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With approximately one week under your belt for New Year’s resolutions, it is time to check in and see how you are doing.
Are you sticking to your plan? If your goal is to lose weight and get healthy is your “belt” getting loser or tightening up again?
Don’t beat yourself up if it is the latter. There is still time to get on track.
The important thing to understand is why you may not be able to get results. You need to explore the psychology of your behavior to determine what is keeping you away from success.
In an article by Jenna Goudreau on Forbes.com, psychologist Jeremy Dean is quoted as saying, "If you want to exercise more, for example, consider the possible external and internal obstacles that may derail your efforts. Then, you can come up with strategies to battle them."
His book, Making Habits, Breaking Habits is set to be released soon. Dean says, "habits are so difficult to break because most of our behavior is automatic, like programmed software running in our unconscious.” His suggestions include “Changing Your Environment or Routine” or “Preparing Distractions” to offset the bad habits.
Psychiatrist Keith Ablow and Fox News Contributor suggested thinking of your resolutions as a “Done Deal” when you’re trying to talk yourself out of sticking to them.
One of the examples he used in his article on FoxNews.com was this. “When you don’t feel like going to the gym and start hearing yourself bargaining to go another day, tell yourself, It’s completely normal to want to stay home and watch TV, instead of running on a treadmill. Running isn’t a lot of fun. But you already decided you were going to the gym on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, so you have no option. It’s a done deal.”
Ethics expert Bruce Weinstein explored New Year’s Resolutions from a perspective of how we treat ourselves. Featured on HuffingtonPost.com, Weinstein said that we are “harming ourselves” by not setting realistic resolutions.
“By setting the bar too high, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment, and this isn't being fair to ourselves. This is not to suggest that we shouldn't strive to improve our conduct and character, but rather that we ought to set goals we're likely to accomplish.”
Weinstein suggested being “kinder: to ourselves with the similar approach we’d like others to treat us."
He said, “If losing weight is your goal, why not let yourself off the hook and stop the negative self-talk about your size? You may find it becomes a lot easier to lose the weight and keep it off.”
Online References:
“The Secret To Breaking Bad Habits In The New Year – Jenna Goudreau – Forbes.com.” Forbes Magazine. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/12/28/the-secret-to-breaking-bad-habits-in-the-new-year
“The 'danger zone' of New Year's resolutions – Dr. Keith Ablow - FoxNews.com.” Fox News . Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/01/08/danger-zone-new-year-resolutions/#ixzz2HMJ0l3L5
“The Ethics of New Year's Resolutions – Bruce Weinstein. HuffingtonPost.com” The Huffington Post. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-weinstein/new-years-resolutions_b_2410793.html
Joanne Sgro-Killworth is a Television Fitness Expert, Certified Personal Trainer and Sport Nutritionist. She is Certified in Pilates, Pre-natal/Post-Partum, Yoga and Senior Fitness. She specializes in Weight Loss, Post-Rehab and Post Cancer Training.
Joanne's fitness plans and recipes are available globally on her website www.fitnessanswer.com/ She resides in the Phoenix, AZ area with her husband and son, where she runs her personal training business, Fitness Answer, LLC.
Reviewed January 8, 2013
by MIchele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith
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