How To Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions Beyond January

As January winds to an end, you might find yourself hanging on to your New Year’s resolutions (and your sanity, for that matter) by a single dwindling thread. It was not long ago that you were motivated with your “new year, new you” attitude and the plan, pill, or personal trainer that would make all your fitness goals come true. But the month where good intentions go to die is upon us, and despite your best efforts to stay on the wagon, you might find yourself feeling discouraged.

As a certified personal trainer, I see this pattern of behavior every year, and it is honestly painful to watch. The shiny New Year dreams seem to be accompanied inevitably by a new level of overwhelming stress that can keep you from conquering the goals you are working so hard to achieve.

See also: 10 St. Louis Restaurants That Won’t Break Your New Year’s Resolutions

To break the cycle, it’s important to understand how your body operates so you can achieve all your goals while avoiding a mental breakdown.

The Caveman

Stress serves an evolutionary purpose that is rarely necessary in life today.  Stress causes a “fight or flight” response in which the body releases several hormones in an effort to overcome the cause of the stress. Back when cavemen roamed the Earth, those hormones gave the body what it needed to make it back to the cave alive. These hormones include adrenalin, corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH), and cortisol. The adrenalin and CRH are meant to increase energy availability and accessibility for the body immediately to perform at optimal levels (so the caveman can, say, outrun a wild animal).  After this close encounter, the cortisol remains elevated and is designed to replenish the body’s fat stores by triggering hunger. To the caveman, this meant eating a large quantity of food to make up for the calories burned during the great escape so that tomorrow he has enough energy stores to wrestle a bear. The caveman survives the stress of his life in the wild without developing a muffin top.

Evolution Playing Catch-up

This evolutionary trait once existed as a means of survival, however, its purpose in the twenty-first century is puzzling.  Most of the stress that people encounter today involves a taxing day at work or an unruly child who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “no” or even a heated fight with your other half.  This kind of stress does not require the “fight or flight” response because the events that cause this stress do not require some incredible physical feat.  But evolution hasn’t caught up to our lifestyles yet, so when we experience stress, no matter the kind, the hormones that helped ancient humans survive flow through our bodies anyways. And unfortunately following right behind is the hormone that makes you want to eat everything.  Which means that stressing about how much you want to weigh, or how many workouts you can squeeze into your busy schedule, or even the ongoing calorie count you have in your head is probably not helping you achieve your goals. And it may even be hurting you.

Smarten Up and Slim Down        

So what is a person to do?

Well for starters…. Stop stressin’! Even the most reasonable goals, perfect meal plan, and well thought-out workout regime can be sabotaged by all the pressure that comes with it. The key to escaping this cycle is avoiding stress. Accept that you will slip up, there will be birthday cake or greasy date-night pizza or holiday candy. You will be too tired or too sick or too busy to workout. And that’s OKAY. Wipe the remnants from your satisfied mouth, strap in to your favorite tennis shoes, and move on. Make the next workout a hard one and the next meal a clean one. That one slip will not ruin all your hopes and dreams, even though I know it feels like the end of the world.

Be proud that you have set goals. Not many people have the courage to do even that. Be happy with how far you have come and the changes you have already made. Any amount of progress is impressive. Be excited that you are strong enough to indulge every once in awhile without giving up on a healthier lifestyle.

You aren’t done yet, so tell yourself how great you are every chance you get, and keep on keepin’ on!

Other Tips to Reduce Stress

Aside from being nicer to yourself, there are several other simple ways to reduce stress’ nasty bi-product, cortisol.  In addition to regular exercise and sleep, many mental health professionals recommend calming activities including breathing exercises, meditating, listening to music, and getting a massage to reduce cortisol levels. There are also studies that endorse drinking black tea and chewing gum.

St. Louis to the Rescue

Lucky for us, St. Louis offers many pleasant solutions to stress.

Meditating and Breathing Exercises

Meditation classes and workshops are held at the St. Louis County Library, Yoga 6, and Big Bend Yoga Center.  And since we are all about efficiency, I should mention that yoga is a popular exercise that includes both of these stress shredding activities and is offered at these places and many more.    

Another, perhaps more practical, option is to take advantage of all of the beautiful parks in St. Louis.  Grab your water bottle and a mat and go camp out under a tree for some low key (and free) stress reduction.

Black Tea

The London Tea Room, Mary Ann’s Tea Room, and Teavana are only a handful of places to get the soothing black tea known to melt away your stress.   

Massage

As my personal favorite option for reducing stress, massage is an activity that requires you to lie down while SOMEONE ELSE rubs and kneads your stress away.  In our crazy lives, I can’t imagine a more relaxing or effortless way to spend an hour while lowering cortisol levels.

In St. Louis you have your pick of massage studios and spas with a wide range of prices: Massage Envy, The Face and Body (highly recommend), Morgan Ford Massage and Spa, Indigo Massage and Wellness, and more.

Emily Eckley is a NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) and NCCPT (National Council for Certified Personal Trainers) certified personal trainer.