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The following article was published in Your Health Magazine. Our mission is to empower people to live healthier.
Anne M. Rensberger, LICSW
A Fresh Look At Your New Year's Resolutions
Wondercoach

A Fresh Look At Your New Year's Resolutions

Remember what resolve you had when you started to act on your “I will lose weight this year” resolution? You were tired of the holiday eating, disgusted that you couldn't button your pants, and disheartened that your promise to lose weight last year hadn't panned out.

How have you been doing on your weight management program? Are you like many of us who start with a bang but somehow lose it amidst the drama of everyday life?

Ask yourself these questions

1. Do you believe that that you have the ability to lose weight? If you doubt yourself, don't. I bet you have lost weight many times. Maybe not as much or as fast as you'd like, but looking back, you may find you have been at least partially successful at losing weight in the past. So if you could do it then, you can do it now.

2. What else is going on in your life? Personal problems arise during a long-term weight loss program, and there can be times when your mind and your energy are required for other things. If you have pressing issues, just take a hiatus from dieting and focus on maintaining where you are. You can go back to dieting when you no longer have competing priorities.

3. Have you developed weight management skills and good habits? Have you learned how to shop and stock your home with the foods you need? Have you learned to follow your program at social or business events or while traveling? If not, start to focus on these issues one at a time. You can develop these habits.

4. Are you still exercising? If not, maybe you did too much too soon, didn't work it into your life, or didn't make it fun. Build in activity for 5 or 10 minutes. All movement counts.

5. Have you identified any psychological or social factors that have hampered your progress? We all use food to sooth, comfort, and deal with stress. But the question to ask yourself is if you can find other ways to meet these needs. Also if family, friends or colleagues are sabotaging you then you must talk with them about it and confront them when it happens.

6. Have you thrown out perfectionism and developed persistence? No one is ever perfect on a long-term weight loss program. If you aren't, so what? The deal is to get better at it, don't let a lapse become a relapse, be resilient and be persistent. If you stick to your program more than you break it, you will lose that weight.

It is never too late to act on a New Year's Resolution.

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