How to make positive changes to your lifestyle from losing weight to staying sober with our advice – The Sun
STICKING to New Year’s resolutions is never simple.
Every January we promise ourselves the same things – get fit, lose weight, save money, drink less – but by February, it seems we’re always back to our gym-dodging, ASOS-bingeing, pub-crawling ways.
A survey by fitness app Strava found that we are most likely to abandon our good intentions just a couple of weeks into the new year, while food delivery app Deliveroo reported a significant jump in alcohol orders during the third weekend in January (hi, #WetJanuary).
If you really want to make a change, but can’t seem to make it stick, you need our expert-led resolution rehab…
Weigh to go
THE RESOLUTION: You hit the diet hard after all that Christmas stodge and booze.
But the scales barely budged, you lost faith in yourself and rediscovered your old friend the biscuit tin.
THE REHAB: The way most of us try to lose weight – following a diet, then judging our success by regular weigh-ins – is doomed to fail, says Jane Ogden, a professor of health psychology and author of The Psychology Of Dieting.
While your ultimate aim might be to get back into those jeans or prevent future health issues like cardiovascular disease or diabetes, such long-term targets won’t keep you motivated.
“Cake right now always wins over avoiding a heart attack in the future,” Jane explains.
“Instead, focus on making specific, achievable changes in the here and now.”
She suggests writing a list of small aims, such as having wholemeal bread instead of white, eating an extra portion of veg and sticking to three meals a day without snacks.
“Record these goals somewhere – stick them on the fridge or keep them on your phone – so you can tick them off every day you achieve them,” Jane says.
“This creates a positive feedback loop: you feel good about yourself for sticking to your goals, which keeps you motivated and more likely to carry on.”
And forget about the number on the scales. “Don’t weigh yourself on a daily basis,” she says.
“Weight fluctuates and doesn’t always relate to the effort you’ve made, and that can be disheartening.”
Gym and tonic
THE RESOLUTION: Joining a gym felt good. But then you got a cold. Then you got busy. Now it’s been three weeks since you put on your trainers.
THE REHAB: A big reason our fitness resolutions fail is because of something called “goal dilution”, says behaviour change specialist Dr Heather McKee.
In other words, you’re trying to change too much at once. “At the start of the year, you decide you’re going to go to the gym five times a week, but trying to do that undermines your willpower.
Willpower is like a muscle, it gets fatigued if you over-train it.
Make your goal smaller and more focused by aiming to exercise once more a week than you currently do. For a habit to stick, you need repetition and consistency.
That way it becomes automatic, and you don’t need to rely on willpower. Plus, it’s better to go to the gym once a week for seven weeks, than for seven days in a row and never again.”
“With exercise, it’s not about being occasionally brilliant, but about being consistent,” agrees Kay Miyake, a personal trainer at PureGym.
“You need to reduce as many obstacles between you and your goals as possible. Put your trainers by the front door to remind you to go to the gym.
“Instead of hiding your workout clothes in the back of a drawer, put them where you will see them, or pack your gym bag the night before if you’re going before work.”
Sober, so good
THE RESOLUTION: You did Dry January (OK, a dry fortnight) but there was a gin-cident. Now, your February has been decidedly wet so far…
THE REHAB: You need to find your reason for wanting to drink less. “Start with your why,” says Heather.
“So often when it comes to habit change, you make it about outcomes – how many days can you go without a drink, for example – but these are known as ‘extrinsic motivators’. This refers to behaviour that is driven by rewards like money or praise, but research shows they’re not sustainable in the long-term. Instead, set a goal that means something to you and reflects who you want to be as a person. This is known as ‘intrinsic motivation’ and these sorts of goals tend to be more ‘sticky’.”
Rather than focusing on how many units or dry days you want to aim for, think about what it would mean to you and how it would positively affect your life, Heather advises.
“Ask yourself questions such as: ‘How do I want to feel? What does it help me achieve? What kind of person would it make me?
“It’s also really important to find the joy in your healthy habits. We’re much more likely to achieve ‘want to’ goals than ‘have to’ goals, so focus on what you’ll gain from them.”
In other words, rather than dwelling on the wine you’re missing out on, think about how great it will feel waking up on a Saturday morning with a clear head.
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Hey, big spender
THE RESOLUTION: Getting on top of your finances was top of your list, yet somehow you’re back in your overdraft and haven’t saved a penny.
THE REHAB: “If you leave saving money to the end of the month with whatever is left in your bank account, it’s not going to happen,” says Laura Whateley, author of Money: A User’s Guide.
“Sit down and work out how much you want to save and set up a direct debit for that sum out of your current account as soon as your salary lands, then you can budget the rest.”
And if you don’t have the cash to put aside a big lump sum each month, start small.
“Try the 365-day challenge – start with saving 1p for day one, 2p on day two, and so on, until you save £3.65 on the last day of the challenge,” suggests Laura.
“In total, you’ll have £667.95 in 12 months. Or if you think you can stretch to a bit more, set aside £1 on a Monday, £2 on a Tuesday and so on until you reach £7 on a Sunday, before it resets again for a £1 on the Monday of a new week. You’ll save a whopping £1,500 by the end of the year.”
Sounds good to us!
How long it REALLY takes to form a new habit
“It’s a myth that it takes 21 days to change a habit,” says Dr Heather Mckee.
“The idea comes from anecdotal research into plastic surgery, which found it took someone 21 days to get used to their new facial appearance, so it’s not really relevant! Newer research from UCL’s Centre for Behaviour Change found it can take an average of 66 days to build up a new habit. So don’t lose heart if it’s taking longer than you expected – stick with it and you’ll eventually reap the benefits.”
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