Who Else Wants to Change in 2010?

Each new year is a time of reflection for what you would like to do differently in order to have desired outcomes. Perhaps the most popular change people want to make for the new year is to lose weight.

Everybody wants the magic bullet. Our culture expects quick fixes. Sadly, when quick changes happen, they don’t last long term. See the diets, amazing ab machines, magic pills or fat-burners for what they are. Save your money and time on all these quick-fix products… they only create false hopes.

You probably already know what you need to do yet… you’re not doing it! Here is the problem with thinking you know everything. If you were told you should drink more water or eat more vegetables, your first response might be… “I know that.”

You instantly shut down your brain when you have heard something before, especially when it involves a behavior change and leaving your comfort zone.

Without being receptive to the learning, a behavioral change will not happen. Change requires not being you. Tell yourself: “If I have to change, I need to stop being me.” You are capable of not being you, but you need to learn how… in consistent small doses over time. That’s how habits change, and ultimately results occur.

The stories you don’t always hear or want to hear about the people who create long-term success, is they got out of their comfort zone, stayed focused, and changed. When they had a setback, they did not stay immobilized, they got up and got back on track.

What keeps these people so driven and how can you create that “do whatever it takes mindset”?

It is important to see the big picture of where you want to be, but your focus should be on what you can do now to get to the next step.

You can see and feel significant change and results in 12 weeks. Those results will fuel wanting more success. This is how an unstoppable mindset and lasting habits are created. When that happens, true learning takes place.

Ask yourself, “What do I already ‘know’ about my health that I am not changing?”

How to Create a New Habit

Do you have a health habit that you would like to create but for some reason you are having trouble creating it?

For example, you set the alarm early so you have time to exercise. However when the alarm goes off, you are overcome with sleep, and the comfort and warmth of staying in bed overrides the need to get up and exercise.

Worse, you feel defeated and guilty for not getting up, but you hit the snooze button to go back to sleep anyway, and you don’t create the new habit.

I’m sure everyone has experienced not being able to get out of bed early to exercise, yet some people are able to maintain the habit of getting up early to exercise consistently… and have been doing it for years.

Let’s suppose all the excuses, the holidays, no time, no gym membership, no training partner, too old, bad knee, etc., are not really what’s stopping you… and by the way these really are just excuses.

In order to change a behavior, you need to replace the belief or feeling about the current behavior with one that is stronger and more desirable.

What drives you to change? Your brain works in a way that it will choose the feeling or behavior that drives you the most.

Let’s take the same example of wanting get up early to exercise. If you really believed your life would be better if you changed this behavior, and you believed that the consequences of not changing would produce undesirable consequences, you would be driven to change. Changing would not only feel good, it would feel better.

So how could you replace the habit to stay in bed under the warm covers?

Maybe the new habit would feel better because of the results that getting up and exercising elicits… having more energy throughout the day, less body fat, looking and fitting into clothes better, and you would no longer feel guilty and defeated from sleeping in and not taking responsibility to get in shape.

Any time you want to change a behavior, the intervention is to replace or move towards a new behavior by associating the new behavior with good feelings…feelings that will override the feelings you had for the behavior you need or want to replace.

How can you create a new habit that would feel good and benefit your health?

The Goal of Staying Healthy Through the Holidays

Are you setting a goal for failure just because it is the “holiday season”?

Without even being aware, it is easy to automatically assume that you will be too busy to work out and you will over-eat because of all the holiday goodies. With all the family, friends, and socials, you may be thinking it will be impossible to stay in shape, so why bother trying because gaining weight is certain?

It’s as if holiday time is the perfect excuse to overindulge in food and not work out so you have “permission” to gain weight.

This of course sets the stage for January, when many people decide to join a gym or go on a diet. Sadly, most people never make it to bathing suit season, or even to February. When the going gets tough, people quit at the first obstacle. You see, the goal was to join a gym or go on a diet… and once the membership was paid for and the diet started, the goal was met!

So how do you turn all this insanity around? First of all, holidays do not have to mean you have to deprive yourself of all the fun in order to stay in shape. And just because it is holiday time, you don’t have to be helpless.

Why not set the goal to be in the best shape of your life for the holidays… or set the goal to maintain your current weight. You can improve during this time AND enjoy the fun if you set your intension and desire to do so.

You don’t have to give up the parties and food. The trick is to put your focus on the people and eat responsibly with smart portion sizes and then go right back to your healthy plan. Every meal in December does not have to be out of whack and there is no reason why you can’t train harder, especially knowing you will be attending holiday festivities. You have time for what you make a priority.

Be as passionate about improving your health over the month of December, as you are passionate about the love and joy of the holiday. Set the right goal and take action.