How Will You Make This the Year of Lasting Change?

By , SparkPeople Blogger
If you are someone who has struggled with weight issues for a while, you know how frustrating it can be.  You start the year with lots of motivation and great intentions to change your habits and become a healthier person.  Things go great at first, but as the weeks and months go by, you find yourself slipping back into old habits.  The diet and exercise "thing" becomes a drag, and eventually you decide it’s not worth it and you’d rather indulge in the hot fudge sundae than get all sweaty on the treadmill at the gym. 
 
Ask yourself this question:  What is going to make this year different?  Whether your goal is to lose 100 pounds and be on the cover of a magazine, or you want to become more fit so that you can keep up with your kids at the park, how are you going to make that happen? When do you say that enough is enough and you’re tired of living a life that’s not your ideal? 
 
There’s no point in dwelling on the past.  Yes, you can certainly learn from mistakes so that you’re less likely to repeat them.  But the only thing you can control is what happens from this moment forward.  You have the power to choose the direction of today.  Are you going to make choices that keep you moving toward your goals, or are you going to make choices that take you further away?
 
It’s not easy.  There are days when I eat too many sweets or I skip a workout "just because".  Nobody is perfect.  But most of the time, before I make those decisions I try to think about how I’ll feel later on.  If I eat another handful of M&M’s, am I going to be disappointed in myself at the end of the day?  Knowing the answer is “yes” helps motivate me to make better decisions.
 
My advice is to start slow and set some reasonable, short term goals.  Think about making changes to your life that you can live with forever.  You might feel motivated to start working out for two hours a day, but can you keep that up for the rest of your life?  The answer:  probably not.   You might think that cutting all sweets out of your diet is the way to go.  But if someone told me I could never have another piece of chocolate cake, I’d probably end up binging on it eventually.  Consider moderation when making changes to your life. 
 
Let’s make this year your best one yet!  Are you with me?  What kinds of goals have you set for the New Year and how are you going to make this year a success?