Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Fall is here in my part of the world. The nights are cold, hoodie sweatshirts are perfect attire for the day, crackling bonfires light the weekends, and the leaves are holding their annual colorfest. So as I see this change in season, it reminds me that winter is around the corner. And with winter, the dreaded New Year's Eve resolution.

I HATE New Year's Eve resolutions! I understand the rationale....a new beginning, a new chance to start over, a new outlook on life. I've held several of my own. Aside from the statistics that show the majority of us don't stick with those resolutions (including myself!), I think there's something to be said for NOT feeling forced to make a change in our lives just because everyone else is! Hopefully, we should act upon changing when the need is there - not wait for a particular time of the year to fit it in!

That said, don't put off tomorrow what can be done today! If you've been feeling the need to change your fitness and health habits, do it NOW. Don't wait for January 1. There truly IS no time like the present. Start slow - don't conquer the world in one day - but by all means, start! Quit beating yourself up for your past mistakes, for making past decisions that put you where you are today, and instead, grab hold of today and tomorrow. Choose today to continue living the way you have in the past, or make a course correction and grab hold of a different future.

My father used to say that I could have the "world by it's tail." That I could "do anything I wanted." To an extent, some of that is true. So why not grab hold of the true part?! Yes, we all make daily decisions. So take those daily decisions you make, in particular those having to do with your fitness and health, and begin to make different ones - better ones. Again, you don't have to conquer this mountain at once. Mt. Everest is climbed by putting one foot in front of the other. Choose ONE thing today that you will change in your lifestyle choices, and DO it. Do it that way today, tomorrow, and the next. Think simple things: Take the stairs instead of elevator. Park farther away in the parking lot; don't waste 10 minutes circling for that close spot when you could walk for only two minutes from a further spot. Don't put food in your mouth after 7 p.m.....not even popcorn or cereal! Drink an extra glass of water than what you're used to. Pack a bag of carrots in your lunch. Walk 30 minutes. Hide the remote or better yet, give it to a neighbor for a set amount of time for safe keeping, but tell them not to give it to you, even when you come begging with a plate of brownies as a bribe! And when you feel you've made your one change well enough over a bit of time, pick the next modification you can make. On and on it goes, until over time, you realize that you have indeed kept to a "resolution." Remember, slow and steady wins the race!

One other word of encouragement: Try picking one "food/nutrition" habit and one "exercise/get your body in motion" habit to modify. That way, you'll work on both aspects of health (nutrition and exercise) to produce a healthier YOU.

START TODAY!