New Years Resolutions

First of all Happy New Year, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and wish you all the success for 2012.

We’ve all been there and have promised ourselves that in January we will, eat healthy, stop smoking, drink less, I think you get the picture. But why do we break these resolutions so early? Statistics show that most New Year resolutions are broken within 3 weeks. I think as it’s the New Year we’ve probably all eaten a little too much Christmas pudding and drunk a little too much sherry, so this months article will be about weight loss.

If you really want to achieve those results of your resolutions it’s simple, make a plan.

Give yourself real goals – If you don’t look like Brad or Angelina then physically that isn’t going to happen unless you spend thousands of pounds.

If your overweight be realistic with yourself, you will lose the right amount of weight for your body, and within a time that’s sensible and not detrimental to your health.

Fact - Three factors have to come into play when wanting to lose weight.
1. Eat Healthily
2. Eat Small Portions Of Food
3. Exercise

This may look daunting, but if you want to be successful in losing the pounds and keeping them off you have to set the right mind set for yourself. Draw up a plan and give yourself Goals, when you achieve the Goals give yourself a Reward. The plan has to be kept simple and not unachievable, to help I would suggest break the year up into four quarters

Jan Feb Mar - Apr May June - Jul Aug Sept - Oct Nov Dec

Then set out a plan as to how much weight you want to lose in each quarter, take into account any holidays or celebrations that you know of where you may put a bit of weight on.

This is a lifestyle change, not a diet or a short term solution this is for the long haul.

Now plan out how much you want to lose in the first quarter, keep it simple, realistic and achievable. Now plan how much exercise you are going to put in, again don’t start promising to run marathons and all that nonsense it won’t happen and you’ll give up. Start off by committing to walking for a total of approx 2 hours a week, break it up and walk 25-30 minutes a day over 4 days.

When exercising to ensure that your heart is working hard and that you’re doing it properly, you should be slightly out of breath and be able to talk. If you have any concerns over your health, ensure that you speak to your GP first before any exercise.

I would suggest that you start at this level for the first quarter and as time goes by and you get fitter you will automatically start to increase it yourself.
Exercise is as hard as you make it, if you don’t put the effort in you won’t get the return or the desired outcome that you want, therefore wasting your valuable time. Once you’ve completed your walk you will feel fantastic the endorphins will start to rush around your body leaving you feeling on top of the world and you’ll notice after a while that the tired feeling you once had will start to diminish.

We all love our food, the biggest problem as a human is that we eat too much and too fast. That is an instinct that comes from the human primitive days, when food was so scarce that if you happened to come across some you would eat it all up very quickly so that no one else would come along and take it from you. But you know very well that that will not happen to you.

I’m now going to give you some advice about food.

1. Buy smaller plates – If you place smaller amounts of food on a large plate psychologically you will look at it and say “ there’s not enough food there” but if you buy smaller plates and serve up your meal you will eat it and won’t even notice the difference.

2. If you feel hungry, drink a pint of water slowly and then give yourself ten minutes. Nine times out of ten we’re not hungry we’re just thirsty, bored or want to eat something bad for us. Once the ten minutes are up, if you’re genuinely hungry then eat a small healthy sized meal or snack. If you’re not hungry then get away from the fridge and go and occupy your mind with something else, the feeling will go away if you’re busy.

3. Eat healthy food, so many of us eat on the go. I understand that in the modern life we’re all to busy to sit down and eat proper food, but this is your life and if you don’t eat the correct food then you’re not helping yourself at all.

4. Eat slowly, when eating your food you should allow yourself to chew your food up to 15 times per mouthful. This then gives the stomach time to absorb the food and when it’s full it will send the signal to the brain saying that it’s full. You should always put your knife and fork down when eating otherwise you tend to rush your food and eat it very quickly. When you’re full if there’s any food left on your plate then throw it in the bin. Ask yourself this, is a piece of left over food better in the bin or in your stomach or on your waist and hips.

Use little devices to help yourself, find a picture of when you were slimmer, ensure that it’s a realistic target for yourself and look at it everyday. This will start your brain thinking about how good it was to be that size, or if you have an item of clothing you can’t get into then hang it on the wardrobe so you see it everyday and when you see it, talk to it and say I’ll be wearing you soon. I know this sounds completely bonkers but it works. Place post it notes in the fridge or in the cupboard, or even get a picture of you at your biggest and put it on the biscuit tin, all these little things will help you achieve your desired outcome.
This is your chance to make a fresh start, a new year a new you and it’s achievable. Remember this is a lifestyle change not a diet and certainly not a quick fix, this is the long road but it’s a healthy, happy and rewarding road. You can do it, piece of cake. 

© Paul Alland
www.hypnotherapy4life.co.uk

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