New Year’s Intentions – Part II

It’s exciting, isn’t?! We’re at the start of a brand new year. Last month I spoke about how to create a New Year’s Intention instead of a New Year’s Resolution. Did you create one? How are you doing with it? Are you being gentle with yourself as you begin this new year? 

January is a big month, actually the biggest month in terms of the weight loss industry. A lot of companies harness this time to get its marketing message across to those wanting to make a fresh start.  

I don’t normally watch television, but I came across a program called ‘The Biggest Loser’ which is a reality TV program designed to have two teams pit against each other and over the period of a set amount of time, whichever team can lose the most amount of weight wins a bunch of money.  

I found myself experiencing several emotions. One was disbelief that there could be a reality TV show highlighting a play on the word ‘Loser’ that isn’t really funny or a cute play on words. That emotion was followed by anger of how the teams were treated by staff, and lastly I felt a lot of sadness. I became sad because no matter what these well intentioned people end up losing, statistics show that the results will not be lasting. I’ll go and do my own inner work after I finish writing this!  

I come across a lot of this “all or nothing” mentality in my work and it tends to show up a lot during the month of January. It’s that time of year that I have to add fifteen minutes to my time to get to the gym because it’s hard to find a parking space. In a month’s time, it’ll be back to normal. 

So how can you not be a statistic? Going from zero to full blast will result in your burning out.  

I can’t emphasize enough…SMALL STEPS TAKEN CONSISTENTLY OVER TIME PRODUCED LARGE RESULTS. 

I would recommend sitting down and writing down on a sheet of paper what it is that you want. Get really clear and write it in terms of what you want instead of what you don’t want. 

For example: 

“I want to lose 20 lbs. by May 1st.” 

Instead you might write... 

“I am enjoying how lose my clothes are fitting on me, so much so that it’s time for me to go shopping!” 

Then, when you are crystal clear in the direction you want to head, then start brainstorming all the different ways you might get there. Be specific. This isn’t a time to give yourself all the reasons why you can’t do X, Y, and Z. It’s a time to get creative. It’s a time to let the ideas flow without having to commit to anything. 

Examples: 

- Buy 1% milk instead of whole milk.

- Drink my coffee black.

- Don’t put butter on my veggies.

- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

- Caress my body and appreciate it.

- Walk around the car once before getting in it.

- Park far away from the entrance of stores to get more walking in.

- Look in the mirror and say, “I love you.” 

These few things just came off the top of my head. Imagine what creative stuff you could come up with if you actually tried! Have fun with it. The more outside the box you will allow yourself to be will help the creativeness of your ideas. Just having these ideas will bring more awareness to your journey. What I don’t want you to do is, after you’ve made this list, agree to do all of those things. It’s not about that. It’s really about just creating the space so a new way of being with yourself can come forward. 

I want to leave you with a quote I came across recently. 

“Every time our senses are drawn to something outside ourselves, our energy moves in two different directions. We can go ahead and do what our personality and senses want us to do, with no thought to the consequences.  

Or we can take the higher road and make a conscious choice to assume a more loving and caring approach to life.” 

John-Roger with Paul Kaye

(From: "You, The Soul", an excerpt from "What's It Like Being You?" 

The process of releasing weight is a process of awareness and conscious choice. It’s not about the weight or the food, not the biggest part anyway. It is about assuming a more loving and caring approach to life and to yourself.