“No More Resolutions” Solution…10 Tips!

“Under pressure…” It’s not just a Queen & David Bowie song.  It’s the real life madness we experience everyday.  Either the pressure of life’s demands, or the self-induced pressure we self-impose based on some sort of standards we think we need to live up to.

Society puts pressure on us to look a certain way, act a certain way, dress a certain way, and if you don’t measure up, you don’t matter (according to popular opinion).

Our jobs put pressure on us to meet deadlines, be better than our co-workers, out-perform last quarter, and so on.

Our families put pressure on us to take care of this, that, and the other, and we put pressure on ourselves that if we don’t get it done, it’s not going to get done.

So why would we want to add to the pressure and the stress with “Resolutions” at the start of each year?  Why pressure one’s self to yet another diet, another exercise program, another demand on life’s to-do lists. Instead of “change,” what if you just “modified” the fantastic being you already are??

Instead of drastic changes in your food from fast food and sweets to the cabbage soup diet, what if you modified your fast food you make at home, like homemade cheeseburgers with gluten-free buns, and instead your morning muffin and latte, you make a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon, almond butter, and bluberries, with a homemade latte mixing your coffee with vanilla protein powder?

Instead of drastic changes in your fitness from doing nothing, to pounding out 3 and 5 miles on the “dread-mill” and getting shin splints within the first week, what if you gradually modified your routine and started with something you enjoy like a restorative yoga or a beginner weight training program?

Why always all or nothing?  Why not just making slight modifications in the directions of a healthier lifestyle, than full blown resolutions to change.

You are awesome.  You do not need to change.  You only need small improvements.  In all our lives, we can benefit from improvements.  

 Instead of changing everything drastically and resolving to be someone your not, doing things you don’t enjoy and eating diet foods that make you cringe, you could just be you….only even better this year, enjoying good food, and finding an activity that you enjoy.   Feeling more energy, more zest, more happiness, more you than ever before, giving your body just modifications, rather than making complete changes??

No demands, no pressure to perform or live up to some resolution or expectation.  Just improvements in your already fantastic mentality to become even better than you already are.

Don’t believe me?  Think back on the last year, 2015.  Think about all you went through, the good, bad, and the crazy.  You survived, you came through it, better than before.  Without you even trying,  you became stronger, you didn’t give up, and you carried on.  That’s human nature.  We long to survive.  So it’s inevitable that you will carry on in 2016. But rather than just surviving, why not thrive too?  Instead of just expecting change in yourself and trying to fit yourself into societies pressures, what about just modifying certain aspects of your life to become better and enjoy yourself along the way?

So let go of the resolutions if you’ve made them yet again, and you know that perhaps they are a bit to unrealistic. Instead, below, I’ve put together 10 tips to help you become you in 2016, only better, improving and modifying you, rather than changing you:

1.  Rather than a resolution of losing {set amount of weight} and going on yet another diet, forget about the number on the scale, and write a list of your favorite “good for you” foods and start to plan to eat more of those.  For instance, if you hate celery, but love broccoli, buy more broccoli and include it in your day. Avoid celery at all costs. If you feel like dairy foods make you bloated, avoid those, and instead include foods that help you feel more energy. No diets, just honing in on foods you love, and avoiding the foods that you know make you feel held back.
2.  Exercise with what you love, and what’s doable.  Don’t sign up for a 6 week bootcamp if you don’t really like the class and don’t have time to commit to it after the 6 weeks.  Instead, choose an exercise that you know you would enjoy doing until the day you die.  This kind of movement will help keep you consistent for life! Not sure on what exercise or movement you like? Try some new things, but if you don’t like the first or second thing you try, move on, and don’t stop until you find what it is you do like!
3.  Surround yourself with information, rather than stipulations.  Listen to podcasts  to help you continuously hear new tips and tricks to keep you motivated with new and fresh ideas to make healthy living a lifestyle and not just a resolution.  Instead of setting goals of “I have to look like {this} by the time I leave for vacation”, by continuously surrounding yourself with useful new information, you will daily seek and make improvements and become better by design.
4.  Give yourself indulgences once in a while.  Diets are too restrictive and put stress on us as we abide by the laws of avoidance of this, that, and the other.  Instead of imposing those full-blown diet changes, allow modifications through most of your week, and then pick a meal or two out of all your weekly meals, where you can have what you are craving, and sit and enjoy it.  This is something that will be doable for life, rather than sticking to a regimen that you could never see doing your life, like the cabbage soup diet.
5.  Let go of the ‘all or nothing’ approach, and embrace the “something is better than nothing” approach.  Even if you only have 10 minutes to enjoy your exercise activity, make it happen and know that something is better than nothing.  Even if you have a bad day and eat brownies and ice cream for dinner after you had been really focused on quality foods for a long time, tell yourself that this is your free meal, and commit to eating healthy tomorrow.
6.  Sleep more.  When your brain is rested and fresh, you are apt to make better decisions each day for yourself and your health.  This is a simple strategy anyone can do for real results. Rest is so crucial to staying true to honoring your life with good improvements.
7.  Ask for support from your friends/family.  Let others around you understand that you are wanting to modify a few things.  Let spouses know what modifications you are making and that it only relates to you, and that you do not expect the same of them.  When others around you feel threatened that you want them to “change” along with you,  you can sometimes lose their support.  So be sure to make it about you and ask for support.
8.  Start making habits. For example,  Make it habit to make modifications to your morning and prepare your lunch while you are making breakfast.  Make this a daily habit.  Or perhaps just like brushing your teeth has become a habit, make your favorite morning exercise a daily habit too.  Choose habits that you could stick to for life, versus just making drastic changes to get in shape for an event.
9. Along with habits, create routines.  Routines are long-term life style modifications that help habits become concrete.  Create a bedtime routine to help you stick to your earlier bedtime.  Create a morning routine that includes a little calm moment to drink coffee and sit, then perhaps a bout of exercise you enjoy, and then a balanced breakfast. Make routines that you can commit to even on the weekends, so that your habits become habitual.
10.  Don’t take yourself so gosh-darn seriously.  Eating out once in a while (and I do mean once in a while) won’t be the end of the world. Eating foods you don’t normally eat at a social gathering won’t set you back more than a few hundred calories.  And skipping a workout to go hang out with family or friends is a good excuse because life is too short to miss out on those we love.  You don’t have to be all or nothing, and stress yourself out with serious daily demands.  Instead, live a little (in a balanced way) and don’t miss out on fun just because you don’t want to be tempted by trigger foods.

“Don’t go changing, to try to please me, you never let me down before…”Not just a song by Billy Joel, but also something your body wants you to know.  Rather than punishing your body with demands, resolutions, expectations, and stressors, love your body with healthy improvements (even small ones), modifications of things you already enjoy, and with movement that makes you feel good.  It’s not about the resolutions of “right now”, it’s about slowing becoming better, year by year, day by day, hour by hour, in so that you are making improvements for the rest of your life.  This is a journey towards health, not a destination.  Make no demands, only be willing to improve and open to the possibilities.  

– Written by Jodelle Fitzwater, CPT, Certified Nutrition Coach and Food Psychology Coach