New Year Resolutions 

     I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday filled with friends, family, and good food to eat.  If your holiday was not wonderful this year, think about how you can change it for next year.  If you have lost someone, for example, you may want to make some new traditions.  However, this blog is not about the holidays, but about the upcoming year.  So many people make a New Year resolution without any identifiable idea or plan of action about how they will accomplish their goals.  I suggest you contemplate the past year and think about what you would have liked to change about how you live your life.  Make a list and then prioritize the list according to what is most important to you to change.  Try and limit your list to about three behaviors so that you do not overwhelm yourself.  If you accomplish everything on your list you can always add to it.  The goal is to accomplish the list of changes and not have to take something off.  As you make your list and rate it, also think about your life style and whether or not your list would even be doable given the demands on your time.

  Once you have decided on what you want to change, make a list of the realistic ways you might be able to achieve success.  For example, if you want to make your home less cluttered, think about what that means to you, how your home became cluttered to begin with, and what you can realistically do that is different.   Maybe you might have an initial goal of not adding to the clutter and going through and organizing your mail on a daily basis or not throwing anymore clothes on the floor of your bedroom or closet.  Maybe you want to add exercise to your life.  Think about how in shape or out of shape you are, what kind of exercise you might like, and what type of commitment you can really make given your lifestyle and budget.  You might decide to walk at first until you build yourself up in terms of increased stamina before you start a boot camp program.  Rather than join a health club, maybe a 6-week commitment to take an exercise class at the local rec center or YMCA might make more sense.  First find out what exercise you really like, then how to fit it into your budget and your life style.  Losing weight seems to be a very common New Year resolution.  How much do you want to lose and what are you willing to do to lose the weight in a healthy way?  Most of us need some guidance in this area and you may want to start with talking with your Dr.  Read about healthy eating and decide how you will manage this.  How will you change your cooking style, where and when you eat out and what you order when you eat out.  Whatever you decide, do not starve yourself and make yourself feel deprived.  The key to weight loss is healthy eating as part of a life style change that you can maintain and embrace.  Whatever you decide to change, you are in charge of how you do this and what you accomplish.  If you have any questions, visit our web site and ask Dr. Flora.

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