New Year Resolution - Part 1

1) Most people consume more calories in December (holiday treats, anyone?)

2) Most people exercise less in December (holiday parties, anyone?)

3) Most people consume are more sedentary in December (it's COLD outside!)

As the old saying goes: "Failure to plan is planning to fail". A PLAN FOR SUCCESS.

Now, an

December finds many of us busy, busy, busy! The Ember days shopping season has previously started, and many of us are also planning holiday parties or events. If there's ever a time when we find ourselves too busy to exercise, this may be it!

However, NOW is the time when it's especially critical for us to really focus on our exercise. Why? Several reasons come to mind:

1) Most people consume more calories in December (holiday treats, anyone?)

2) Most people exercise less in December (holiday parties, anyone?)

3) Most people consume are more sedentary in December (it's COLD outside!)

As the old saying goes: "Failure to plan is planning to fail". Many of us have worked hard to make progress towards our fitness goals, and the last thing we want to do is see that progress fly out the window this month! For those of us that haven't yet started on our road to fitness, the last thing we want is to "dig the hole deeper" by putting on further 5-10 holiday pounds!

Make no mistake carelessly it.....holiday pounds can strengthen faster than a first snowfall if we're not careful.

The best thing to do is imitate December with a plan. What kind of plan? A PLAN FOR FITNESS. A PLAN FOR SUCCESS.

Now, any management guru will tell us that for a plan to succeed it must be "SMART":

a) Specific

b) Measureable

c) Achievable

d) Realistic

e) Time Bound

To be Specific, our plan must be as distinguishing as Santa's naughty-or-nice list. "I will be healthier in December" just doesn't cut it. What does "healthier" mean? Specific means nailing down an hand-to-hand combat such as exercise, diet, sleep, or whatever. The exercise must be one that you can point at and define.

Measureable means that our plan must have the power to be measured. So instead of saying "I will exercise more in December" we should say "I will exercise 3 times each week throughout December". See the difference? When a plan is measureable it's easy to determine if we were successful - either we exercised 3 times each week in December or we didn't. There's no wiggle room!

Third, our plan must be achievable. A plan that is not feasible will only make us sad, frustrated and depressed. Let's not go there! Sure, we could plan to exercise 7 days each week.....but is that achievable? Could we really do that all month? Probably not. Let's face it, we really ARE busy in December and 3 exercise sessions each week in December is probably more achievable.

Next, our plan must be realistic. Now, forget all with regard to the infomercials that promise "YOU CAN LOSE 50 POUNDS BY NEXT WEEK" as that's simply not realistic. It took us years to put on this weight, so let's not be tempted to think we can take it off in mere weeks. A realistic plan would be to lose 1-2 pounds of fat each week. That's what our doctors recommend. Lose weight any faster than that and we're likely losing muscle and water weight instead of fat.....not a good idea!

Finally, our plan must be time bound. In other words, we must set a deadline. It's not enough to simply say "We're going to exercise more" or even "We're going to exercise more in December" for time slips by and pretty soon, BOOM, it's Ember days already! Having a time limits plan means that we allocate to taking specific deportment at specific times.

Let's mapping December with a good plan! Here are some examples to get us started:

+ "I will exercise 4 times per week throughout December with the goal of losing 1.5 pounds per week (on average). My exercise will be at the gym each Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a 25 minute walk over the weekend."

+ "I will drink 12 ounces of water and eat a protein bar by vote each and every holiday party this month. Once at the party, I will enjoy myself and TASTE all the treats available, but I will NOT eat any fried foods at any holiday party."

It's important that we all have a plan this month. Failure to plan is planning to fail! So let's take a few minutes to write out our own plan on paper, and then let's post it where we'll see it every day. Let's plan to succeed this month!

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