our success is believing it is possible. If we don’t think we can do something we probably can’t. On the other hand, if we really want to change and we believe it is possible to change we are already on the road to succeeding in sustaining that change.
A
little planning helps too. It is hard to create change if we continue to do
things the way we have always done them. Hitting our heads against the wall
over and over again will get the same result—a sore head! If we really want
change we need to switch things up. In our kitchen we need to get rid of the
old prepackaged snacks and carbs to then bring in the new bowl full of fresh
fruit and precut veggies in the fridge.
We need to make a plan for exercising, which includes some form of
accountability so we can help ourselves achieve our goals in fitness and weight
loss. And we need to invest in the tools for living a healthier lifestyle from
getting right-sized
dishes to help right size your meals; to purchasing an easy to fill water
bottle that is also dishwasher safe; to finding the right fitness tracker, like
a Fitbit, to help you stay mindful of your movement; to getting a well-fitting
new pair of running shoes you need to make exercising more enjoyable and less
painful on the feet and joints. And don’t forget to seek out friends who want
to achieve the same thing and who care about living a healthy lifestyle. Mutual
support goes a long way towards helping us make real, long term change.
As we look forward to the New Year let’s embrace the hope of
a healthy start that opens the door to learning new ways of doing things so we
can, in fact, live a healthier life and share it with our friends and family.
Wishing you a Health-Filled New Year! Enjoy! And Live
Vibrant!
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