Posted by kathryn in Reviews

December is my quietest time in clinic.

Virtually nobody wants to see their nutritionist before Christmas.

However, the reverse is true in the new year. From mid-January through to March my professional life is full-on.

The most common health statement from clients is:

“I want to lose weight and get healthy”

For many people, they’re back exactly where they were last year and the year before and the year before. It’s the same 10 kilos they’re trying to lose. They still want to get fit. And yet again they’re slightly horrified by what they’ve eaten and drunk over the past five weeks.

Does this sound like you?

Changing your diet is all about changing your habits. And this can be hard to do. The way you eat at the moment, the lifestyle you lead – you have these habits for a reason. And these reasons can be wide ranging:

• the way you were brought up
• convenience
• what’s available to you
• your food knowledge
• your emotional connection to food
• your finances

It’s easy to follow a diet for two weeks. But it’s also easy to fall off the wagon and find yourself eating half a tub of chocolate fudge brownie ice-cream.

Without changing your habits, your new year’s resolution isn’t going to stick.

Can this year be different?

One of the big problems with new year’s resolutions, is they are rarely specific. “Losing weight” and “getting healthy” might be common, but what do they actually mean?

When I’m working with clients I spend as much time on goal setting as I do talking about food. What’s practical, what’s realistic, what are they expecting?.

Changing the way you approach your new year’s resolutions, can lead to long-term habit changes.

Passion for Health’s free new year guide

I’ve been a long-term fan of the Passion for Health website. I’ve linked to them before and have even written a guest post for their site.

What I like about Mike and James’s work, is their practical and realistic approach to changing your health. They believe:

Routine is your friend. After all, the sun comes up in the morning and goes down at night. Your body thrives best on solid healthy habits. If your routine supports health then you’re much more likely to be happy. If it doesn’t then you won’t be. Simple.

They’re about to release a free report: The 7 Reasons Your New Year’s Resolutions Will Fail!. I’ve had a sneak preview and it’s great. Full of wisdom. It looks at the reasons why we slip up with new year’s resolutions and how to change what you’re doing successfully.

If you want to sign up for the free guide click here.

Habit Guide

Plus, in the second week of January, Mike and James are relaunching their Habit Guide.

This isn’t free AND it doesn’t tell you what to do.

Instead it’s about the how of change. Regardless of whether you want to eat more fruit, exercise more, or cut down on the alcohol, Habit Guide can help you make those changes long-term.

Plus if you sign up for the new year guide, you’ll get the option of buying the Habit Guide at a hefty 20 percent discount.

Full disclosure: As I mentioned, I’m a fan of Passion for Health and have written for them before. I bought myself a copy of the Habit Guide earlier in the year and was impressed with it. I am now an Affiliate Partner and I get a commission from each sale of the Habit Guide that originates from Limes & Lycopene.

27 December, 2007