Life resolutions
Jodie Leiss, Special to the Gazette
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
By Jodie Leiss
Special to The Gazette
If you’ve made New Year’s resolutions and you are going strong after six days, good for you!
In my younger years when I made New Year’s resolutions, they usually ended up looking like this:
• The new $350 gym membership, left unused for most of the year — check.
• The new piece of workout equipment that becomes a clothes hanger after January or hidden away under the bed or in a closet to gather dust — check.
• New diet, left abandoned by the wayside after only a week — check.
I also noticed a pattern when I made resolutions.
Whatever bad behavior I wanted to change, I would do more of it in the month of December, such as eating unhealthy foods, knowing that I would no longer be eating unhealthy foods in January because I had resolved to stop beginning Jan. 1. Well, I would be gung ho for part of January and gradually taper off until I no longer wanted to work on changing that behavior. It was too hard.
After years of trying to change unwanted behaviors, I finally found something that works for me, and maybe it will work for you too.
First, ask yourself if you are really committed to making a change. Are you changing to become healthier or are you changing to please someone else? Do you want to lose weight for that class reunion, wedding or vacation coming up or are you ready to make a lifelong healthy change? If you are ready for a healthy life-long change, there are some basic steps for you to follow.
Make a plan
1 No matter how determined I was to change a bad habit, it did not work without a well-thought-out plan.
To develop a plan, you need to know a little information about yourself and the habit you wish to change. Begin by keeping records about the behavior you wish to change. Write down the when, where, what, why about the behavior.
To change your diet, keep a food journal. When did you eat? Where did you eat? What did you eat and how much? Why did you eat? Were you hungry, sad, mad, etc.? Write it all down. If you want to start exercising, then journal about your current activities. Again, write down the when, where, what, why. Do you have other behaviors that you want to change such as drinking too much soda, high alcohol consumption, smoking, nail biting? Again, write down everything pertaining to the behavior you want to change.
If you have all these behaviors and want to change them to improve your health, do not try to change them all at once. Pick one behavior to change and start with that.
Analyze data
2 Now you must analyze the data you collected and identify your behavior patterns.
When do you do the unwanted behavior? What events seem to trigger the unwanted behavior? Make sure you write down the correlations between your feelings and external cues such as time of day, location, situation and the actions of people around you. What sets you off?
Set goals
3 Next, set some realistic, specific goals. If you were inactive, it would not be realistic to run a marathon in two months. A more realistic goal would include walking or biking for 30 minutes at least three days a week and work up to five days per week.
Don’t just say you want to eat healthier. Set a specific target such as eating five or more fruits and vegetable a day. Make a long-term goal along with short-term goals to help you reach your long-term goal.
Break your goals down into a few small steps. If your goals are unrealistic, you will be less likely to achieve your goals. Now that you know what your goals are, write them down on paper and share them with your significant other or someone who will hold you accountable.
Reward yourself
4 Make sure you reward yourself when you achieve your goals. Rewards should be special, inexpensive and not related to food or alcohol. Think about what you like to do. Do you like to go to the movies? Then reward yourself with a movie. Do you like to listen to music? Then reward yourself with a new CD or go to a concert. Do you like sports? Go see a ballgame.
Write down your rewards with your goal and don’t forget to reward yourself.
Enlist support
5 For further success, enlist your friends and family. Do you know someone who would like to change the same behavior? Ask that person to be your accountability partner.
If you want to become more active, ask a friend or relative to workout with you. Having someone to work out with is fun. There will be times when you don’t want to work out and it is harder to say no to someone when you know that that person is counting on you, and you can return the favor to him or her when that person is having a challenging day.
Contingency plan
6 Plan ahead for obstacles whatever they may be. If you like to walk outside, but the weather is bad, what will you do instead to stay active? What will you do if your friend or family member cannot join you for exercise one day?
If you are trying to eat healthier, what will you do when there are unfriendly diet foods around? If you have a plan of action when obstacles occur, and they will, you will be more successful if you have thought about what you can do instead.
Chart success
7 Make sure to chart your success and re-evaluate your plan to see if you are making progress. If you’re not making progress, examine your plan to identify what may be causing the problem. Maybe you just need some additional motivation. In that case, write down the benefits you will receive if you achieve your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, your list of benefits could include increased energy and more self-confidence.
Write down the costs of not changing. Another way to stay motivated is to visualize yourself achieving your goal. Counteract any negative thoughts such as “I can never lose weight” with positive thoughts like “Other people have lost weight and so can I.”
Build up your self -confidence by thinking about the positive decisions and actions that you chose during the day. If you take a wrong step towards your goals, just keep trying.
Replacing a negative behavior with a positive behavior can be challenging, but not impossible. Make a plan, enlist some support, and don’t criticize yourself when you have an off day. Learn from your mistakes and get back on track.
Here’s wishing you a happy and healthy 2009!
Shape Up, Emporia!, is a weekly fitness and health column aimed at readers of all ages to get off the couch and get into shape.
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