Diet for the New Year?

It is only October 2007 and already I have made my New Years Resolutions for 2008. I admit its early, but I figure this way rather than looking back at what I did not manage to achieve this year I can set about preparing to achieve my goals for next year.

To be honest the only goal I had for 2007 was to lose weight. Thirty kilos to be exact. I wanted to be the weight I was when I was 17 some twenty years ago. Now you may think that this is a huge task, and others may think it is just a drop in the ocean. Either way none of that matters, because even though I have run the gauntlet of diet fads, sensible eating programs and amazing new exercise regimes I still weigh the same weight as when I started.

Advertisements on the television scream out at me to " LOSE WEIGHT FOR SUMMER!!" I have direct marketing advertisements come through the letterbox telling me "I CAN DO IT!!" Well apparently I can't, or I did not want to, I am not sure which. I have as many excuses as I have false starts and one or two of them are even valid. For example I have not enjoyed the best of health this year and inside I know the reality is that this will change when I finally do it, when I bite the bullet and once and for all shed the skin I am living in. I cannot help but wonder what is underneath.

My husband, who of course loves me just as I am, tells me I live the life of a hermit. This is true but it has nothing to do with the way I feel about myself. I just find that people are exhausting. No one ever has anything nice to talk about instead they want to gossip and whine about friend and so called loved ones. Shopping to me is an absolute bore and I always come away with a headache from the noise and the crowds.

I do not expect any of this to change just because I lose weight. I expect that I will still prefer to stay home in semi seclusion looking after my family and practicing the things I enjoy - writing, yoga, playing the piano that my lovely husband just bought for me and practicing kata. (KATA a series of basic karate defence and attacking movements) Kata is the one thing from years of Karate training that I still thoroughly enjoy and want to continue to perfect. I do see that losing weight will improve my practise of both yoga and kata and I will look forward to this change.

Losing weight for me, has been very frustrating as I am sure it is for anyone trying to downsize. I have suffered long term iron deficiency and have to be very careful about dropping the number of calories I consume each day. Then I have to ensure that my exercise calories alone out number my consumption calories. In order to lose any weight I have to consistently train for 2 hours every day. I will always plateau three weeks in and that is usually when I hit the psychological wall. So I take a break, and get going again a few weeks later. It is a very tiring and frustrating process, but that's life.

Whether I am training full on or not I practise yoga every day and it is wonderful. The moments spent practicing have led me to accept me, myself and even I. When I stop and spend time listening to my body and following my breath, I feel rejuvenated and closer to peace with each movement. Yoga is what is leading me back to me. Instead of resenting the limitations of my body I now see the possibilities. Hence my New Years Resolution for 2008.

In 2008, I will lose 10 kilos before the year is out, and I will not fall into the trap of handing over a fist full of dollars in order to do it. I believe that personally in the last 20 years I have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the weight loss industry. It is a great industry and does have a lot to offer, for some people, but not for me. This time I am going it alone. Well not completely I am dragging my long-suffering family along with me. However, unlike every other time I'm not letting on. It will save me from having to see that look, you know, as they roll their eyes, and say "yeah sure mum, this ones it".

I am waiting for the day my thirteen-year-old son looks at me from across the table and asks "hey mum are you losing weight?" And I will know it is because he really has seen a difference, not because he is sucking up for something. This thought just occurred to me, I have been on a diet his entire life. I have a 14-month-old daughter, I have to change this now, I have to get off the merry-go-yo-yo diet ride and set her off on the right track.

More importantly though, I want to be around for a very long time, and to do that I need to get this under control and I will.

My second New Years Resolution for 2008 is to attend the Yoga Expo in Sydney and participate in the fundraising marathon by performing 108 sun salutations. The money raised goes to children charities, what better motivation do you need.

I know you might be thinking that 10 kilos off a woman my size is not such a big deal, and yes I still want to loose thirty kilos. I have wanted to loose 30 kilos every year for the last three years and I always finish the year off weighing the same amount I did in the beginning. So this time I am breaking it down to a three-year plan. I will drop 10 kilos by the end of this year, then another 10 by the end of next year and a further 10 kilos in 2009. I have a larger long-term goal for 2010. I am ultimately in training to compete in the International Kofukan Karate Championships being held in Sweden 2010. So for that, my family and my own longevity, I am at last in training.

So why wait until the end of the year? If there is something you want to do, why not start now. Break it into smaller steps if you have to and get going. Good Luck and Happy New Year!