By Kimberly M. Hutmacher
Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.
~Peter Marshall
Eight, 10, 12, 14... year after year, I watched my jean size creep up, along with the number on the bathroom scale. Feeling weak and ashamed, I responded by exercising like gangbusters and severely limiting my caloric intake. I would promptly lose five to 10 pounds, and then slowly fall back into my old habits -- overeating and infrequent exercising. Falling back into bad habits meant falling back into larger jeans, too.
In late 2006, I began to think about my previous attempts at weight loss. I realized my goals were always too demanding and I was inadvertently setting myself up to fail. In previous years, I had told myself that I would lose 10 pounds by the end of January, five more pounds by the end of February, five more by the end of March and so on. I set a much different kind of goal for January 2007.
I vowed to walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes at least five days a week. It was a small, manageable goal. I began walking just two miles per hour for 15 minutes, giving myself the weekends off. I worked my way up to three miles per hour for 15 minutes and then three miles per hour for 20 minutes. Month after month, little by little, I increased my rate of speed and the length of my walk. I now walk four miles per hour for 30 minutes each day.
I added another manageable goal for January 2008. I had been drinking at least one soda every day. I wanted to drink less soda and more water. Again, I cut back little by little, month after month, and over the course of the year, I reduced my consumption to just one soda a week.
In January 2009 I set myself another new fitness goal. Previously, I was eating fast food two to three times each week. I knew that if I could manage to scale that back, I would be doing my body and my pocketbook a huge favor. Again, just like with my previous goals, I cut back little by little. After two months, I was already down to eating out just once a week.
After just two years on my journey to a new and healthier lifestyle, I was down 20 pounds and comfortably back into my size 8 jeans. By keeping my goals small, I was able to follow through and sustain each one for the long haul. I continue to see the results on the scale, and I feel so much better with each passing year and each new resolution!
http://www.chickensoup.com/bulletin.asp?newsid=newsletter-110101-2&utm_source=Beliefnet_Email&utm_medium=Bulletin&utm_campaign=Issue_87
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