Re - Solutions

OK. You made it though the holidaze. Congratulations. Now what? Now comes that nagging feeling that you've overindulged and have to repent. This usually centers on creating some sort of austere diet and exercise plan that your "Super Self" will coerce your "Evil Twin" into following for "your own good".  Aahh... and here is where it all goes down the drain before you even get started.

DIET is a Four Letter Word. Back when I was a kid, a "four letter word" was a "bad word". The word "diet" has all the negative connotations that are associated with punishment and deprivation. It is based on willpower and internal motivational strength. It is a period of time that is book-ended and taken out of a person's "normal" life during which they force themselves into a very tight small box of behaviors and usually without any internal or external support. Put simply: IF YOU DIET YOU ARE DESTINED TO FAIL unless you happen to have the will of an automaton, the emotional range of a barbell, and live in a bunker with no temptations to stray from the tight-rope thin path to your goal weight.

The reality is that we humans are complicated, have stressful lives that overlap and interact with other complicated and stressful lives. We are continuously bombarded with advertisements for weight loss miracle pills/shakes/frozen meals/supplements/medications/surgeries at the same time we are assaulted with advertising for the "return of the McRib", "I-dare-you-to-eat-just-one" chips, 2-for-1 large so-there's-no-need-to-share pizzas, and super-sized fries for the same price as regular. Mixed messages? Yup. One set appeals to your inner parent and the other to the inner child. You are being set up. Who benefits? The pharmaceutical industry, the food industry and the diet industry. You read that right. The Diet Industry. There are huge amounts of money to be made on you. This industry is there to help your wallet lose weight, not you.

Don't count calories. Count blessings. Get REAL. Take back your power and live your life with the passion, verve and vitality you were meant to have! How, you ask? Simple really. Focus on these five things with gentleness towards yourself and gratitude:
1 - Eat REAL foods. Give up processed foods, anything that you only have to microwave and serve, excess sugars (not all sugars!), damaged fats and poisoned proteins. Eat a rainbow of veggies, fruits, healthy meats/fish/poultry (if you aren't vegetarian of course), organic whole dairy products, whole grains and healthy fats. YES FATS. Fats are what triggers the sense of satiety and tells your body you can stop eating. Without fat in your meal you will be hungry again very quickly. And yes, the occasional dessert! But eat it right up next to your meal. And by the way, occasional means just that, not after (or instead of) every meal as we've been told by the marketing agencies we can do...
2 - Move. It's what you were built to do. You weren't built to run marathons weekly or to swim the English Channel. You were built to trudge. You were built to move all day every day. You were not built to sit. Move your body through space under your own power for at least 60 minutes per day at a pace that suggests you might have just been hung up on AGAIN by AT&T after being on hold for 45 minutes. Grrr!
3 - Drink water. Just water. Clean water. Cool, not iced, water. Drink one ounce for every half-pound of you. If you weigh 200 pounds, your daily intake should be 100 ounces. If you must, have herbal tea or a squeeze of lemon in your water. If you have caffeine or alcohol, remember it sets you back and you have to drink that much more to get back to square one.
4 - Eliminate as much added sugar as possible. Naturally occurring sweetness in fruits and veggies are fine. Artificial sweeteners offer you nothing but health problems and a continuing addiction to extreme sweetness. Cut it back. Use sugar if you must but do so knowing that's what you're using and be sensible. No agave is not the answer. This is another case of "natural" does not equal "healthy".
5 - Breathe. Yup, you read that right. Breathe. We forget that one of THE most important things we can do is change the air. Clear your head. Oxygenate your brain. Wake up your muscles. Crank up your metabolism. Expel toxins that are released in the breath. Consciously taking a few breaths reduces your stress levels instantly. Try it. It's something you can literally do any time. Important times to implement taking a few conscious breaths are: before beginning a meal, before a potentially stressful meeting, while sitting in traffic, before going to bed at night, and before engaging in your day in the morning.

You can do these things! If you focus on these 5 things rather than trying to make unsustainable and doomed resolutions, you can change the course of your history from this day forward. I dare you to try it. Take pictures, take measurements, then put the scale in the garage, keep a journal and let me know how you feel this time next year. Thumb your nose at the expensive diet plans and gym memberships. Laugh at the ridiculous advertising that makes no rational sense. Take your power and money back from Big Pharma and Big Agra. Get Sensible. Get Healthy. Get REAL.