We hope you are having a wonderful first couple weeks of the year. The new year is a refreshing time to reflect on 2018 and look forward to what you'd like to see come in 2019. We have spoken to many of you regarding your resolutions and goals for 2019 and are so very excited to be able to watch you start or continue to make these changes.
Change can be a touchy thing, however. Sudden or intense changes in your patterns can put your body and brain in a stressful state where it feels threatened. When threatened, we can enter a fight-, flight- or freeze-mode. FIGHT might look like we're proceeding with a change but it may not bring happiness and our bodies fight the process of developing the new habit. FLIGHT might look like we're running in the complete opposite direction of a resolution. For example, if a resolution was maintaining a specific nutrition plan, flight might be eating worse than before. FREEZE might look like no change is happening at all. In order to help prevent yourself [or someone you know] from entering a threatened place, it is crucial to have a plan for your resolution; a plan for your new habits.
After spending the early part of a new year making conscious decisions and creating healthy change, many resolutions can dissolve when we relax and have reason to celebrate [say, a birthday or a promotion or successfully completing 30-days of a strict nutrition plan], and then the motivation to return to the good habits is low or not there at all. You may also have less accountability come February or March than in January and it might feel easy to slip into a day or two [or three or ten...] straying from your newly-developed good habits. It can be easy to lose sight of your new resolutions without a plan to get back onboard. As Coaches, we often see a need to develop a strategy on how to enjoy your relaxed meals/days and how still how to get back on track.
With that in mind, it's not only important to have a plan for what your resolution may be, but also how to shape it to maintain a sustainable lifestyle where you can be spontaneous, enjoy new foods, be relaxed and not worry about losing sight of or progress toward your goals.
With a strict nutrition challenge or a kicka** new habit to start the new year, it's important to develop your "exit strategy" as you complete your big effort; this strategy helps us establish a plan for maintaining progress while "living a little" :) Check out the quick video below from Coach Steff for more on that topic.
Step by Step
Congrats! You're starting a new habit based on the repetition of the changes you're making day-to-day toward a healthy goal.
Plan cheats Life happens, things come up and sometimes you're going to splurge. But more often than not, you know when relaxed days/"cheat meals" might be approaching [your mom's birthday is the same day, every year!]
Purge the pantry By preparing your home to be a safe place without the temptation to cheat, you're setting yourself up to meet step 2. Remove remaining items that are not a part of your plan. [That does not mean eat it, rather give it away or throw it away.]
Check your calendar If your biggest challenge is making time to lift, look ahead at your calendar for the next few weeks noticing the tougher and lighter days in your schedule. If your week is whack, talk to your coach about an alternative way to make your workouts happen.
Have a recovery plan Yum! Cheat/rest/relaxed meal happened... enjoy what you can but that next day, get back in the gym. Start meal prepping again. It's time to kickstart the routine once more - the longer you wait the harder it will be to restart. The exit strategy is more a strategy on how to leave the CHEAT behind and get back to your healthy choices.
Who's on Your Support Team Finding an accountability partner, or someone with whom you can share your goals and talk about your hurdles to meeting them, will help build your support network. They should be able to discuss your plans, anticipate your cheat day and help keep you accountable to get back on track after your day of celebration.
Be nice to yourself Please don't beat yourself up! If you haven't watched the "Getting Back on Track" video, check that out!
Resolutions are meant to be challenging. If they were not, then the process would not be so rewarding in the end. If you have not made a strategic plan for your resolutions and need some help, please feel free to ask. If you have your plan and it is in place, stick to it!
Our goal for next year is to not make the same resolutions as we did this year.