(Why the hell has this blog been so hard to start! I've literally had this screen on my laptop for 3 days now, not knowing how I should begin...)For those of you who have read a couple of the blogs you would know that I harp on procrastination pretty hard, and that it seems to be a central theme a lot of the time. So just to make my life a little bit harder this year I made a resolution that actually scared the size 10-12 pants off of me. This year I will not procrastinate. (It causes physical pain to even say it.) However, I did give myself a little bit of a loop hole. I (not surprisingly) set this goal with more a financial, business, get my life in order, career wise kind of theme. Working out and eating healthy was sooooo not even a thought that crossed my mind. That, in my book, is not good, because it comes with the thought process of having given up.
Now in all respect I have shed 10 pounds in the last 2 months and I have no idea how... Its not like I did anything different other than stressing about things that were going on in my life. However, now that I sit here with a normal amount of life stress I see myself falling back into the routine of "I lost 10 pounds and now its time to put it back on by making excuses as to why I can go get a hamburger and fries instead of making a salad." Does anyone else ever do this? You shed 2 pounds then shove a Chalupa in your face? I am a frequent offender of this thought process and pay for it every time I step on my scale and see that number soar to high heights! And believe me, Sucking in your stomach does not make that number go down. Nor does holding up you boobs... because if you're like me, I believe those girls should not count to my total weight.
Towards the end of December a thought hit me...why do we constantly set resolutions, knowing that from past experience 99% of the time we fail to complete them? Is there a way to set a resolution at the beginning of the year that has some fool proof method? This thought intrigued me so I did some research on the matter.
What I found is that you have to 1) Set a goal 2) Ask yourself whether or not its measurable and attainable 3) Take it one small bite at a time.
Number 3 is key to resolution setting success. We often set a goal and just focus on it as a whole, therefore becoming overwhealmed by it and eventually quit. Now when I say 'one small bite at a time', i'm not talking about that chocolate cake at your friends birthday party or those pink frosted Valentine's day cupcakes that are sure to make their way into our kitchens at some point. I'm talking about setting small goals with a time limit within the 'Big Picture Goal.' Example.. (we'll use mine) I have until the end of February to get my business license and open a bank account under that name. I have until the end of March to get my Website up and running. When I set these smaller goals, getting my life in order financially doesn't seem like a such a tall order! Doing this with physical goals is just as easy...
Once I established that I had essentially not given my weight loss a second thought at the beginning of the year, I set a goal around it. By the end of January I have to have completed 6 workouts using my brand spanking new copy of Jillian Michaels Ab Workout DVD, and have run at least twice. It may not seem like a lot to most people, but knowing what my failure rate has been in the past, this is a good start. Next month i'll up the ante a little bit by throwing in shopping twice a week at Fresh & Easy and Trader Joe's for organic whole foods, therefore, lowering the amount of time I find myself at Taco Bell ordering that damn #9 with a laughable Diet Pepsi.
Next blog i'll go into more detail about products you can use to help facilitate your goals. I also want to start doing more videos demonstrating workout DVDs, diets, and excercises so you the reader can make the best decision on what works for you. And yes, I promise from now on the blogs will be far more entertaining and humorous!
Happy Dieting!
