Happy New Year everyone! I just want to say a big thank you to all my subscribers, readers and believers of Fresh Menu Planner. I’ve had a pretty successful 2013, and I have big plans for this year, and I am starting to realize what is possible and how I can help people with healthier food choices.
I wanted to talk about New Years resolutions and why I believe a lot of the time they don’t work the way we want them to! I am passionate about healthy eating and wellness, which of course is a very popular topic when the new year comes around. Everyone reflects on how poorly they treated their bodies and they feel bad about themselves, and how this year they are going to change everything. They’ll eat better, exercise more and everything will be great right? As we all know, a lot of the time this doesn’t last very long, and then come the middle of January, you are back to sitting on the couch eating chips and watching TV.
Why does this happen? You make this resolution, get pumped and excited to achieve it. You’ll say things like “I SHOULD eat better”, or “I SHOULD exercise more” and we’ve all been through this. Obstacles come up don’t they? You want to eat breakfast in the morning, but you don’t have time. You want to go get that gym membership, but you’re always working late. You make excuses, end up feeling bad about it, but not bad enough to make the change. We’ve all been there, including me on more than one occasion!
Why does this happen to us? I’m going to talk a bit about Tony Robbins a bit in this post, so forgive me if it gets annoying! Tony of course has devoted his life to finding out what is the difference in the quality of peoples lives. He is the guy that wonders WHY we do what we do.
I found a great YouTube video, and I watch it probably once a week to help me remember why I am on course in my business and health, and making a great life with Heather. Check it out here.
The word “WHY” is very important when you want to decide how you want to live your life. Let’s go back to these New Years resolutions. Most of the time when we make them, they are just made for the moment and not really thought about much after January 1st. After experiencing some of this stuff myself, I’ve decided that your “WHY” must be big enough for you to make the change. If your resolution is to work out every day, decide why you want to. It has to be a deep burning desire. That sounds pretty cheesy, but it’s true. Do you want to feel healthier? Would you like to keep up with your kids? Do you not want to scare your kids with your health?
To give you an example, one of my resolutions this year is to take yoga twice a week on top of my gym routine. I’m sick and tired of being sore all day! I’m only 29, this shouldn’t be happening! I want to change it now. So I’m getting a gym membership that offers yoga classes and get specific about which classes will help my body heal.
It can also get hard with resolutions, because you can have so many. I think this can make it tough to achieve any of them!
Try this exercise out with something you want to change about your life this year.
1. Find out what you want to change. Write it down.
2. Find a big enough WHY to help you make that change. Write that down too! When obstacles show up, you will have a large enough reason why you want to get this goal.
3. Picture yourself in your mind already achieving the goal. Close your eyes and imagine yourself with a six-pack, or feeling healthier, and happier. This also can sound a little cheesy, but try it and really focus on how you want to feel when you get your dreams.
3. If you try something and it doesn’t work, pick a different way. If you want to work out more, maybe lifting weights won’t be what helps you get your goal. Maybe it’s swimming, or playing a sport, or running. There are hundreds of ways to succeed with your goals. It will be your WHY that helps you past the obstacles.
These are all ideas that I have learnt from Tony. I actually bought his Ultimate Edge DVDs and he has amazing material. You can buy it at his website here.
I know this doesn’t really have a lot to do with healthy food. I think its an important piece that everyone should be aware of. Healthy eating is a popular goal after all! Any goal won’t be easy to achieve. Once you do achieve it though, you will get momentum and feel 100 times better than if you failed and gave up or didn’t try at all. I’m no expert on this, but I use it to help me get this website to where I want it to be and I will get it there.
