It's time to hit the reset button with the new year

I’m a health coach and exercise physiologist working with government employees in every imaginable job description. Their health needs and personal goals are as varied as their occupations. But every year about this time, a lot of my clients make a similar request for advice on how to make their New Year’s resolutions permanent.

It’s human nature to make promises to ourselves during the new year. It is a chance to press the reset button on our lives, a chance to get it right this time. Mindfulness is the first step toward positive change. And the start of a new year is a perfect reminder to take mindful stock in ourselves, where we are now and where we want to go.

The formula I’m about to suggest can be applied to making any set of positive changes permanent.

The first thing we have to realize is that we can’t just lose weight and be healthy and happy. No change is an island. Lifestyle is called lifestyle because it’s all about everything. Health is more than not being sick. It’s all about balance. It’s physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and environmental wellbeing. 

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This pie chart is sort of like the wheel of life. When the wheel is in balance, life rolls smoothly. When even one spoke gets out of whack, the wheel wobbles. If enough spokes are out, life becomes a hot mess. Everything affects everything else, but you don’t have to fix it all at once. In fact, trying to make too many changes at once is an express ticket to quitsville. Let’s take a quick look at these pie pieces one by one. It’ll help you come up with a way to balance them that works for you.

Start with one healthy change you’ve been meaning to make, and ease into that. Make that first one something that you know you can accomplish. Something sustainable like I’m going to take a half-hour walk twice a week or I’m going to try whole grain breads till I find one I like and switch to that. Take as much time as you need. When it becomes permanent, start another one the same way. Eventually you’ll never want to go back to your old ways.

Use this as a template. Set one goal at a time. Remember, you’re going for balance and there are a lot of big and small aspects to the spokes in this wheel. Let’s take a look at the basics.

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Move. Fitness equals longevity. The results of a 40-year-old study still hold true. Moderate fitness, ½ hour of moderate cardio exercise 5 days a week, can reduce your risk of premature death by a whopping 50%. Combining that with moderate weight training 3x a week every other day, and stretching the muscles you worked, can make a huge difference in how you feel, how you look, and probably how long you live.

Eat Healthy. The processed food industry has appealed to our love of fat, salt and sugar. They’ve got a lot of us addicted to stuff they call food that’s really little more than good tasting, nutritionally bankrupt junk. Gradually replace old favorite junk foods with healthy foods you actually enjoy eating. The Mediterranean food plan is mostly plant based, with veggies, fruits, whole grains and some lean meats, poultry and fish. It’s considered the healthiest and most delicious food plan on the planet. And there is enough variety to build your own personal cuisine, one you’ll prefer to any old junk food.

Sleep. One in three Americans is sleep deprived according to the CDC. It’s one of the most ignored aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Getting less than seven hours of sleep increases your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression, and yes, obesity. Sleep deprived people tend to overeat. We keep busy schedules but we’ve got to stop stealing sleep time from ourselves and using it for other stuff. This is a tough one. It’s going to take a lot of putting away devices and conscious relaxation. But it’s a bad habit worth breaking. 

Stress. It’s everywhere. It’s a big contributor to sleep deprivation and bad for your longevity. Stress adversely affects all your bodily functions. Chronic stress can kill you. Here again, mindfulness can help. If you realize you’re stressed and what you’re stressed about, you’ll have an easier time putting it in perspective and not letting it eat at you. 

Neuroaesthetics. It’s the study of how our brains react to experiencing art. It’s a fabulous stress reducer and so much more. Music, visual art, crafts, playing an instrument, dancing, singing to the radio, whatever, influences our brain’s cognition, promotes mental health and helps balance the wheel. It stimulates our insight to explore our innermost selves and universal feelings that connect us all to the world. Decorating your home or workplace to make it a comfortable and pleasing place to be is environmental art.

I hope I’ve given you food for thought, perhaps inspiration for change, and maybe the beginnings of a formula you can use to move you toward that new you in the new year.