New Year, New Start – it’s resolution time!

We’re already over mid-way through what is often viewed as one of the most depressing, gloomy months in the northern hemisphere.

Credit card bills, a result of the Christmas splurge, frustration at our lack of commitment to our goals set in 2012, dark and cold weather. Resolutions for 2013 made with gusto and already broken and unachieved.

Terror at the thought of stepping onto those scales, the squeeze to get back into our 2012 jeans being a good indicator that yes, perhaps we managed to gain the national average of half a stone over the festive period.

Alas, enough we say! All is not lost, there are still 11 and a half whole months to turn this year into your best one yet! January gets a bad reputation, poor old January holds so many high expectations for us all.

Lunchtime December 31st each year we make promises to change each and every bad habit we have, to become health Gods and Goddesses up at 5am running through the sunny mountains living on the latest ‘Raw Food Diet’ and glowing with radiance.

Perhaps we should just give both ourselves and January a break. Did you know it takes roughly 21 days, that’s 3 whole weeks to change just one habit? It also takes one whole year to change your eating habits and lifestyle for the better?

So why the rush? Let’s start again, stop with the guilt, stop being so hard on ourselves and pick just ONE habit to change.

Good and easy examples are:

1. Drink more water – eliminate toxins/relieve constipation/increase weight loss/clearer skin/less headaches

2. Swap full fat milk for skimmed and save the calories! 3 weeks and you’ll never go back!

3. Exercise DAILY, be it a 10minute walk to the corner shop for the paper, do it, every day, for 3 weeks until it becomes automatic..or auto-magic!

4. Get enough sleep – prioritize this area of your life for increased energy, better blood sugar control and less cravings for all the wrong foods, killing 3 bad habits in one here.

5. Swap from highly processed white carbs to wholegrains, one food at a time.

6. Eat one extra piece of fruit a day.

7. Eat your veg! If you hate the thoughts of a green bean on your fork, eat it every day for 21 days until your brain switches over from thinking ‘Oh no poison ahoy yuck yuck!’ to ‘Hmm she’s still eating this food and we’re still alive, maybe it’s OK..’ and you will LOVE green beans, trust me!

8. Have non-food treats when you achieve a goal e.g. a new top/bottle of nail varnish – coffee and a cake can cost as much if not more these days!

9. Eat breakfast, every day for 3 weeks, even if you wanna gag, even if you have to force feed yourself, DO IT until you wake up excited about breakfast!

10. Order salad instead of chips, make yourself do it and be proud you go-getter!

For the next 3 weeks, persevere, day in and day out until eventually that habit becomes automatic, you’ll feel proud of your achievement and then we’re ready to change habit number two. Remember, there are 50 weeks left of 2013, that’s a whopping 17 habits we can change!

Take your time, small steps in the right direction will get you there a lot easier than the giant, huge, impossible to sustain leaps you’ve taken each and every year up until now. 2013 – your chance of success made a lot easier with my tips – take it, go forth and conquer those resolutions once and for all!!

LISA’S TIP: There’s a great website www.eatthismuch.com which can offer inspiration for meal planning ideas online with healthy eating in mind, it’s good fun and free!

Lisa runs Unislim classes at The Mourne Country Hotel on Wednesdays at 5.30pm. Lisa also offers nutritional consultations on a one to one basis, check out Choice by Lisa on Facebook or contact Lisa directly T: 07730577822 – Be Healthy!

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Posted by Newry Times News on Jan 22 2013. Filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry