All our plans and aspirations on the 1st of January go towards self-improvement. For many giving up cigarettes, going to the gym, or shedding that extra weight is the holy grail – however can you hack it?
There are so many of us who plan, for example, to give up cigarettes each year, but come the middle of the first week of January are sitting out in the cold, chopping up the Christmas tree in some banal exercise hoping to forget about the need for nicotine.
And how many of us decide after the first week of early rising, to begin to forgo the gym. ‘It’s only one day ‘ you tell yourself, ‘I’ll go tomorrow’; you promise. However, for many, this one day skipped becomes less of an exception with each passing week and more of the rule and soon the only time we see the gym is on our bank statements at the end of each month. However, we cling on for months in the hope that we’ll one day get the vitality to live the rest of our lives like that first short week of January and go every morning.
Hacking the New Year detox and allowing the resolution to become the rule and not the exception is actually achieved by very few. Some people will achieve their goal for the first couple of weeks, or months and then slip back into their own ways. Others, for example, those who wish to lose weight, will do so brilliantly, reach their target weight and just let go and end up in the same position in January the next year – stuffing turkey down the side of the couch in preparation for a late-night TV snack.
Even giving up alcohol can be one that leads to as many problems as positives. Warnings are issued about how people who give up alcohol for February return to it with a thirst not seen since before Christmas. The sense of righteousness and complacency that a month off alcohol brings for many, means they hit the bottle twice as hard as a reward and end up doing substantially more damage than they did if they’d drink moderately for January.
The old mantra of making sure to have balance in life is never as true as it is in these areas. By having a good balance throughout the year it can be possible to achieve something that is a lot healthier than the drought and binge New Year’s resolution that many people adopt.
Eating a balanced diet, with five portions a day is a lot better for your health than a month on, month off detox diet, where you binge on fatty foods one month and cabbage soup the next. Even alcohol does little damage in moderation. Following doctor’s advice and not drinking more than recommendations throughout the year offers plenty of positives and once more is far better for a person than the binge, dry culture.
So for best results for you and your body, why not make 2012 the year of balance and not just January the year of the detox.
About the Author: Josie Harper writes for 121doc.co.uk. Full advice and information for people wishing to stop smoking, lose some weight and much more.
