{"id":327,"date":"2019-12-28T13:05:09","date_gmt":"2019-12-28T18:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=327"},"modified":"2020-06-08T09:12:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T13:12:36","slug":"setting-a-new-years-resolution-follow-my-10-steps-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/2019\/12\/28\/setting-a-new-years-resolution-follow-my-10-steps-to-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting a New Year\u2019s resolution? Follow my 10 steps to success"},"content":{"rendered":"
January 1 often brings a mix of feelings, including a sense of renewal and motivation to make positive changes in our lives. For those of us who struggle with weight (and who might have overindulged during the holiday season, maybe even starting as early as Halloween), making a New Year\u2019s resolution with the meta goal of creating a healthier body (often via weight loss) in the new year is familiar. Yet, how often have you attacked that goal with fervor for a few days or weeks, only to veer off the path toward a \u201chealthier you\u201d within the first few weeks or months\u2026 and then just give up entirely? You\u2019re not alone: in a\u00a0survey of over 12,000 women<\/a>, about 50% of women in all weight classes reported having weight loss as a New Year\u2019s resolution over the prior 2 years, and the majority of such women reported having made 2-5 annual attempts to lose weight.<\/p>\n Hundreds of studies<\/a>\u00a0have looked at goal setting and achievement, and found that specific and concrete goals are more motivating (and lead to more effort and goal pursuit, and thereby more success) than more vague goals.<\/p>\n For example, a goal to \u201close weight\u201d is quite abstract, and is really more of a dream than a goal. The goal to \u201close 100 pounds\u201d is more specific, but still somewhat vague in that there is no clear plan or end point specified. The goal to \u201close 5 pounds by February 1\u201d is much more specific, and can be broken up into even more concrete \u201csubordinate\u201d goals which essentially serve as the plan for exactly what to do and how to do it. For example, specific subordinate goals intended to get you to that 5 pounds weight loss might be to \u201ceat a serving of vegetables or fresh fruit before each meal,\u201d \u201cstop drinking sugar-sweetened beverages,\u201d or \u201cwalk to and from work every day for the next 4 weeks.\u201d These types of goals are the key to success, and are often referred to as SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Research has shown that having a clear attainable end point in relatively close proximity significantly increases motivation and goal pursuit. But focusing entirely on the smaller more concrete goals can be demotivating over time \u2013 after all, the vision that you have of yourself and your life after you achieve the big-picture goal that is driving you to make these smaller changes, right? Without that meaningful meta goal, or \u201csuperordinate\u201d goal, you are much less likely to actually stick to the smaller subordinate goals. The big picture superordinate goal represents your ultimate achievement \u2014 what you really value and aspire to. It provides context for those smaller, achievable goals. If each small subordinate goal is a stepping stone in a dark tunnel of effort, you want to be able to see the light \u2014 the ultimate superordinate goal \u2014 at the end of that tunnel to keep you motivated to keep trudging through.<\/p>\n So here is my advice for how to best lay out your New Year\u2019s resolution for 2020 if your goal is one that you\u2019d like to stick with long-term and actually achieve. (If you\u2019d like to see an example of my own, I\u2019ll include it at the very bottom.)<\/p>\n Sit down with a pen and paper and give yourself 15-30 minutes to hand-write your responses to each of the following questions:<\/p>\n Repeat step 4 until your original goal is connected with who you want to be, with something that will make your life truly meaningful \u2014 something that feels immensely powerful to you. Try to make it a positive, motivating statement (\u201cI want to live to see my beautiful grandchildren grow up\u201d) rather than a negative or self-deprecating one (\u201cI want to stop feeling so tired and unhappy with my appearance\u201d). Positive visions are more likely to drive identity-congruent positive actions.<\/p>\n There are a few days left before we enter a new decade, and I, for one, will be one of those people with the New Year\u2019s resolution to lose weight. My goal is to reach 135 pounds by April 1, which will put me right in the middle of the normal BMI range for my height. I\u2019m committed to this resolution this year.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s with me?<\/p>\n See you in 2020! MY OWN GOAL-SETTING EXERCISE:<\/span><\/p>\n January 1 often brings a mix of feelings, including a sense of renewal and motivation to make positive changes in our lives. For those of us who struggle with weight (and who might have overindulged during the holiday season, maybe even starting as early as Halloween), making a New Year\u2019s resolution with the meta goal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drjenkerns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\n<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nLove, Jen<\/p>\n
\n\n
\nI want to achieve my dream weight.<\/li>\n
\nI want to lose 12 pounds (and reach 135 pounds) by April 1, 2020.<\/li>\n
\nI feel really great both physically and emotionally when I am lighter. My health is better when I am lighter. My bad back will worsen with extra weight, and I am at high risk of developing Alzheimer\u2019s Disease based on my family history.<\/li>\n
\nI had Graham at an older age, and am almost 46 years old as he just turned 3. He is an only child and I want to preserve my own health as long and best as possible to enjoy watching him grow up and to spare him (for as long as possible) the responsibility of helping care for me in my old age. I hope to see him partner up and experience the joy of having children of his own one day, so that I can experience the joy of watching him parent and the joy of being a grandparent.<\/li>\n
\nI will lose 6 pounds by February 1 (goal weight 141), then another 4 pounds by March 1 (goal weight 137), then the final 2 pounds by April 1 (dream weight: 135).<\/li>\n
\nKeep a basic food journal and note how physically hungry I am on the hunger scale from -10 to +10 before and after every eating occasion; only eat when physically hungry (a -2 or hungrier) and stop eating by a +4; fast each morning until lunch and stop eating by 7pm; all eating occasions sitting down and without distractions so as to eat mindfully (no eating while surfing the \u2018net, working at my desk, standing in the kitchen, etc.); eat no added sugar until I reach my goal weight; eat no flour-based foods such as bread or pasta until I reach my goal weight; continue working out on the elliptical for at least 30 minutes each morning at least 6 days per week; guided meditation at least 10 minutes on at least 5 days each week to train myself in mindfulness; get to bed by 9pm each night and prioritize > 7 hours of sleep; stop drinking alcohol entirely until I reach my goal weight; eat no nut butter (my go-to treat that I tend to overeat when I am off sugar!); intentionally leave food uneaten on my plate at least one meal per day to practice stopping when I am satisfied rather than automatically finishing my plate; meal plan\/prep each weekend for the coming week to make food decisions ahead of time with my prefrontal cortex and avoid allowing my primitive brain to dictate food on the fly<\/li>\n\n
\nObstacles and solutions:<\/p>\n\n
\nObstacles and solutions:<\/p>\n\n
\nObstacles and solutions:<\/p>\n\n