New You? No Thanks

• By Beth Meirav
• My Blog

Everyone is pitching New Year Resolutions. What are you going to change this year? How are you going to improve yourself? Perhaps you even put off some goals you thought of accomplishing because the new year was looming. Well, it's here folks and what's the plan?

I don't love the word "resolution". Those tend to fail. The whole "new you" thing is unnecessary. You don't need to become a new person. The old you is just fine. Perhaps with a few tweaks the old you can be even better!

Let's start by making a list of your habits...the good, the bad and the ugly. In my office I sit down with clients and discuss their habits on sleep, grocery shopping, cooking, exercise, water intake, food intake, caffeine, alcohol and more. Make a list of what you are doing currently.

Now let's take that list and see what we have to work with. Let's just start with one thing. One little tweak you can make this week that can have a significant positive impact on your life.

I will give you an example. I have noticed that many of my clients have not meal planned prior to coming to me. They perhaps had no idea what they were going to make for dinner that night. Perhaps this describes you as well? At some point you end up:

1. grabbing takeout
2. getting groceries after work, then having to cook and ultimately eating a late dinner
3. eating out

Perhaps a good goal for you would be to plan your meals for the week (Monday to Thursday would be a reasonable goal). Make a list of what you need for these meals and then go to the store and get the ingredients. You are now guaranteed at least 4 days of healthy meals that you made yourself so you know what's in them.

That was a simple change that will make your work week much easier and will impact your health as well. You don't need to become a "new you", but you just created a new habit that can lead to a healthier you.

What else did you notice that could use some tweaking on your list? This is your body, your life, your goals. Figure out what could use a little adjustment and get started.

You will be amazed at how easy the tweaks can be once you start. Just take that first step!