If you work in a stressful profession, neglecting your body makes you very vulnerable to that stress. The most
obvious areas of care for one‘s body are diet and physical exercise. A first
step towards improvement is becoming conscious of your reality. Take a piece of paper and describe how you are currently
paying attention to your diet and getting your exercise. Are you pleased with
the result? Also in this journal, describe a first step in improving your
behavior for the next week. Reflect on the past, but look forward to the goal, make one simple action plan.
There is
always a temptation for small
indulgences. You may tell yourself, "I've been working hard, doing so much good" or "I deserve that candy
bar or extra order of French fries." Another may be, "I've been so busy meeting the demands of my
job that I have just been too busy or too tired to go exercise." Not
all indulgences are bad but they can easily get out of hand. Becoming conscious
of them is a first step to keeping a balance in your life. On your paper, list
a couple of small indulgences that you have given in to during the past month. I know for me, I enjoy fast food from Wendy'. This is both unhealthy and expensive. If I can cut this one bad habit out for a month, I will save money and realize that I can eat healthier.
If you do make a plan to do exercise, try to make a connection with other
people. Some people play sports together, attend exercise classes with others, find a partner to
walk with or run with, etc. When someone else expects you to
participate, this builds accountability and support for changing your habits. Also making the event social makes it more fun and offers more of a motivation than just the pure physical exercise (which you may actually be dreading).
These three simple exercises can be useful in helping you accomplish your physical goals this next year. First journal about your plan and then take one step to execute that plan. Second, consider any "indulgences" that are slowly taxing your health. Third, make the exercise (and even the diets too) social, adding a social element offer an alternative motivation to meet your goals.
