In some ways, it may feel like 2013 has just gotten underway. In others, especially in the “it’s January; I must overhaul my health” department, it may feel like it’s d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g.
Isn’t it interesting how time flies, except when you’re doing something that requires monumental effort? Like holding a plank, jumping rope, or doing pushups for 60 seconds. Sounds like no time at all – but my clients never fail to feel kicked in the butt by the s-l-o-w moving second hand.
In the nutrition department? Giving up alcohol, cutting out fried food, passing on your 3 p.m. cookie treat; all healthy efforts that seem to add hours to your day. Why is that?
Here’s a peek at the top 5 resolutions for 2012 (that’s NOT a typo). Positions 1 and 5 are two of the most challenging resolutions you can take on; especially without a plan, and ultra-especially without rebooting your LIFESTYLE.
What I find interesting is the length of time people maintain their resolutions. 64% of people hold on to that resolution longer than one month. So 14 days from now, roughly 1/3 of the folks who vowed to shape up, are shipping out.
| Rank | Top 10 New Years resolutions for 2012 |
1 | Lose Weight |
2 | Getting Organized |
3 | Spend Less, Save More |
4 | Enjoy Life to the Fullest |
5 | Staying Fit and Healthy |
| Length of Resolutions | Data |
| Resolution maintained through first week | 75% |
| Past two weeks | 71% |
| Past one month | 64% |
| Past six months | 46% |
Source: Statistic Brain
It’s completely unrealistic to imagine that 100% of people making resolutions will see them through. We’re only human, for heaven’s sake. So kudos to those who forge ahead, and for the other 36%? DON’T GIVE UP! But do consider changing your MIND, vs only your habits. Perhaps the ideas below will help you recapture that momentum.
1. Diets DON’T work. “What You Really Need To Know About Dieting” It’s true. Dieting slows your metabolism, sets you up for binge eating, creates a “good/bad” relationship with food, and leaves you feeling depleted and deprived. I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t lose weight, especially if it’s impacting your health. But here’s something to experiment with; try eating 25% less than you typically eat. You’ll be amazed at how many calories you shave off – practically effortlessly! You can try this experiment even without changing a thing about your diet. Imagine the freedom.
2. Exercising for the sake of losing weight ONLY, leaves you dreading your workout. Seriously. Many people begin an exercise program ONLY when they go on a diet – it’s like enduring two torture devices at once. Combined with the fact that people tend to consistently overestimate how much effort they put into their workout (see below), it’s all too easy to get discouraged; QUICKLY! Here’s your fitness experiment; make a list of FIVE reasons adding exercise to your life could POSITIVELY IMPACT your health/well-being/attitude, etc. Display the list in a place you’ll see it daily – repeat it to yourself. See if it doesn’t begin to change your perspective.
Normal Weight Men and Women Overestimate Energy Expenditure – Research Review
Willbond SM et. al. Normal weight men and women overestimate exercise energy expenditure. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. (2010) 50(4):377-84.
AIM: The limited potential of exercise to induce weight loss could be partly due to the overestimation of the energy cost of exercise. The objectives of this study were twofold: 1) to investigate whether men and women are able to accurately estimate exercise energy expenditure (EE); and 2) to determine whether they have the ability to accurately compensate for the EE of exercise during a buffet-type meal. METHODS: Sixteen (8 men, 8 women) moderately active (VO2 peak=45.4±7.7 mL.kg-1.min-1), normal weight (BMI=22.8±3.3 kg/m2) individuals, aged 20-35 years, were studied. They were blinded to two randomly assigned experimental conditions: a 200 and a 300 kcal (measured by indirect calorimetry) exercise sessions that were performed on a treadmill at the same intensity (50% of VO2 peak). At the end of each exercise session individuals were asked to estimate EE of the exercise sessions and to then eat the caloric equivalent of their estimated exercise EE from a buffet-type meal. RESULTS: Estimated EE was higher than measured EE for both the 200 kcal (825.0±1061.8 vs. 200.1±0.7 kcal, P<0.05) and 300 kcal (896.9±952.4 vs. 300.2±0.7 kcal, P<0.05) sessions. Further, post-exercise energy intake was higher than measured EE for the 200 kcal (556.8±204.4 vs. 200.1±0.7 kcal, P<0.001) and the 300 kcal (607.2±166.5 vs. 300.2±0.7 kcal, P<0.001) sessions. Although post-exercise energy intake was lower than estimated EE, no significant differences were noted. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that normal weight individuals overestimate EE during exercise by 3-4 folds. Further, when asked to precisely compensate for exercise EE with food intake, the resulting energy intake is still 2 to 3 folds greater than the measured EE of exercise.