Let’s think about why these diet and exercise resolutions fail so quickly. First, we start these goals on New Year’s Day which immediately sets us up for failure. More than likely we have spent NYE drinking and you know you need a greasy burger and something deep fat fried to soak up the extra alcohol still in your stomach, not whole grains and veggies. I am all for quinoa, but not on New Year’s Day. Plus we have just come off of the eating frenzy known as Christmas. We have made merry. We have eaten and drank with abandon and our bodies now really like and expect cookies, candy, cheese, fancy appetizers and more. They want it to be washed down with wine and beer and drinks. They do. And when we don’t give it to them, our bodies get mad. They growl, they make us feel weak and headachy, not strong and healthy. So we break down and give them chocolate. We give them wine. And then we feel better. All except my sister-in-laws in Canada who are half-way through a 30 day juice cleanse and made of stronger stuff than me. As well as my sister and cousin who apparently only eat one square of Ghirardelli chocolate a day. My cousin says that the wrappers deter her from eating another one. I can see how it would slow you down, but not deter. Plus if you use your teeth to open the wrapper, you are one step closer to the chocolate inside!
Next, January is a cold month. A sit-by-the-fire month, not a get-up-and-get-walking month. I enjoyed that recent “polar vortex” we all went through because it only got down to the 30’s here and that was at night. However, for those of you up north in the bitter, bitter cold I imagine it was not as enjoyable. I also imagine that you did not come in from shoveling your driveway and reach for some cold carrot sticks. You went for a hot beverage. Or a big bowl of stew, chili, soup and bread hot from the oven. Yum! That is what a body needs after shivering all day. And a cookie too.
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| Brrr! |
For you northerners, January is a dark month. What do you get up there, two or three hours of daylight right now? There is nothing sadder than leaving the house in the dark and coming home when it is dark. This does not lend itself to your new exercise goals, does it? You are not going to go to the gym after work. You are going to come home and put on your pajama pants and a pot of tea. And what goes well with tea? Cookies.
I think we would all be a lot happier if we made January "Little Steps Month" instead. We don’t need to lose 10 pounds this month. We could just try to eat a little less. You don’t have to join a gym with a million other people and wait in line for a stair stepper. Just walk your dogs, or your kids, one night a week. Or sit on the floor during commercials and do sit-ups or push-ups or planks until your show comes back on. Little steps, little steps. We can do that! And then we can feel accomplished which will keep us motivated. If we are motivated, we might try another small thing and then one smaller thing and we will keep being successful. This will be very important come March when the weather gets nice and we start wearing shorts and exposing our legs to the world again. (And shaving.) Razors in March, swimsuits come May, the pressure will be on and we will rise to the challenge. However, for January with its cold and dark and February with its diabolical Valentine’s celebration, let’s just take small steps and feel accomplished. Who’s with me?
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