"New Year's Resolution"???

A happy new year to all...goodbye 2008...I think lots of people are happy to see this year go bye-bye.

The overwhelming majority of people who make "New Year's Resolutions" usually focus on health issues...stop smoking, decrease drinking, exercise more, etc...but the biggest one by far is the resolve to "lose weight". Every year the resolution is made and pretty much every year the resolution is broken somewhere along the line. Why does this happen? It is the proverbial battle between the intellectual part of the brain vs. the instinctual part of the brain. The intellectual part tells you, because of health reasons, aesthetic issues, self-confidence, etc to lose weight. But in order to lose weight you have to go against the instinctual part of the brain which compells you to eat high-caloric food sources. The slowing of metabolism, the social nature of eating and drinking, the immediate gratification of food..all of these lead to weight gain. If your goal is to gain weight, this does not require one second of thought process. If your goal is to lose weight, this requires constant thinking, planning, counting portions, eliminating good tasting foods etc...essentially lots and lots of work. And it is not fun work either. So how do you win the war? Obviously, there is no simple answer but I strongly advise you to make a list: On one side write down all the reasons why you want to live longer, look younger and feel better: reasons such as wanting to be around to see your grandchildren grow up, wanting to not feel tired during the day, wanting to have people look at you and think how good you look or younger than your age, etc. Make a list. Then, on the other side, make a list of the activities that keep you overweight: drining wine daily, overeating at meals, snacking on chocolates/ice cream, not exercising, etc. Compare the lists. Which is more important to you? Seeing your grandchild graduate from college or eating snickers? Not having your knees and back hurt or having 2 glasses of wine every nite? Make a full list so you can see and evaluate your choices. Because it does come down to making choices. I will not try to convince you that losing weight does not involve sacrificing some really fun behaviors. It is a choice...your choice as to whether you want to be healthier and look better or give in to the daily food sources that screw up your weight. Make a choice and then stick with it. Don't waver back and forth. Look at your list daily if you have to. You know what the smart choice is. As our Serotonin-Plus tee shirt says on the back: "Just Lose It!".