Diet Free New Year’s Resolution

It’s coming up on the New Year and we are wondering whether making a resolution to lose weight this coming year will work any better than it has in the past? Are we tired of committing to get healthy and then beating ourselves up because when the next New Year’s rolls around we are in the same (or worse) shape than the year before?

I am going to suggest something new and exciting for this New Year’s Eve. A resolution you can make and then excitedly re-affirm every New Year’s Day for the rest of your life. How does this sound?

“My New Year’s Resolution is to be diet resolution free for this year.”

But what if I do want to lose weight? What if I am not at the weight I want to be? What if I need to lose weight, get healthy, stop eating harmful foods etc?

What if instead of focusing on dieting (deprivation) we decided to focus on creating a healthy lifestyle? What a concept! To improve our health, we do not always need to be removing things from our life. It can be more rewarding and more fun to add things to our life, for example:

1. I am going to try one new fruit or vegetable each week.

2. I will add 5 minutes of walking to what ever other physical activity I am now doing.

3. I will add 8 more ounces of water each day.

4. I will set aside 5 minutes to write down what I am grateful for to my body.

5. I will find one support partner to take this journey with who motivates and inspires me.

Get the picture? Getting to our ideal weight and maintaining it, improving our health, eating better and getting more exercise can all be handled by adding healthy habits to our life. As we add more and more of these habits, the unhealthy ones slowly and naturally get pushed out of our lives.

One of my biggest personal demons has always been diet soda. I honestly believed it was one habit I would not be able to change. For the ten months I did the Optifast Program and did not eat one bite of food; more often than not I was mixing my shake powder with diet soda. How seriously I was hooked on cola became very clear when I made a deal with my son that if he did not eat meat, I would not drink soda. I was mortified and humiliated when I caught myself “sneaking” diet pop. Yikes, what is up with that?

So instead of saying I was going to stop drinking it, I decided to order water to drink when I was eating out instead of soda. I did not even entertain the thought of giving it up, just trying something else sometimes. It has been 7 months since I’ve had any soda now and I am honestly amazed at myself. The secret was not in eliminating (taking something away from me) but in adding in another choice.

What healthy choice can you add to your lifestyle today to create more health in your life? Share with me.

About the Author:
Judi Finneran, a graduate of Chapman University, holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology. As one of the 40 Founding Coaches with Team Beachbody, Judi offers complimentary weight loss and fitness coaching. As the former Queen of the Weight Lost and Found Department, Judi brings over 25 years of real life experience to supporting you in changing your life and creating a healthy lifestyle. You can learn more about Judi at www.judifinneran.com; www.shakethefatoff.com and www.beachbodycoach.com/judifinneran.

DISCLAIMER: The information and opinions reflected in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect on the publisher, editor, or editorial staff of Women’s Online Magazine. This article has been written and reviewed by the author. Any errors should be brought to the attention of the author.

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1 Comment So Far.

1. 

   Comment by tophealthofferswizard on 14 December 2009:

   I quite agree. Sometimes I think even the words diet or resolution can scare you before you start. It’s usually just about finding what works best for you - be that a weight loss program or an exercise program but the key is to keep trying. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!

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