We are already a week into 2014. Holiday decorations are coming down, travelers have returned home from family visits, most people have gone back to work, and children’s vacations from school are over or nearly over. Over at BariatricPal, we were thinking that it might be a good idea to take another look at those New Year’s resolutions before we all get carried away by regular daily life.

• Did you make the right resolutions?
  
• Are you making progress?
  
• What can you do to improve your resolutions and progress?
  

Answering these questions can get you on track for 2014 so that by the end of the year, you can feel proud of what you have accomplished.

Did You Make the Right Resolutions?

A week into the New Year, you may realize that your original resolutions were not practical. It’s okay to change them. Changing your goals does not mean that you failed. It means that you are setting yourself up for success. These are some examples of a resolutions that you may now find unrealistic, why they are unrealistic, and possible ways to change them.

• Lose 100 pounds by 2015. You cannot always control your weight loss. Plateaus or complications might get in your way. Instead, resolve to stick to your weight loss surgery diet. The weight will come off at its own pace.
  
• Convince your spouse that weight loss surgery is the best option for you. This may not be possible because it depends on someone else to change his or her mind. Instead, resolve to be patient with your spouse and to include him or her in your weight loss surgery plans.
  
• Get skin removal surgery. This is not under your control because you do not know how much weight you will lose or whether you will be a good candidate for skin removal surgery. Instead, resolve to eat healthily and work out so that you have muscle tone, and to find out your options for cosmetic surgery.
  

Interim Resolutions to Keep Your Progress Up

This is toughest when your resolution is to achieve a specific long-term goal, such as getting weight loss surgery or going on a dream vacation. You can track your progress and stay on schedule by making interim goals. For example, one goal might be to jog a half marathon for charity while you are on a family trip in Florida in December. Maybe you set this particular goal because in December of 2013, you were not able to go on the trip because of your weight or health, because you did not plan, and because you knew deep down that you were not in good enough shape to enjoy the trip.

December of 2014 seems far off now, but you may need to lose a lot of weight, do a lot of planning, and gain a lot of fitness. These sample interim goals can keep you focused and on track.

• January: begin a walking program. Resolve to exercise 3 times per week.
  
• February: check in with your weight loss surgery diet. Are you following your meal plan well enough to lose weight and stay healthy?
  
• March: Look for a buddy! The year is long, and you can use some motivation. Do you have a weight loss buddy to talk about food and exercise with? If you don’t have someone at home, find a BariatricPal member to be your buddy!
  
• April: Add some jogging in with your walking.
  
• May: Make a list of activities you want to be able to do on your trip, in addition to your half marathon. Resolve to keep eating right so that you will be able to enjoy them without getting tired or being left behind.
  
• June: Make sure nutrition is still your top priority. Are you getting the protein, vitamins, and minerals that you need?
  
• July: Register for the half-marathon. Look back over the first half of the year to measure your progress. Resolve to make improvements if your diet has slipped.
  
• August: Start to make reservations for your trip. Take advantage of any specials for early plane and hotel reservations. Now you are committed to this trip!
  
• September: Find and begin a half-marathon training program that will take you up until December.
  
• October: Keep training and eating right. Resolve to keep measuring your portions and eat protein first at each meal. Don’t let your good habits slip!
  
• November: Research the restaurants that you will be eating at
  
• December: Have a great half-marathon, and be proud of your hard work through 2014. Enjoy your new, fit body!
  

In this way, you are staying motivated throughout the year to lose weight, eat healthily, and exercise. Your reward is serious weight loss en route to a dream trip celebrated with a half-marathon – an accomplishment anyone should be proud of!

We encourage you to take a few moments while the New Year is still fresh to go over your resolutions and make them work for you. You will be glad you did!

Not only is it okay to "change your goals or resolutions," you don't have to wait until.....

Next year,

On Monday,

Tomorrow morning,

When I finish this project......

Change the goals and focus on them NOW..... Even if its a Tuesday afternoon at 4:51 !!!!!!!

I agree with what you wrote Alex. Breaking down our long term goals and mapping out a plan to achieve them is a great motivational tool!

Be sure to reward yourself for achieving even the smallest of goals you set for yourself with something non- food related!

Building the rewards into the plan is like double motivation for me!

Agree, Alex, realistic goals - and write them down!

Goals shouldn't be static (although some will be fixed). For me, the best way to achieve my goals was to review them every month, not to beat myself up over what I hadn't done but to remind myself of what I had done. It is so easy to forget or minimise our achievements, we are all guilty of doing that.

Our brains are programmed to go with the negative so it's up to us to keep chipping in with the positive. 2013 was a life changing year for me. I know that because I can read about all my goals -including the ones I had forgotten about - from last January and see them develop or be ticked off as the year went on.

I don't have quite so many things on my list this year but I feel optimistic that I can achieve them all...

Edited January 7, 201412 yr by Indigo1991

I like to breakdown my large goals into small achievable goals... I don't get the feeling of failure because I didn't lose 100lbs over night... But got a feeling of accomplishment because I lost 5% of my excess weight and then 10 % lowering my risk of heart disease and other complications and I'm getting closer to my overall goal of being healthy. I didn't make any resolutions this year. To me New Years resolution is a negative term. not because I've failed so many of them but because I'm constantly setting small achievable goals for myself and I don't need a specific date to reevaluate and set them. I take every day one day at a time and adjust as I go.

Great article.

The word resolution comes from resolve. Resolve requires a made up mind and that is demonstrated by consistency more than in any other way.

One can be adamant and emotional on January 1 but lose momentum by January 2.

Resolve needs to be visited every day, kept alive by attention, effort and clear thinking.

My change came when I kicked out the temporary promises and settled on a permanent condition.

I deemed myself worthy of the best body I could obtain.

I saw what I wanted to be and made that become a reality.

I was determined to do it or die trying.

Lifelong athlete, healthy eater. That's it.

The sleeve gave me the boost, I won't let it down.

Very well put. I guess in short my thought process on this particular subject has been, my body isn't on a set schedule so why should my resolutions be? :-P

Edited January 8, 201412 yr by kpatnode90

I have great hope for 2014. I know there will be challenges... Even after 7 years I learn ... I am resolving to join a WLS. Support group this year. Hoping for Feb 1 in SF. Need to hear from others because they truly understand