Welcome to 2013!  It’s a new year and for many, a chance to turn over a new leaf.  Resolutions abound–what are yours?  If weight loss happens to be on your radar, I’ve got a great series of posts coming your way in 2013.  Stay tuned for delicious (and waistline-friendly) recipes, weight loss tips, and strategies for dealing with those ever present obstacles we all face.

Speaking of which, let’s begin with a common obstacle that hits many hopefuls right out of the gates…

You want to change, but you’re overwhelmed by how long it will take to reach your goal.

If you find yourself needing to lose more than 5 or 10 pounds, it can be a bit daunting to embark on what is sure to be a challenging journey.  No doubt, this will be an endurance event.  The question is, can you stick with it long enough to reach your goal?  One helpful trick for dealing with long-term goals is to set smaller, easier to attain goals along the way.  Not only will this meet your need for a bit of quick gratification, but it will also give you the opportunity (excuse) to reward yourself.  For example, if you have 30 pounds to lose, set 5-pound milestones.  Each time you lose a fiver, treat yourself with something that will enhance your continued weight loss efforts, like some new music, or that Vino and Vinyasa class you’ve been dying to try.

The changes you choose to make will also determine how easy or arduous the journey is.  Yeah, you could live off broiled chicken, brown rice, and broccoli for the next 6 months, but what sort of life is that?  And how will you maintain those painfully-earned results?  There is a reason most people can only last for a few weeks on these extremely restrictive plans.  If you’re truly in this for the long haul–that is, you really want to change your life–you need to make changes you can live with.  In fact, a good test for any change you’re considering is to ask whether you’re doing it just to lose weight or if this is a change worth making permanently.  Make a list of such worthy changes and, one by one, begin incorporating them into your lifestyle.  As the weeks and months go by, you’ll not only lose the pounds but you’ll also be creating a new way of living that supports your new physique.

Finally, as you get started with your goal, it’s always helpful to get some perspective.  As you sit there wondering whether you have what it takes to go the distance, ask yourself one simple question:  If you knew that one year from now–after all the work and diligence and perseverance–you’d have reached your goal, would it all be worth it?  For some, this question becomes a transformative mantra because they know that one year is a small price to pay for shedding the weight and changing their lives.  One year is a small investment compared to how you will feel at the finish line.

Lifestyle change is never easy, but if the change is worth making, the rewards will be sweet!  Best wishes in 2013!

Maureen Boswell - Maureen Fraîche