New Years Resolutions

I will start out by saying I am not a fan of these. It is not because I fail at them or that I give up. I actually always follow through with anything I start (Hello losing 50 pounds and becoming a healthy beast). Anyway back to the topic at hand New Years Resolutions. What are these strange things that people decide to do every year that they never stick with? Here are my tips for sticking with a life change in general not just a resolution you decided to do for 2016.

(WARNING- I will use weight loss through out this post as my primary example as it is something I have experience in) 

1. Pick something doable- 
What do I mean by this? Pick something that is not going to be so drastic a life change that you cannot apply it to your life. You want to pick something manageable. You want to lose weight start with a small goal 5 pounds and work your way up.

2. Baby steps-
Do not go 110% in or you will burn yourself completely out and be so over your resolution. Start small and apply those changes. Keep adding till you completely get all the changes applied. A good example is my weight loss plans. I started in July 2014 by logging everything I was eating and walking my dog everyday. I did this for like a month and then started making changes to my diet and exercise. You have to see what you need to change before you can really change anything. Once I saw what was in my food I could make healthier substitutions. For example do you know that simply Heinz ketchup has 65 calories per tablespoon compared to normal Heinz that has 140!

3. It takes at least a month for something to become a habit-
I could not agree with this statement more. Sticking to a resolution is going to take time for it to start to feel like normal life. It is going to feel strange to change your life. I mean it still feels strange to order water instead of a giant soda when I go out. Stay with it though and you will be really happy in the end.

4. People are going to sabotage  you-
They do not always mean to do this but it will happen trust me. Trying to quit smoking? Someone will try to get you to smoke with them. Trying to lose weight? Come on you are skinny already eat a cheeseburger. When you make changes to your life others are forced to change or take a look at their life and it will make them uncomfortable. Try to be prepared and learn to say no.

5. DO not give up- 
There will be times when you feel like giving up. There was a time that my weight was fluctuating a lot and it freaked me out. I wanted to give up but I did  not do that because there is no end game. When you decide to make a resolution the goal should be for life not till next year.  Stay strong my friends and focused and there is nothing you cannot do.

Everyone is of course at this point wondering what my resolution is this year. It is to have better communication with others my spouse included.

Happy New Year!

Until next time~
XoXo Emily