Another year, another counter full of stuff that I will absolutely eat and absolutely shame myself for later. Last year we talked it out and figured that if we ate with reckless abandon for every ‘holiday meal’ and even doubled up, it would come out to 12 meals. 12 meals that we blame so many pounds on. But really, the culprit is the endless supply of stuff between meals that doesn’t help our case much.
So, if we know what will be waiting for us, and we know full-well how we’ll act, that leaves us with a couple options:
1. Don’t act that way. Which let’s face it, is probably the best option but also doesn’t do much for keeping balance and actually letting us celebrate our holidays.
2. Develop and commit to an exit strategy.
Find a coach (Hi), find a program, find a system, find something that you’re interested in and will actually look forward to starting once the endless trays of cookies subside. Set your exit strategy and mark it on the calendar. Pick a day that you know is free, block it off, and make that your non-negotiable, hard-start day. Warning: There will be multiple threats and attempts to sabotage this day. Do not.
It’s no secret, that first step, or call, or day is FOR SURE the most difficult. So, make a plan instead of hoping to make the right guess when positive changes are the goal.
I’ll even give you a freebie 3rd way to make sure you’re not just another hollow ‘new year, new me’ post on social media; make your plans and promises public. Definitely the scariest way to go about it but that also means it’s probably one of the most effective. Tell your spouse, tell your friends, co-workers, post about it and put it out there.
Get specific with your intentions. Ditch the vague, “This is the year I’ll lose weight” and go with the, “I’m going to work with Chris Marella, you know, the 4th Shift Fitness guy, to get stronger and drop some pounds. I’ve set a goal for myself and we’ll be working towards it.” Make it mean something. You might be surprised how many people want you to succeed and feel the same way you feel about wanting to escape the holiday slide.
I am one of them.
#BeA4thShifter