Following a few weeks of overindulging on Christmas cookies and eggnog while exchanging gym time for shopping time, the new year offers everyone a clean slate. Exercise, healthy eating and safe spending are the most common virtues people pursue beginning January 1, but the psychological tabula rasa of a new year invites many other forms of behavior change.
“It's like playing a sport, like tennis, and maybe you're down by a lot of points, but when you start a new set you start fresh,” said Auburn psychologist Beanne Rothenberg, of Finger Lakes Psychological Services.
Unfortunately, promptly reneging our resolutions has become just as characteristic of the New Year as the resolutions themselves. By February 1, many a gym shoe once again begins collecting dust and fitness clubs delight in the money made off of members who use their new full-year passes just a few times.
Whether they be focused on exercise or frugality, New Year's resolutions need not be as fleeting as the eve itself. Behavior change being the province of psychology means that many in the field can provide helpful hints to strengthening commitments to New Year's resolutions. Pennsylvania-based psychologist Dr. Pauline Wallin, author of “Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide to Transforming Self-defeating Behavior,” outlines eight key steps to making your New Year's resolutions stick.
€Examine your motivation: Don't commit on a whim because you feel a little bloated for the time being. Letting your superego run wild by plotting out a rigorous exercise regimen in response to one night of overeating will not result in any long-term behavior change. Such a commitment requires discipline and a deeper motivation than the desire to ward off the feeling of being full.
Rothenberg stresses the importance of selecting a goal consistent with your values. If you highly value physical fitness and want to get back in shape after New Year's, but focus more on how much chocolate you eat than the overall picture, the chances of abandoning your resolution increase.
2) Set realistic goals: Losing 30 pounds in a month is not only unhealthy, but terribly difficult to accomplish. Setting such a goal as a New Year's resolution increases the odds of breaking it because the probability of failure is so high from the beginning. Instead of coming right out of the gate on New Year's Day with a 1,000 calorie-a-day diet, gradually cut calories from your daily intake until you reach a more realistic goal.
3) Focus on the behavior change more than the goal: Coming home from the gym every day and thinking about how much weight you still need to lose is not a constructive approach. This type of negative mindset can cripple a commitment to a New Year's resolution. Instead, be mindful of the fact that you've stuck to your commitment, and the ensuing sense of self-control will strengthen both your confidence and your resolve.
4) Learn to redefine physical sensations of the discomfort: It can be discouraging to feel sick in the first few days without a cigarette or feel hungry as you begin a new diet. To immunize yourself from the pain of these pangs, remind yourself that they are part of a healthy process. Reinterpret your growling stomach as a sign that you are plundering your fat reserves for energy.
5) Make tasks non-negotiable: If you allow yourself to negotiate whether or not to go to the gym, chances are you'll stay at home. It is easy to rationalize your way out of sticking to your resolution, but adopting a rigid mindset rooted in logic and not emotion will lead to greater resolve.
6) Allow for imperfection: It is almost inevitable that you will falter a bit in the course of implementing your New Year's resolution. But it is key to keep sight of your goals and not let one slip-up spell the end of your behavior change. Whether it's a skipped work-out or a late-night bowl of ice cream, a singular indiscretion should not wipe out days or weeks of focused effort.
Rothenberg refers to this harmful mindset as black-or-white thinking, or dichotomous thinking, whereby one mistake means absolute failure in the mind of the person who made the resolution. She suggests finding a way to be more forgiving with yourself in order to escape this unhealthy frame of mind.
7) Redirect your attention: Rather than focusing on the muscle tone you don't have or the push-ups you can't do, shift your thoughts to the benefits of your behavior change and the reasons you began it.
8) Do it now: It will never truly be convenient for you to quit smoking, cut down on fatty foods or spend five hours a week at the gym. So ignore your thoughts when you tell yourself to wait until an easier time. When that time comes, you will likely think of another reason to continue waiting to begin your behavior change.
A common postponement tactic for New Year's resolutions related to exercise is to wait until Spring when it will be easier to run outdoors and less of a hassle to drive to the gym. If you continue thinking this way, the excuses will pile up until you're telling yourself to wait until 2008.
Staff writer David Wilcox can be contacted at 253-5311, ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
Unfortunately, promptly reneging our resolutions has become just as characteristic of the New Year as the resolutions themselves. By February 1, many a gym shoe once again begins collecting dust and fitness clubs delight in the money made off of members who use their new full-year passes just a few times.
Whether they be focused on exercise or frugality, New Year's resolutions need not be as fleeting as the eve itself. Behavior change being the province of psychology means that many in the field can provide helpful hints to strengthening commitments to New Year's resolutions. Pennsylvania-based psychologist Dr. Pauline Wallin, author of “Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide to Transforming Self-defeating Behavior,” outlines eight key steps to making your New Year's resolutions stick.
€Examine your motivation: Don't commit on a whim because you feel a little bloated for the time being. Letting your superego run wild by plotting out a rigorous exercise regimen in response to one night of overeating will not result in any long-term behavior change. Such a commitment requires discipline and a deeper motivation than the desire to ward off the feeling of being full.
Rothenberg stresses the importance of selecting a goal consistent with your values. If you highly value physical fitness and want to get back in shape after New Year's, but focus more on how much chocolate you eat than the overall picture, the chances of abandoning your resolution increase.
2) Set realistic goals: Losing 30 pounds in a month is not only unhealthy, but terribly difficult to accomplish. Setting such a goal as a New Year's resolution increases the odds of breaking it because the probability of failure is so high from the beginning. Instead of coming right out of the gate on New Year's Day with a 1,000 calorie-a-day diet, gradually cut calories from your daily intake until you reach a more realistic goal.
3) Focus on the behavior change more than the goal: Coming home from the gym every day and thinking about how much weight you still need to lose is not a constructive approach. This type of negative mindset can cripple a commitment to a New Year's resolution. Instead, be mindful of the fact that you've stuck to your commitment, and the ensuing sense of self-control will strengthen both your confidence and your resolve.
4) Learn to redefine physical sensations of the discomfort: It can be discouraging to feel sick in the first few days without a cigarette or feel hungry as you begin a new diet. To immunize yourself from the pain of these pangs, remind yourself that they are part of a healthy process. Reinterpret your growling stomach as a sign that you are plundering your fat reserves for energy.
5) Make tasks non-negotiable: If you allow yourself to negotiate whether or not to go to the gym, chances are you'll stay at home. It is easy to rationalize your way out of sticking to your resolution, but adopting a rigid mindset rooted in logic and not emotion will lead to greater resolve.
6) Allow for imperfection: It is almost inevitable that you will falter a bit in the course of implementing your New Year's resolution. But it is key to keep sight of your goals and not let one slip-up spell the end of your behavior change. Whether it's a skipped work-out or a late-night bowl of ice cream, a singular indiscretion should not wipe out days or weeks of focused effort.
Rothenberg refers to this harmful mindset as black-or-white thinking, or dichotomous thinking, whereby one mistake means absolute failure in the mind of the person who made the resolution. She suggests finding a way to be more forgiving with yourself in order to escape this unhealthy frame of mind.
7) Redirect your attention: Rather than focusing on the muscle tone you don't have or the push-ups you can't do, shift your thoughts to the benefits of your behavior change and the reasons you began it.
8) Do it now: It will never truly be convenient for you to quit smoking, cut down on fatty foods or spend five hours a week at the gym. So ignore your thoughts when you tell yourself to wait until an easier time. When that time comes, you will likely think of another reason to continue waiting to begin your behavior change.
A common postponement tactic for New Year's resolutions related to exercise is to wait until Spring when it will be easier to run outdoors and less of a hassle to drive to the gym. If you continue thinking this way, the excuses will pile up until you're telling yourself to wait until 2008.
Staff writer David Wilcox can be contacted at 253-5311, ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
The Citizens' Say
There are No comments posted.