New Year...New You?

Image courtesy of satit_srihin / Freedigitalphotos.net

With 2013 coming to a close its time to look back over the year and towards 2014. What have you achieved over the past year? Was it what you wanted? Are you disappointed or delighted? No matter how you feel about it, there is always something you can take from this year to the next to drive your future goals. Not just surrounding your weight loss journey, but all aspects of your year. We can draw motivation and goals from everywhere.



If you have achieved what you hoped then congratulations! Use these achievements to drive your future goals. If you feel you have had a good year but not quite got where you want then, then use this to drive yourself into 2014. Look at what did and didn't work for you and learn from this. For weight loss a before and after photo to stick on the fridge to always remind you how far you have come works a treat!

And if you feel disheartened and a little like you failed, then pick yourself up and brush yourself off. No matter what happens, you can always achieve your goals you just need to never give up. Believe in yourself and look at resetting new goals and planning for them. I also know I harp on and on about this, but make sure your goals are REALISTIC! Disappointment is not fun (we have all been there for whatever reasons) so you want to make sure your goals are achievable. Which would your rather; aim to lose 2lbs per week and only lose 1.5lbs. Over the year this means you lose 26lbs less than you planned, thats almost 2 stone. Or you can aim to lose 1lb per week and lose 1.5lbs instead, overachieving by nearly 2stone for the year?

Its all about perspective. Know what you want, why you want it and how you are going to get it. We'd all like to lose 3stone in a month but when you really think about it you know its not the right way to do things. A goal like that to me is like winning the lotto - a nice idea but its never going to happen, and even less so if I'm not in the game.

Why you want to achieve your goals is just as important as the goals themselves. Knowing your reasons is great for keeping your mind focused and motivation at a high. I would suggest putting together a list of reasons of why you want to lose weight. This list is just for you and you need to be 100% honest. There are no right or wrong reasons for wanting to lose weight. They just need to be real enough to motivate you. Keep it somewhere you can look at when you feel your drive slipping, after a particularly bad week when you feel like throwing in the towel - remind yourself why you are doing this!

Find support in the real world. I was very vocal with my family and friends when I joined weight watchers, and I was lucky, despite the fact I had joined and rejoined multiple times everyone was hugely supportive. I know not everyone is like this and there are a lot of weight loss saboteurs out there, and if you have people in your life like this then ignore them. You are doing this for you so keep looking back over your list of reasons! There is support everywhere, there are so many weight loss blogs out there that have the most inspirational people sharing their lives. Facebook has fantastic groups and pages full of inspiration, words of support and tips and tricks. One of the first places I found that has helped me immensely over the years is the boards.ie weight watchers thread. Use your meeting, the members and your leader. We are all in the same boat and no matter how you are feeling there are people out there who have felt the same. If any one single person can make it to goal, then you can to!

When I look back over 2013 I am filled with all sorts of emotions, but I have to say most of all I am proud of myself. I started 2013 knowing I would get to goal and stay there, and here I am starting 2014 having achieved my goals. Looking to 2014 I want to continue to challenge myself. I find the most important thing is the need to keep my mind focused on something. I can never give this up, the moment I get complacent will be the moment I allow myself to go back to the start again. That doesn't mean this is ruling my life - I just need to always keep an eye on things. I can allow myself to gain weight some weeks in the name of living life, but being conscious of this keeps it from spiraling out of control.

Christmas is over and despite the fact I have not tracked at all since the 23rd I am only up 2lbs. I am back on track as of today and looking for my focus for January. I am not one for resolutions, as I really believe there is an expectation for them to be broken - instead I want goals! I am off to Edinburgh the 2nd week of February so I want those 2lbs long gone as well as a couple more so I can enjoy my few days away without worry! I have decided that I am going to give chocolate and alcohol up for January (starting January 2nd). I am pretty broke so the alcohol part is going to be pretty easy. I am a little more concerned about the chocolate part, but I have done this before so I know I can do it again.

Photo courtesy of Paul/freedigitalphotos.net

Photo courtesy of Grant Cochrane/Freedigitalphotos.net

Does anyone want to join me on my alcohol and chocolate free january? Or do you have your own goals for january you want to share?