Living a lifestyle with healthy eating and regular exercise is all about patience and perspective. Over the holidays we indulge. Then, at the first of the year, everyone hits the gym. Those of us who go to the gym regularly know the cycle: lots of cars in the parking lot in January and every treadmill occupied followed by fewer cars in February and even less in March. By April the gyms are back to the regulars. I don’t want to sound cynical, but it happens every year.
I hope to inspire you to gain some perspective. If you are feeling a bit thick in the middle then talk a deep breath and make a plan. Do not begin a crazy cleanse program or a high protein/low carb diet or a very low calorie diet (less than 1200 calories). Analyze what you are doing now. Are you exercising regularly? Are you eating extra bites of desserts or candies left over from Christmas? Have you developed the bad habit of eating at night? If your weight has gone up since the cold weather set in, then there is a reason. The solution is to make some small changes to your lifestyle, not start a dramatic weight loss program that you could never follow long-term.
To help you with some perspective find a picture of you from Christmas. If you have 20 pounds to lose, you need to cut out 200 calories every day for a year and you will be at your goal weight next Christmas. The year is going to pass regardless, but you can make changes gradually to get to your goal. The alternative is a winter of starving yourself or exercising so much that by April you never want to see the inside of a gym again. Try something new: approach a healthy lifestyle with patience and perspective. Imagine a picture of you on Christmas next year at your goal weight with a new outlook on healthy living.