does not always mean a new start.

New Years’ resolutions are made and broken every year. Some people are able to keep theirs, but those people were actually ready for the changes they were implementing, I do not believe it has anything to do with the date. I also do not believe that just saying you are going to do something is what it takes to motivate you to actually do it. You have to have something in your life that is making you uncomfortable enough to stick with it, or at least I do.

Most people have stated “I’m going to go on a diet” or “I’m going to start exercising” <- that is the one I usually go for. So let’s say that you want to lose weight, maybe your jeans have gotten a little snug, or you haven’t seen your feet since you were two. Try not saying that you are going on a diet, try telling yourself you are going to start making changes. The weight didn’t come on over night, it isn’t going to go away over night. Also, you are already on a diet. The first meaning of diet is the foods you eat. You might try keeping track of what you eat, for a week or so, and then look for the easy switches. Are you drinking a lot of soda? Even if you are drinking diet sodas, they are bad. I would argue that the sugar free ones are even worse for you, but that’s another diatribe altogether. You can try stopping them all, which would be best, but may not be realistic for some [anecdote : a friend of mine recently stopped all of his sodas, that was the only change he made, dropped fifty pounds!].  If you know that you cannot give up your precious sodas, and I’ve been there, try the reward system. You can have one, after you’ve drank eight glasses of water – or something along those lines.

Now, I realize that making such small changes, over time seems like it won’t help, but it will. If you are not the type of person who does well with change, or if you are an ‘all or nothing’ person, like moi, the moment you mess up it’s over. Baby steps is what works for us. Small changes will add up, and trust me, you will see more results with taking baby steps, than you will if you do absolutely nothing.

For me, I knew I wanted to be plant-based*. I have another blog that talks about this kind of stuff, so I’m not going to go into details here. I will just state that the time I did it cold tofu, didn’t last and it took me years to get to where I was ready, not to mention I dealt with a lot of guilt. This time I did it over a couple of months, and it is a different ballgame.

So, ease into whatever changes you need to make, for whatever reasons you need to make them. Set goals, rewards, and map out a plan of action for circumstances that might derail you. If you slip, keep going. When you were learning to walk, you fell, often, especially in the beginning. Yet today you walk with ease, well unless you are like me and trip on air.

Regardless of your goals, I hope your new year is going well, as it has been extremely painful for the entertainment field. I must close out my first post of the year with a nod to an artist who lived his life as well as created his art to please no one but himself. He didn’t care what other people thought, and he was right to do so. He was also the lead male in one of my absolute favorite movies, Labyrinth. Please enjoy my favorite song from the movie.

*Plant-based is vegan, but trying to eat without so much processed foods, sugars, and oils.