There’s a popular belief that putting on weight over Christmas is unavoidable and that we’ll need a New Year resolution to start our weight-loss programme.
But it needn’t be that way. Indeed following that pattern only serves to reinforce a sense that our lives are determined by our circumstances rather than by ourselves.
I spend much of my time teaching my clients how to take control of their lives. Taking control of our weight at Christmas gives us a pretty good grounding to take control of our whole lives.
Deferring starting a weight loss programme is an example of playing the ‘when-then game’. “When the circumstances are right, then I’ll take control”. The better approach is always to start now. Taking action in challenging circumstances is empowering. It gives us the message: “I’m powerful, I’m in control, I can achieve anything if I put my mind to it”. What do we gain by putting it on before we start taking it off? Acting now makes more sense.
Christmas is in fact a perfect time to start losing weight. The tools taught in the programme make this entirely possible and not at all challenging. And once we’ve achieved it, we’ll have the assurance that anything is possible and that our goal will not be challenging to achieve and sustain.
Graham Price