Ah, New Year Resolutions. As a trainer (and now a dietitian), I've learned to relish in the income that comes with this time of year. It's a time when new faces come into the gym, or somewhat familiar faces make it in more often. There is a hint of fresh workout apparel in the air and my clients have a bit more pep in their step.
Some people want to lose weight (with over 50% of our country overweight or obese, I would hope that this would be a common resolution). Others want to quit smoking. Eat better. Get more sleep. Drink less coffee.
I'll share my Resolutions with you (The first five are repeats from previous years that I still need to work on)
1) Continue to perfect my chin-up/pull-ups
2) Be girly. (Ambiguous, I know, but this is also extended from last year - this year I got my first manicure, pedicure, massage, and facial! Wowza).
3) Curse less. (Not sure how long ago this one came into play, but I still swear like a sailor).
4) Drink less (Always a good goal).
5) Sleep more.
6) Learn to say "No. I'm taking the day off." to clients (This is my new one).
The good news? These are all tangible things. You and I CAN do any (or all) of these. What's the probability of doing them on your own, without any help? I'm no statistics major, but I'd take a guess that it's not too high. The thing that large groups such as Weight Watchers or Alcoholics Anonymous have going for them is support. It's a community of people fighting for the same goal.
The bad news? These resolutions are complete bullcrap. Actually, I love/hate them in the same way that I love/hate Valentine's Day or Sweetest Day or any other made up holiday for the sake of commercial gain and emotional toll. You get your hopes up - this is the year that your boyfriend is going to get you a huge, beautiful array of flowers and take you to a fancy restaurant. He's going to surprise you with cheesy "I Love You" balloons at work, and send you a sappy email card. Ahhh..yes, this is the year. Yeah. Right. The reality is that you'll be conned into cooking dinner as usual while he grunts about nothing being on TV except terrible chick-flicks for some reason.
The boyfriend has a point, though. Valentine's Day is a cop out for horrible boyfriends who don't do anything nice during the year. They cheat on their girlfriends or don't express their love 364 days of the year, and then on Valentine's Day they buy a huge stuffed teddy bear with some chocolates and hope that she won't find out.
It's the same thing with New Year Resolutions. Society tells us that we can eat whatever we want, exercise as little as we want, because next year is a new year and you can always make a new resolution to do the same thing.
So here is my tip on how to make this year's resolution the best resolution ever: Don't make it a resolution. Make it a lifestyle. Don't "resolve" to do it, just do it.
Questions? Comments? Email me!
rachel@stepupfns.com
