The begining of a New Year is the perfect time to turn to a fresh page, this is probably why so many of us make New Year's resolutions. New Year, fresh start and a great moment to address bad habits.
I am not one for setting New Years Resolutions, as I know that most of us abandon them by the end of March, in fact only 12% of us stick to them.
We are all different and look at life differently, thats what makes us all unique.
Generally I don't look back, as once its past, happened, done... you can not change it, but you can learn from it and continue to move forward with enlightened knowledge.
Research reports that 73% of people abandon their health and well-being journeys before accomplishing their goals. Why... because they want to run before they can walk/quick fix, often ceasing to remember how long it has taken to gain their weight/size. (My gain started in 1992 aged 16 size 16, 1996 aged 20 size 20, 2010 aged 34 size 32/34).
If you are honest with yourself you know why you don't lose each week, and when we plateau we acknowledge this is our current 'Set Point' which we can modify by making slight alterations.
We should under no circumstances give up on our goals and at no time consider struggling as failure, as struggling is just an opportunity to examine our journeys through fresh eyes examining the stumbling blocks more intelligently from the lessons already learnt. (I started my journey 3rd January 2013 and it continues)
Its important that we frequently Contemplate, Refocus and Evaluate.
Contemplate;
What has been going well this week? this month? this year?
Where have you struggled?
What can you learn?
What are your motivators?
Refocus;
If you are struggling to stay focused, here are four tips to regain that focus.
Set an 'Open' goal - Open goals are non-specific and exploratory, often phrased as aiming to 'See how wel I can do', for example 'see how many days I can track this week' Rather than a STAR goal 'I'll track 5 days this week' which can lead to feeling failure.
Find solutions - if you repeatedly reach the same stumbling block, find a solution how to navigate around it allowing you to achieve your goals.
Set small goals along your journey to boost your motivation to your main goal, i.e. reaching milestones along the way. 7lb, 14lb or size 16, 14 or walking 1000 steps, 2000 steps...
Reward yourself when you achieve your goals. i.e. spa days, jewellery, threatre concert (Non food related)
Evaluate;
Evaluating is important especially when struggling as it allows us to refocus on different ideas to achieve your goals versus creating a new one. i.e. swapping plans. By examining your Contemplation and then refocusing we can Evalute our journeys by always keeping a positive mindset.
Always remember how long it took to gain the weight, and know you are ahead of the game, with the weight loss whatever life throws at you.
Never feel you've ruined a day by eating more in one meal, your next meal is a fresh start and tomorrow is a new day.
Resources;
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