Instead of making a resolution to do things to improve our health, how about calling it a commitment?
The definition of resolution is: a decision to do something or to behave in a certain manner
The definition of a commitment is: A pledge, promise or affirmation of agreement
We need to commit to our health the way we do to other important things in our lives.
When you get married, do you say "I will TRY to honor and love you or MAYBE I will love and honor you?" When you go to a job interview, do you tell them you will TRY to do a good job or Maybe you will get to work on time? Of course not.
Our words are powerful and if we continually say we will TRY to eat better or MAYBE I will workout today, then we are not truly committing to it and we set ourselves up to fall.
It is time to commit to something that is just as important as our commitments to our loved ones and our jobs. Your health is worth committing to, so instead of resolving to have better health, let's have New Years Commitments: to pledge and promise to do what we say we are going to do and make those commitments specific and detailed. Write them out and post them on your fridge as a daily reminder. Remember that where you are today is where your mind put you and where you will be tomorrow is where your mind put you!
Don't sweat if a size 6 doesn't fit. Try your own size instead.
Health experts will tell you that the present American/European ideal body shape is a combination of slenderness and athleticism and that the media exploits this image by bombarding men and women with the messages that they have to have this ideal body to be happy and attractive. We put numbers in our head for example women tend to think 125lbs or less is ideal and shoot for these unrealistic goals when in fact, their body was not designed to weight that little.
I am 140lbs and only 5'4" and therefore considered by the world to still be overweight. But I assure you, according to my measurements and my dress size, I am far from overweight.
Billy Blanks gives this wonderful example of how we are not to set unrealistic goals for ourselves. A woman with a size 9 shoe and a woman with a size 6 shoe switch their shoes. They both try to get the wrong size shoes to fit and cannot. God didn't make the size 9 woman to fit in a size 6 so it will never fit and unless she cuts her foot off, it never will. So for her to expect to wear a size 6 is not realistic and will only bring her continued discouragement if she tries to make it fit.
The key here is to focus on healthy eating and an overall healthy lifestyle along with exercise and once that is achieved, your body will change into the size it was designed to be. We cannot let the media or the scale dictate to us what is the correct or desirable size. I no longer agree with the old method of measuring BMI because of this because it does not take into account your muscle, body shape, etc. I encourage you to use the new system to get your true BMI based on measurements. Check out this article on finding your true weight.
This is yet another area where we must change our mind to not think the way the world thinks. Let your final size/weight be a guessing game for now and just focus on doing the right things.
