So you’ve now had a few weeks to work on that New Year resolution 

How’s it been going?  If you’re like 90% of the population, probably not as well as you’d hoped.  Only one in ten people make a permanent success of their resolutions, so if you’re still on track – well done!  But if you’re not at least comfort yourself that you’re part of a big majority!

But seriously, if you are struggling, or if your good intentions have already crumbled, don’t despair.  There are reasons why so many New Year Resolutions fail:

•  January is a miserable month anyway – the festivities are over, the house looks bare after the decorations have been taken down, and it’s cold and dark.  When you start restricting the things you enjoy you’re making a miserable time of year even harder

• Many resolutions are overly ambitious, particularly where weight loss targets, healthy eating plans and number of exercise sessions per week are concerned.  Yes, it would be great to lose half a stone by February 1st, to exercise four times a week, or to eat no junk ever again, but in reality you’ve got to have a life

• People often make the same old resolutions and embark on the same old course of action every year – joining slimming clubs is a prime example of this.  Do you tell yourself that this year it will be different, and that this time you’ll find the willpower you’ve never found before to stick with the same old plan?  If a plan hasn’t worked for you the first time around, it’s actually not likely to work for you this time around

So what do you need to do to do to get back on track and give yourself another chance of success?

• Firstly, stop beating yourself up.  Being hard on yourself won’t get you back on track, and blaming yourself will only make you less likely to succeed next time around.  You can do this!

• There is no such thing as failure, only feedback.  Learn from your experience.  Take a long, hard look at your resolution, your approach and what you most struggled with.  For instance, if you said you were going to go for a brisk walk four times a week, but you didn’t go out because it was cold and wet, what can you learn from that?  Not that you have no motivation, but that you simply don’t like cold, wet weather; or perhaps you just didn’t have any warm or waterproof running clothes.  If you resolved to detox during January, but found it impossible to sit with your friends in a pub and drink mineral water all night, what does that tell you?  Not that you have no willpower but that a 100% perfect detox regime is impractical for anyone who enjoys a healthy social life

• With these new insights into what is never going to work for you, put together a list of what would work for you.  For instance, diet plans which require you to spend most of your Sunday shopping for and preparing meals for the week ahead aren’t right for you if you like a lazy Sunday with your family – so work out how you can shop and prepare food during the week, or simply make small, gradual changes which don’t require you to change the way you like to spend your weekend.  If you’ve realised that you hate solo exercise, look into group fitness or team up with a friend 

• Be realistic.  Gradual weight loss which results in a smaller dress size by Summer is far better than a plan to drop a dress size by Easter which fails

• Get support and advice.  Support can come from your partner, family or friends.  Ask them to help make things easy for you, and to cheer you on.  And if you’re not sure what the best exercise is for you or what you should be eating, ask an expert – book a few sessions with a personal trainer or nutritionist.  It will be a worthwhile investment if it helps you become more effective

• Be kind to yourself.  One slip up does not have to equal complete failure.  Be on track 80-90% of the time and you’ll get there.  A couple of unhealthy meals in a week won’t completely undo all of the other healthy eating you’ve done, and if you’ve missed a workout, just get the next one in as soon as you can.  You’ve only failed if you choose to give up totally.

Finally, remember this: permanent change is hard, and many people have several attempts at things before they finally succeed.  So treat your January as a learning experience, stop blaming yourself, make some changes and take your time.  Then get ready to congratulate yourself when you reach your target!

Joanne Henson is a health and weight-loss coach, specialising in helping people with a history of failed diets and fitness regimes to change their relationship with food and exercise for good.  From unhealthy beginnings she overcame her own obstacles and now motivates and inspires others to become the healthier, leaner, happier people they’ve always wanted to be. 

Joanne is the author of ‘What’s Your Excuse For Not Eating Healthily?’* and ‘What’s Your Excuse For Not Getting Fit?’*  Both are available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle format.

Joanne Henson Follow Joanne on Twitter: @Joannemh and @whats_yr_excuse

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