How to achieve a New Year’s resolution related to health

Ah the beginning of a New Year, time to set a resolution and make a change. For most people, it is health related. Sometimes it can be to give up a bad habit, such as smoking or drinking. But by and large it is about “making an improvement”.

This personal enhancement normally is based around two things, losing weight or getting fitter.

Before we start, first ask yourself why you have set yourself a resolution.

It is basic human psychology that achieving something that doesn’t have a professional motivation (that is, that you wouldn’t do day to day for your job) is easier done if it is started with a landmark setting.

We want to feel good about ourselves, and promising change always gives us a mental boost. This is often a bad thing, because we go insanely crazy over December because we know we are going to change our lives with a trusty resolution. In Australia, alcohol and calorie consumption triples over the last month of the calendar year.

So come December 31st, we need to make a change to our lives.

New Years Eve suits this down to a T.

But are you making a resolution just so you have something to say to someone who asks? Or are you doing it because you genuinely want to make a change?

So, why do you want to make that change?

Is it based on a person that is far bigger than he or she should be looking back at you in the mirror? Is it because a certain item of clothing doesn’t fit you anymore? Or is it that when you ran ecstatically into the ocean while at the beach, you realised once in the water than you felt like you had just run a marathon?

Hence, the reason for the resolution, but beware.

A resolution is just a statement of words. No resolution will ever be achieved without action, or more importantly, without change and sacrifice.

A New Year brings a second chance. But if we are really going to make it, we have got to be tough.

A good number of people break a resolution within 24-48 hours. I am never drinking again is destroyed by the fact that you still have beer in the fridge from New Years Eve and only that wonderful looking cold brew will take away the pain.

A third will break their resolutions within a week, and over half within the month.

I don’t mean to insult those who have already failed their resolutions, but this is about helping those who are still going strong.

With the most determined look on your face, yell this inside of your head.

I AM NOT A QUITTER. I AM NOT A FAILURE. I CAN ACHIEVE SOMETHING THAT I SET MY MIND TOO.

Because remember, you have made the resolution because you want to change something. And I am sure we can agree that the change is from something bad. It is hardly as if your New Year’s Resolution is to stop admiring attractive members of the opposite sex, or to no longer brush your teeth.

You are changing something that NEEDS CHANGING.

Now for the actual resolution!

A good thing to do is to actually give it the seriousness it deserves and sit down with a piece of paper. Under one heading write the bad things that will happen if you don’t make the change, and then make a list of the good things that will happen if you do.

Smoking (a common resolution) could have lung cancer, yucky smelly breath, statistically a 25% increased chance of dying, massively reduced fitness, even ineffective circulation that can affect your sex drive as the bad things

And the benefits are all but the exact opposite.

Aspects such as diet and exercise can be difficult, because make no mistake, they are hard aspects to change. We are creatures of habit and to make a change can be hard. Circumstances and lifestyle can make this difficult as well.

The good news is, if you persist, within weeks it becomes easier and easier.

For diet, here are some helpful tips.

• Every single thing you put through your mouth, food or liquid, affects your health. Think of this every time you eat or drink, especially in the initial weeks.

• Your choice affects you the next day. A day of bad food and drink and you feel and look like crap the following day. A day of healthy eating with fresh juices, herb tea and plenty of water make you feel great the next day. EVERYTHING HAS A REPRUCUSSION

• When you first make changes, the desired health or good feeling might not kick in straight away. This is natural, as your body needs to detox and get rid of bad crap that might lurk in your body. Keep at it.

• To eat well, you must always plan ahead. Bad eating is often the result of poor organisation. To be healthy you must do basic things like go to a fruit and vegetable market or go shopping regularly. Don’t do this and you will be more prone to get bad stuff like takeaways.

• Make little changes. Even healthy stuff can be bad for you. Think of a Subway sandwich, the healthiest “fast food”. Why eat white bread when they have wholemeal, a far more nutritional beneficial food source. Why get sauce or mayo, when you can go without, or if you can’t, ask for just a tiny dash.

• Finally, at the initial stages your biggest enemy is your taste buds. They want rich food. But take that away from them, and they will get used to it. A fantastic example is milk. Go from full cream to trim, and then from trim to low fat, and then every try non fat. At first you will think the better alternative tastes like water, but after a while, try and go back to the fatter alternatives. It will be gross. Train your taste buds.

With exercise, it can be difficult, but the benefits are immense.

• The first few times will be horrible, but with each time it will get easier and more enjoyable, BUT YOU MUST STICK TO IT. Beginners to training regimes have one immense advantage, the benefits and changes will kick in very quickly.

• When struggling, think of what you would do if you don’t go to the gym. Often, people go to the gym at night. If you don’t go, what are you going to do, watch TV? Will that hour of television benefit you in the coming days? As hard as a gym session can be, think of the benefits in the coming days, weeks, months and years.

• Just get in there. The hardest part of training is getting to the gym, or going outside to run, and so on. But once you start it gets easier, and at the end of your training session, the feeling of achievement is awesome. Get addicted.

• Consistently think of all the new things that will occur. You will be fitter, and won’t get puffed when walking up some stairs. You will be stronger, and can lift your kids with more ease. You will live longer, be at less risk of illness or disease, and the list goes on. Always think of the benefits.

At the end of the day, remember why you made these resolutions in the first place.

You wanted to make a change.

And you are going to make it happen.