What's the most popular new year's resolution?

If you had to guess what do you think the most popular new year’s resolution would be? 

It's not to quit smoking, or reduce alcohol intake although those two do make it into the top 10.

The number 1 new year’s resolution year after year is.......

To lose weight.

Personally I am not surprised. It made my list on numerous occasions, mainly with some specific weight loss target attached to it like 15lbs. I'm not even sure why I would pick that number. Did I ever finish any year 15lbs down? Nope. Even if I had lost it I know it wouldn't have been sustainable. Setting goals in this way comes with negative connotations and when you do that you really are destined for failure. The goal is all about the pursuit of weight loss, not how you go about achieving it. So if you are anything like how I was that means an obsession with cardio to burn calories and an obsession with what is going in the body and calorie restriction. Mentally it’s just not a good place to be.

If you are serious about wanting to lose weight you need to look at the process behind it rather than focus on a number.

Some things that helped me.

1.       Recognize that your self-worth is not dictated by what you look like, how much you weigh or what bikini you can shimmy yourself into. You’re way more complex and interesting than that. 

2.       Make the shift from  weight loss to overall healthy lifestyle. By switching up goals and achieving them weight loss simply becomes a by-product of how you are living.

3.       Ditch the negative chat. Always beating up on yourself and picking out your flaws and things that you hate about yourself is just going to make you downright miserable. Not everyone can look the same. It’s just impossible with different body types. Find things that you like about yourself and focus on those.

4.       Cut out (or down for baby steps!) on all processed food. Even if the packaging tries to lure you into the sense of security that it is healthy if it is manufactured steer clear. Instead eat whole foods, fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

5.       Don’t drink your calories. Cut down on soda and alcohol. Alcohol is hard for people to give up but be aware that it’s not just the extra calories that are present in alcohol that lead to weight gain. Consumption of alcohol inhibits self-control when it comes to food. Most importantly it has a different metabolic reaction in our body. Our bodies are always looking for the easiest source of fuel. When we absorb alcohol our bodies use it as its major source of energy. That means anything you have eaten will likely get stored as fat.

6.       Increase water consumption. You should be aiming to drink half your body weight in oz. So if you are 140lb aim to drink 70oz of water a day.

7.       Get educated on what you are eating

o    Not all calories are created equal. A 100 calorie banana is very different to a 100 calories snack bag of cookies. Food is absorbed into your blood and impacts cell function and creation. That bag of cookies may be the same calorie content but it is not going to aid in any overall health benefit to your body.

o    Read ingredient labels. It’s not just about fat and calories, look at the sugar content. I cannot emphasize how many products have sugar in them, even ones that you assume are healthy. Get savvy on how much sugar you are consuming. 

o    The other thing you should look out for? Portion size on a label. Quite often a label will tell you the calories and fat which you assume is for the whole product – but the product is actually 2 or 3 servings so you need to double or triple the numbers you are reading! Suddenly your snack doesn’t seem so appealing anymore.

8.       Reduce the amount of food that you purchase versus making yourself. You can control portion size and content which are important factors in weight loss. Other people aren’t going to do that for you.

9.       You need to weight train to lose weight, tone up and change your body shape. Just doing cardio obsessively won’t help you drop a dress size at all.

10.    Be grateful. There is way more to life than your weight (unless it is having an impact on your health). Change your perspective and maybe your view on your weight will change too.