It’s Never too Late to Start Your New Year’s Resolution
Most health and wellness experts agree that New Year’s resolutions to get healthy come to an abrupt halt around mid-February. All those good intentions get sidetracked by the business of life and reverting back to old habits.
What’s it take to get us up and moving?
Pure and simple motivation, which is demonstrated merely by taking the initiative to start.
What’s it take to stick with it?
Good health doesn’t happen to us accidentally. It takes thoughtful consideration and consistent daily practice of healthy behaviors until they become ingrained daily habits. Research demonstrates that the formation of a new habit requires daily repetition of an activity, preferably at the same time, for an average of 66 days.
Melanie Lane MD, author of The 9 Daily Habits of Healthy People, joined the wellness tribe when she changed her life. She says about her pre-wellness life:
“I was 40 pounds heavier than I am today. I hate whatever i carved in large quantities and exercised only when trudging up the stairs to my apartment. I slept too much, drank too much, and was failing at pretty much everything. My depression consumed me. I hate a choice to make: self-destruct or open my mind to the possibility that a greater purpose existed for my life and be willing to accept direction from someone else.
Fast forward to today: I am in my early forties and weigh less than I did when I graduated college. I genuinely enjoy eating nutrition food and feel satisfied with reasonable portions. I enthusiastically look for opportunities to physically, mentally, and emotionally challenge myself. I occasionally enjoy one glass of wine with my dinner and can confidently say that my depression has been in remission for years."
I achieved all of this without fad diets, expensive exercise equipment, or selling my soul to the devil, and i have maintained my present weight and healthy lifestyle for over a decade.
I know what behaviors most correlate with longevity and wellness. I know how to help people get unstuck and achieve their dreams. And most importantly, I know just how hard personal growth can be, because i have walked and continue walking that path myself.”
Dr. Lane’s 9 Daily Habits may appear simple, and they are, but the trick is to stick with them until they become ingrained.
Get Spiritual
Eat a Rainbow
Hydrate for Happiness
Move! Move! Move!
Manage Your Menagerie of Mediations
Snuggle Up with Mr. Sandman
Take Ten
Brusha, Brusha, Brusha
Slather on That Sunscreen
Melanie Lane, MD CPCC is a motivational speaker, founder of Zing! Living and the author of The Nine Daily Habits of Healthy People. She is a Board-Certified Family Physician, Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, Third Degree Black Belt in Kung Fu and formerly overweight person. Visit Dr. Lane at www.ZingLiving.com.
