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It's that time of year again, tommorow is New Year's eve and at midnight many of you will be facing another challenge - how to stick with your newly or in many cases, recycled New Year's resolutions. How many times have you set the same resolution to lose weight, eat right, exercise more and /or get fit. What is a resolution anyway and why are they so hard to keep?

I looked up resolution in Merriam-Webster online dictionary and a couple of definitions were apropos to this article. The first is rather obvious "a formal expression of will or intent", the second is intriguing "the progression of a chord from dissonance to consonance." This really hits a chord with me as so many of my new clients come to me because they are living with chronic cognitive dissonance. What is cognitive dissonance and how does it apply to resolutions and trying to make lifestyle changes? When you experience chronic cognitive dissonance, you are in constant conflict with what you think you want or how you want to be and your current reality. For example you want to weigh a certain amount or change a certain eating behavior but you your thoughts, feelings and actions are not aligned with achieving that "want."  So if you set a typical New Year's resolution and it's nebulous with no plan, no direction, you set yourself up for internal conflict and you will likely not stick with your resolution for long. A resolution without a road-map is like a wish and a wish is a goal without a plan.  You can't wish your way to a healthy weight or greater fitness.

This year try something different. Figure out what you want. Formulate it into a vison that you can see in your mind. Then pick one behavior to adopt that will move you in a direction that brings you closer to achieving your vision and make that your New Year's resolution. For example, if your vision is living in a healthy fit body and you can see yourself in your mind's eye how this looks and feels, the rewards you will experince living in this new fit body, what your life will be like, your energy level, etc... Now choose a behavior that will help you achieve this level of fitness you desire. Maybe it's adding strength training to exercise program because you have been walking regularly, but it doesn't seem to be enough.  Now set your resolution using the SMART Goal formula:

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-oriented.

Your goal could read something like this: "I will sign up for and attend a strength training class that begins January 14 to learn the priciples of strength training and will buy the necessary equipment to do the exercises at home two days between classes". Is it specific? Yes -  class meets once per week and I set a goal to exercise 2 more times per week. Is it achievable? Yes because I scheduled the classes and additional times to exercise in my weekly planner and I pre-paid for it. Realistic ? Yes, I can set aside the time to make this commitment and this class is designed for beginners and will allow me to progress at a safe effective manner. All I need is some dummbels or exercise bands to begin and I will purchase these inexpensive items before the class starts. Time-oriented? Yes - it begins on a set date so I know when I am starting and have committed the time to go to the classes.

Happy New Year!

KJ was recently featured in the South Shore Women's Business Network Newsletter called The Compass. In the article KJ discusses how her own experiences and challenges helped her dedicate her life to helping others achieve their health and fitness goals.

Read the full article

Please note that the original article incorrectly lists KJ's website as achieveyourgoalweight.com. This website is KJ's new official website.

Here is an article from Will Craig from Coach Training Alliance that supports my beliefs in the power of mental rehearsal:

This time of year you will see countless stories about what to eat or what not to eat during the upcoming holidays. If only it were that simple. For me, and I imagine many of you, returning home, going to a relative's home or entertaining relatives in your own home may create a lot of anxiety. When I was in college, spending a few days home around Thanksgiving or a couple of weeks at Christmas was extremely challenging emotionally.  Don't get me wrong, I looked forward to seeing my parents, grandparents, brothers and sister and our dogs, it was worrying about how to handle the food and the thoughts and feelings around the eating events that made me anxious. Growing up in my house was like being in a grocery store and bakery all wrapped up together. There was an endless supply of goodies. Mom, being a Mom, always made sure my favorite icecream (Breyer's Strawberry) was in the freezer. Of course, there were brownies, crackers, cookies, nuts and cheese.  The turkey was so big it barely fit in the oven. But somehow we found room and time to bake pies, breads and make numerous side dishes. You probably get the picture, constant food cues - constant stress.

And then, there may be issues with other emotions that can get conjured up around family - such as feelings of inadequacy, guilt, perfectionism, anger, jealousy, joyfulness & celebration. If food soothes your soul, this time of year sure makes for easy access to your favorite coping mechanism. What happens after however may be even more stressful or damaging than the actual eating for comfort - The onslaught of  emotional turmoil that frequently occurs: guilt, disgust, feelings of failure, feeling and sluggish may lead to futher deterioration of your body image. For some, this may lead to more eating and ultinmately weight gain.

Cut yourself a little slack. Don't expect to be perfect. One day of eating a little off the straight and narrow isn't going to make a difference in the  the whole scope of things. Pre-plan, do the best you can and adopt positive self-talk and practice, practice, practice.

You can break the counter-productive cycle. One way of doing this is using the visualization, or seeing in your mind's eye, how you will go through the event or weekend in a manner that makes you feel joyous. Rehearse in your mind ahead of time how you will feel and act. I also remember how if feels when I overeat. A little negative reinforcement CAN be effective too.

Brainstorm strategies to handle the constant food cues.

Here are some things I do to prepare for Thanksgiving:

In the morning I eat breakfast, such as a high protein shake (see recipe section of my web site).  If I am cooking the dinner, I will have started the previous weekend and made most of the side dishes and tucked them into the freezer to be removed the day before. The evening before I make the stuffing and the things that don't freeze well. This leaves only the turkey to be stuffed and roasted. This reduces the stress of doing everything last minute. I also put a healthy spin on how I prepare the side dishes. After getting the turkey in the oven, I go for a nice long walk.

I try to plan the meal so it's not too late in the day, this reduces the extra snacking from getting over-hungry. If the meal is going to be later in the afternoon, have on hand or bring with you a tray of cut-up fruits and or vegggies.

Drink lots of water and limit the alcohol early on as it may lower your ability to think clearly and make rational decisions.

Don't take a holiday from your food journal. Write down EVERYTHING you eat, your thoughts and feelings. This will help you prepare for the next holiday.

After dinner and some socializing, try to get out for another walk, enjoy the fresh air and maybe the snow if you live in the north. This will give you a chance to reflect on the positive and congratulate yourself for not only surviving, but actually enjoying your holiday.

Wishing your a healthy and happy holiday season!

KJ

I saw this quote on the bottom of an e-mail from a colleague who owns the Hanson Holistic Center in Hanson MA. For more information on services she offers, go to www.hansonholisticcenter.com or www.haven-for-healing.org. Lee-Ann was kind enough to loan me some space so I could run the class Fitting in Getting Fit by kj to introduce women to strength and core balance training. These are very important components of overall fitness that many women are unfamiliar with, afraid of, or simply overlook. Although I have brought up this topic in other posts and articles I have written, its just one part of taking care of your body. Others include: eating a healthy diet, 7-8 hours of restfull sleep each night, managing stress and getting regular aerobic exercise.

When you consider the question "IF YOU DONT'T TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY--WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO LIVE? Is your answer -in a body in which I feel uncomfortable, ashamed of and/or that threatens my health, well-being and quality of life? If any or all of these speak to you, then this next question is "am I ready to change?"

Are you READY TO CHANGE?

I had a woman call me the other day because she read some of my articles in the South Shore Woman's Journal and my ad in South Shore Living Magazine. It took her 6 months from the first time she was introduced to body transformation by kj through the magazine to get ready and then garner the courage to call me.  Readiness is one of the Keys to Success.  There is no point in embarking on a life style change if you are not ready and able to make the commitment to change. So we chatted, discussed her situation, wants and needs, and determined that she IS ready, this is the right time and she can focus on taking charge of her life. Her goals are to get her body where she feels most comfortable and develop the right mind-set and implement to tools to keep her healthy, fit and happy. It's all there within her now, but needs to be pull out, massaged and put to work so she can live in her body with conntentment and joy. I am really looking forward to sharing this journey with her.