The newest Weight Watchers commercial features Oprah Winfrey (apparently now WW's El Queso Grande) recounting the details of her decades-long battle of the bulge and finally posing the question, "If not now, when?" Nike constantly urges us to "Just do it." Years ago, I read an Ann Landers advice column in which she encouraged an unhappy, uninspired young woman to seek the help of friends, family, or professionals to deal with her depression, and she concluded with, "Thirty days from now, you could be a happier person or you could be exactly where you are now. What's it going to be?" What's it going to be, indeed.
My twenty years in the fitness business have included twenty Januarys, during which gyms are packed with new year/new you fanatics resplendent in their Christmas gifts of cheerfully colored workout gear, fancy water bottles, and personalized towels. By Valentine's Day, most of them are gone and gyms return to normal, occupied once again by those steadfast exercisers who have made fitness a way of life rather than a temporary annual commitment. I've come to think of New Year's resolutions as diets -- going ON a diet implies that at some point we will be going OFF that diet, and with what result, do you imagine?
Clearly, diets and yearly resolutions don't work. So what does? Based on personal experience and two decades of observation, I believe what works is small changes, baby steps, little differences made in a day, a week, a month, that become lifestyle adjustments and, when combined, eventually result in big changes. Start taking a daily multivitamin, eating a new green vegetable, going for a morning walk, not all at once necessarily, but one at a time, perhaps a new addition each week. The key is consistency. Once you start going for that morning walk, keep on walking. Put it on your calendar and make it a part of your day until it becomes a habit and you can't imagine NOT doing it. At that point, it's part of your lifestyle.
Whether you've been meaning to lose weight, train for a marathon, or eat more mindfully, start now and in thirty days, you could be closer to that goal or you could be exactly where you are now. So what's it going to be? Just do it. And if not now, when? Time + action = change.
May this be your best year yet!
