…Means a brand new you – but just wait till February rolls around
I think the biggest mistake that people make when it comes to New Year Resolutions is that they try to implement them the day the new year begins. New Year, New Me, goes the cry in households across the country as people pledge to inaugurate their brand-new selves. This usually involves a regimen of denial, given special impetus by the excesses they indulged in to celebrate the holiday season.
It’s going to be a dry January, is the first declaration of intent. The second usually involves a diet fad of some kind: giving up carbs; intermittent fasting; going on a juice cleanse; or maybe just eating papaya for a month. Then comes the biggie: the promise to undertake a fitness regime that will leave them leaner, fitter, healthier, and much more flexible. This could entail anything from daily walks to taking up tennis to practicing Pilates to signing up for yoga.
So barely have they recovered from the mother of all hangovers on New Year’s Day than these deluded folks are trying to diet and exercise their guilt about gluttony away. Well guess what, it’s a venture doomed to failure.
The truth is that January is the worst month to initiate these kinds of lifestyle changes. For one thing your body and mind are busy trying to adjust to coming back to work full-time after some time off. So, it’s not a good idea to subject them to the extra effort that a new diet and exercise regimen entails. Far better to indulge in some comfort snacking and the odd glass of wine to come to terms with your new reality.
This is when you need to wean yourself off gently from the bad habits of the last year. So use January to do just that, allowing your mind and body to ease into the new year with minimum trauma. Taper off the alcohol but don’t turn the tap off completely. Eat healthy as far as possible but allow yourself a slice of the leftover Christmas cake when the urge overcomes you. Cut down on calories gradually by all means, but don’t tip over into exclusionary-diet territory just yet.
That kind of punishing regimen is what February is for.
By the time the second month of the new year rolls around, the memories of those food and alcohol binges that marked your year-end celebrations will have faded somewhat. More crucially, the weather will also have warmed up a tad, so the thought of having another muffin with your cappuccino will not be quite so tempting. And as the stronger sunshine warms up your days, it will become easier to drag yourself out of bed to go jogging around the block or hitting the gym.
So, if you know what’s good for you, press the delay button on your New Year-New Me scheme until you’ve said goodbye to January. Then, when the first day of February dawns, you can get started on improving yourself.
And here, to help you along, are just some of the things that you can do towards making yourself over in 2020:
• What you eat, how you eat, and when you eat, all of these things make a huge difference to how you feel. So, make this the year of mindful eating. That means focusing on what you are putting in your mouth at breakfast, lunch and dinner. And by that I don’t mean just eating smaller portions and healthier foods, though that is essential too. What I recommend is paying attention to your food while you eat it. Don’t scroll through newspapers when you are eating breakfast; don’t eat lunch at your desk at work while staring at your computer; and don’t have dinner staring at the telly. That kind of mindless eating always results in over-consumption of calories. Instead, sit down at the dining table to have all your meals, taste your food, appreciate it, and give thanks for it. You will end up eating less, and enjoying it a lot more.
• When it comes to exercise, don’t set yourself too ambitious a target. That way, you won’t feel disheartened when you fail to meet it. Instead, set yourself incremental goals, so that you can go from one level to another when you are good and ready. For instance, start by incorporating a ten-minute jog in your daily walk and then increase it as your fitness improves. If you can’t take an hour out at any one time during the day, break up your fitness routine into three 20-minute bits that you slot whenever you have the time.
• But whatever you do, pay as much attention to your mind as you do to your body this year. Spend at least ten minutes first thing in the morning and last thing at night in silence, flushing your mind clear of all the detritus that clogs it. Rediscover the lost art of concentrating on one single thing, instead of being distracted by all the stuff unfolding around us. (That means no replying to emails when you are having dinner with the family; no scrolling through Twitter when you are reading a book; and most certainly no surfing the Internet when you are allegedly working.)
And while you’re at it, be mindful of other people as well instead of just being focused on yourself. You will have a better and fuller life as a consequence. And that’s the best New Year gift you can give yourself.
I think the biggest mistake that people make when it comes to New Year Resolutions is that they try to implement them the day the new year begins. New Year, New Me, goes the cry in households across the country as people pledge to inaugurate their brand-new selves. This usually involves a regimen of denial, given special impetus by the excesses they indulged in to celebrate the holiday season.
It’s going to be a dry January, is the first declaration of intent. The second usually involves a diet fad of some kind: giving up carbs; intermittent fasting; going on a juice cleanse; or maybe just eating papaya for a month. Then comes the biggie: the promise to undertake a fitness regime that will leave them leaner, fitter, healthier, and much more flexible. This could entail anything from daily walks to taking up tennis to practicing Pilates to signing up for yoga.
So barely have they recovered from the mother of all hangovers on New Year’s Day than these deluded folks are trying to diet and exercise their guilt about gluttony away. Well guess what, it’s a venture doomed to failure.
The truth is that January is the worst month to initiate these kinds of lifestyle changes. For one thing your body and mind are busy trying to adjust to coming back to work full-time after some time off. So, it’s not a good idea to subject them to the extra effort that a new diet and exercise regimen entails. Far better to indulge in some comfort snacking and the odd glass of wine to come to terms with your new reality.
This is when you need to wean yourself off gently from the bad habits of the last year. So use January to do just that, allowing your mind and body to ease into the new year with minimum trauma. Taper off the alcohol but don’t turn the tap off completely. Eat healthy as far as possible but allow yourself a slice of the leftover Christmas cake when the urge overcomes you. Cut down on calories gradually by all means, but don’t tip over into exclusionary-diet territory just yet.
That kind of punishing regimen is what February is for.
By the time the second month of the new year rolls around, the memories of those food and alcohol binges that marked your year-end celebrations will have faded somewhat. More crucially, the weather will also have warmed up a tad, so the thought of having another muffin with your cappuccino will not be quite so tempting. And as the stronger sunshine warms up your days, it will become easier to drag yourself out of bed to go jogging around the block or hitting the gym.
So, if you know what’s good for you, press the delay button on your New Year-New Me scheme until you’ve said goodbye to January. Then, when the first day of February dawns, you can get started on improving yourself.
And here, to help you along, are just some of the things that you can do towards making yourself over in 2020:
• What you eat, how you eat, and when you eat, all of these things make a huge difference to how you feel. So, make this the year of mindful eating. That means focusing on what you are putting in your mouth at breakfast, lunch and dinner. And by that I don’t mean just eating smaller portions and healthier foods, though that is essential too. What I recommend is paying attention to your food while you eat it. Don’t scroll through newspapers when you are eating breakfast; don’t eat lunch at your desk at work while staring at your computer; and don’t have dinner staring at the telly. That kind of mindless eating always results in over-consumption of calories. Instead, sit down at the dining table to have all your meals, taste your food, appreciate it, and give thanks for it. You will end up eating less, and enjoying it a lot more.
• When it comes to exercise, don’t set yourself too ambitious a target. That way, you won’t feel disheartened when you fail to meet it. Instead, set yourself incremental goals, so that you can go from one level to another when you are good and ready. For instance, start by incorporating a ten-minute jog in your daily walk and then increase it as your fitness improves. If you can’t take an hour out at any one time during the day, break up your fitness routine into three 20-minute bits that you slot whenever you have the time.
• But whatever you do, pay as much attention to your mind as you do to your body this year. Spend at least ten minutes first thing in the morning and last thing at night in silence, flushing your mind clear of all the detritus that clogs it. Rediscover the lost art of concentrating on one single thing, instead of being distracted by all the stuff unfolding around us. (That means no replying to emails when you are having dinner with the family; no scrolling through Twitter when you are reading a book; and most certainly no surfing the Internet when you are allegedly working.)
And while you’re at it, be mindful of other people as well instead of just being focused on yourself. You will have a better and fuller life as a consequence. And that’s the best New Year gift you can give yourself.
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