You’ve heard the saying new year, new me to your best self and you thought it was annoying, because most people don’t change. People buy their gym memberships, and by April they realized they haven’t stepped foot in their new gym since Mid February.

They say they want to eat healthy, but then they get invited to a Super Bowl party early February and next thing they know, they’ve eaten a whole bag of Tostitos with chip dip, pizza, pop and whatever party snacks their host had and their new diet has gone out the window.

But guess what? SETBACKS ARE OK!

Find out how my setback affected my weight loss progress HERE!

There is a difference between failure and setbacks. A failure is someone who broke their diet, and never got back on the horse. They lose the progress they made with no intentions of committing themselves back to their healthier way of living.

But a setback is a temporary slip where you acknowledge you fell off, and eventually get back to your goals.

So how do we create a new better versions of ourselves? For me being honest with where I am in my journey is what really helps me progress.

BEING HONEST WITH YOURSELF

Being honest with yourself will open your eyes up to seeing yourself clearly. You will be able to determine what you need to work on in order to be successful, and you’ll be able to take the appropriate steps to reach your goal.

If you want to lose weight this year and you know you rarely get exercise, and you come home from work and binge eat you need to acknowledge that. Don’t lie to yourself and say, well I walk up a flight of stairs to get to my office, or I had an apple for breakfast knowing you had six pieces of pizza for dinner. Start your new year new me out accurately in order to see your goal wins faster.

Write your goals down

How many times throughout your day do you make a mental not to get something done, and by the end of the day you forgot half of those things. Goal setting is exactly the same. If you don’t write it down chances are it doesn’t take priority and it more than likely wont get accomplished.

For me, I personally keep track of my goals in my Fitbit that you can purchase below. If I want to make a change diet wise, I track every thing I eat and I start seeing results so much faster than if I were to just wing it. It keeps me accountable and I reach my goals quicker. It helps me achieve my new year new me goals faster!

There are so many apps these days to track diet, weight loss, weight gain, water intake, physical activity, and so much more. But if you don’t have access to these things pen and paper work just fine. Write down a specific goal you have on a blank sheet of paper, and keep it somewhere you look often, like a kitchen counter, fridge, or night stand.

Set Deadlines Throughout The Year

Make sure when you set a goal for yourself, you come up with a realistic time frame to reach that goal. To say I want to lose 20 lbs in 10 days is impossible and unhealthy, and once your goal is not met you are more than likely going to quit.

With a realistic deadline in your future, you’ll be eager to work harder. You’ll start to notice progress which will nine times out of ten encourage you to keep going.

Start

Now that you realized it’s time for a change, you came up with a goal, you wrote it down and you’ve given yourself a realistic time frame to accomplish it, your next step is to start.

With any health goal this is sometimes the hardest part. You’ve said so many times “I’ll start Monday” or “I’ll go for that run tomorrow”. The only person stopping you is yourself….so just start!

I had this exact approach when I started a new diet mid December. I pushed off my diet until some specific Monday and ate whatever I wanted all week. Now that I am full force into my diet and seeing the best results physically and on the scale, I am so mad at myself for not starting the week earlier when I was fully capable of, It wasn’t a huge deal, but I know I would be a whole week further in my progress than where I am now.

Don’t get me wrong, my progress has still been great and I feel healthier, but I was the only one stopping myself.

Reward Yourself On Progress

Rewarding yourself is a great way to keep your confidence high and to push yourself to continue your health journey. Whatever the reward might be, will give you a greater incentive to get to your next reward.

If your new year, new me goal is to eat healthier, I would not recommend binge eating the whole left side of the Burger King menu, but a little snack might work, or take yourself shopping to get that smaller pant size that you have been dying to get into.

Being proud of your accomplishments is a huge deal! No matter how big or small the progress is…it’s progress! You’ve changed for the better.

What About Set Backs This Year?

They happen. It’s common. And it’s ok. Falling off of your diet, exercise routine, or any type of goal you set happens when we start to get stuck in a rut. Just like when you start a new journey, it’s only up to you on when. Same thing for set backs.

This just happened to me this past weekend. I went to visit a friend from out of town and when we went to eat I only got the healthiest menu items I could find. Until the end of the night when it was time for Taco Bell. You better believe I got my fiesta potatoes and five layer burrito. And then the next morning came. I already was mad I ruined my good diet so for breakfast I ordered chocolate chip pancakes with….WAFFLE FRIES. The two don’t even go together, but I ordered them anyways, because I already had a set back.

The thing is, setbacks are going to happen to all of us for different reasons at some point in our lives. As long as you can accept you messed up, correct the behavior and push forward you’ll have nothing to worry about. Your goals will be achieved!

DETROIT PHYSICAL EDUCATION YOUTUBE AND FACEBOOK

For more content by Detroit PE, check out my YouTube channel aimed towards keeping kids healthy and active through fun and interactive videos!

You may also follow my content through Detroit Physical Education Facebook. Add me, and get content directly to your news feed!