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January 2009
New Year Resolutions
It's that time of year again - the New Year's Resolution (NYR). I believe that everyday is the first day of the rest of your life but that five to 10 pound holiday weight gain can be a motivator for making serious changes on New Year's Day. So here's to adding a little gusto to the old saying, "out with the old, in with the new"!
January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar to reflect the seasons. The first month of the year was named after Janus, the god of beginnings. He was depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back, making it possible to look both back at the old year and forward to the New Year. At this time, Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and exchanged coins imprinted with the god Janus. So, start this New Year with a clean slate. Guilt is not an essential nutrient.
I resorted to the internet to see what appears for a little motivation. The first Google result was Jim Randel's book of "The Skinny on Willpower". He tells a story of happily married Beth and Billy who are Stick People. Billy is writing his NYR to lose 10 pounds. Being stick people, it is easy to see his 10 pound paunch. Beth thinks he won't be able to "stick" to it because Billy won't be able to give up marshmallows. Isn't that always the case, the people around you can see failure before you can. I think it does help to point out that will power helps but long term success needs a change of heart.
The second NYR Google result was "ThinkTQ" by a motivational company with lots of tests, products, and steps to help you figure out what you are doing right, wrong, and what you need to do differently. You don't have to pay $120 to begin to think about how you can make decisions for health. The bottom line is that nothing changes until something changes.
So, what are you doing now that you could replace to save calories? You have to save 3,500 calories to lose one pound of body fat. Get the information from food labels, on line (www.fitday.com), or a book such as.
| Now | Replace with | Saves |
| Sugared beverage (140 Cals) | Drink water | 140 Calories |
| French Fries (300 Cals) | Baked potato (200 Cals) | 100 Calories |
| Chocolate Cake (360 Cals) | Fruit (100 Cals) | 260 Calories |
| Drive a mile (0 Cals) | Walk a mile (100 Cals) | +100 Calories |
| | 500 Calories |
If you made these changes (500 Calories), you would lose a pound in a week. There is tremendous power to small changes over time. Every day you make hundreds of food/exercise decisions. So much of what we do is by habit, so be intentional and creative to come up with your list of very specific goals which will put calories in the bank.
If you have read many of these short articles, you already know that my weakness is cookies. So, a reasonable NYR for me is to stop buying cookies. Think about the foods that are your greatest weakness and come up with a strategy for a NYR you can conquer.
Exercise is always a resolution worth keeping. Be realistic and begin with walking 20 minutes. Gradually increase to an hour several times a week. Sometimes it helps to have a goal in mind. How about getting in shape to walk/run the Ravenel Bridge on the first weekend in April? Find a buddy and make sure your activity is fun! See you on the bridge every Saturday at 9 a.m.!
Happy New Year (English), Chu Shen Tan (Chinese), Bonne Annee (French), Prosit Neujahr (German), S Novim Godom (Russian), Feliz Ano Neuvo (Spanish).
To find out more about the Lean Team, visit our website at www.musc.edu/leanteam or give us a call at (843) 579-4316.
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Mary Joan
Lean Team |
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