Ready For a Better You?
Make 2007 Your Personal Best Year
By Sabrina Lee Sanchez, Staff Writer
The New Year is here! Got resolutions on the brain? Instead of coming up with the same old stuff, this year make a commitment to yourself that can "positively" affect the rest of your life. Take the challenge to change the way you think and feel about yourself and commit to become healthier in 2007. It's easier than you ever imagined!
Don't Believe the Hype
Media got you down? The cover of a woman's magazine can be a real bummer. "Perfect Makeup in Five Minutes." "Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days." It's so easy to believe the hype about beauty and what you have to do to be "in" when all you see are pics of celebs and models that look gorgeous—all the time! The trouble starts when you compare yourself to these unrealistic images of beauty. The images you see in fashion magazines are not the norm. For example, the waist size of a runway model is 23 inches. But, the average waist size of an American woman is 36.5 inches!
Model Behavior
Fashion powerhouses in London and Madrid have announced that they will only allow healthy-looking models (*Body Mass Index over 18) to strut their stuff at annual fashion events. Even though media images would have you believe you need to be stick thin, it's simply not true. There is no need to be pin thin if it's not your normal build. Embrace the body you were born with. A positive attitude is as important to success as how you eat and exercise.
*Body Mass Index is a calculation based on weight and height
Exercise Your Choice
If you want to exercise to feel good about yourself set realistic goals! You probably won't be able to run 10 miles if you've never run before, so start out slowly. Try taking the stairs instead of the elevator or carry groceries in a basket instead of a shopping cart. One of the easiest ways to get more exercise is to simply walk more. To stay fit, you should take 10,000 steps a day. It sounds hard, but even at a moderate pace, you take 100 steps every minute.
If you've never exercised before, begin with just 10 to 20 minutes of activity twice a week, then tack on five minutes the next week and so on. Eventually, you'll be able to work up to 30 to 45 minutes of biking, speed-walking, running or another cardiovascular exercise. If you don't have a solid block of time, split up your workout throughout the day!
Keep Up the Momentum
Jot down answers to these questions (be 100% honest, you're the only one who will ever see the answer):
- Why you want to be fit?
- What are your expectations?
- What happened the last time you tried to eat healthy?
Review your answers and think about your reasons.
What's Your Motive?
Was your motivation for exercise to fit into your dress for the school dance or to look good in a school picture? Instead of trying to reach a short-term goal like that, focus on taking small steps and setting goals that you can build on—like exercising three days a week or eating breakfast every morning. Try to set one long-term goal, such as I want to feel and look healthy.
Getting fit will increase your energy level, make your complexion glow, keep illness at bay, keep your mind sharp and yes, even make your clothes fit better. Give fitness a try, whether losing weight is among your goals or not, because being fit feels good!
Live the New You!
After you've chosen your own personal goal for a healthier you, imagine what you want your new life to look like. Think about what changes you need to make to reach your goal and write this down in your journal or blog, or post it in a highly visible location, like over your desk or by your bedroom mirror. Remember what you have written down or posted when you make your everyday decisions. Ask, "Is this small decision leading me toward, or away from, my vision of who I want to become?" To live the new you, focus on one or two activities that support your personal vision and fold one minute's worth of that activity into your schedule several days each week. This one minute might be the start of a new journey to your best year yet!
uniquely ME! THE GIRL SCOUT/DOVE SELF-ESTEEM PROGRAM was established in the fall of 2001 to boost self-esteem among girls ages 8 to 17. The uniquely ME! resources are available for all girls.
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