Mid-Year Check

Happy July 1st!  I can hardly believe we just turned over another page on the calendar, and even more unbelievable is that we are now half-way through the year!

I'm a planner, a list maker and a goal setter, and since I always make New Year's resolutions, July 1 is the time for reassessment of those goals and resolutions.  It's a time to see if I'm on track for the year or if I need to make some readjustments if I want to accomplish the things I listed on New Year's Day, or I may determine that other priorities have pushed one of those resolutions off the table for this year.

Some of you may have started on Take Shape for Life's 5&1 (or restarted) right after the first of the year, vowing that THIS is the year to finally lose the weight and get healthy.  January is the time when many Americans, bloated from the holidays, make resolutions to lose weight - it's one of the top resolutions people make.  The health clubs and gyms see a spike in attendance and the air is filled with good intentions and resolve.

Six months later, most people haven't kept up with their resolution and are back to the same old habits, waiting until the next January 1 rolls around to make yet another resolution.  It's not that they wouldn't like to lose weight and get in shape, but it's a desire, not a commitment.  If they could wake up one morning and have the weight gone, they would be thrilled (wouldn't we all?), but they aren't willing to put in the time and effort required to get there.

Because you're reading this, I know that you have committed time, effort, and some of your finances, towards getting healthy.  You've gone far beyond making a nominal resolution - good for you! 

My question to you on this July 1 is:  are you on track to reach the goals you've set for yourself?  Some of you are rocking this plan - you're committed to staying on plan and you figure out each day exactly how to do it.  It's not always easy, but you're keeping your eye on the prize and not letting anything get in your way.

Others of you struggle.  You want to lose the weight, but you find yourselves stepping off plan over and over again, to your own frustration.  This blog is really for you today!

We are half-way through the year - it's half-time, time to regroup, review our game plan, then get back into the game!  Don't allow any failures from the first half of the year to keep you from reaching your goal in the second half of the year! 

Write down all of the reasons you want to lose weight.  It doesn't matter if it's a big reason or a little reason - write it down!  Then spend some time thinking about why you go off plan.  If you tend to go off at the same time every day, or when you're around the same people, zero in on that and figure out why, then make an adjustment.  Write a description of what you will look like and feel like when you're at your goal weight - be descriptive and put in as much detail as possible.  Don't be afraid to dream big about being small!  What kinds of things do you want to do when you reach your goal, perhaps things you're not able to do now?  What size will you be in?  Make your WHY bigger than any obstacles you face.

Once you have done this, commit to staying on plan for 5 days straight, no matter what!  That will ensure that you're back into the fat-burning state, and that's where the magic happens :-).  Once you're into the fat-burning state, your hunger drops and your energy goes up and your body begins to target the areas where you store fat to get the energy you need.  It's a beautiful thing and it's exactly how the plan is designed to work. 

Stay connected to the support available here, stay on plan, and you'll have to figure out a new resolution for next New Year's, because losing weight won't be one of them!

You can do it, and reaching your goal is worth it! You'll get there one day, one meal, and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)