The end of February signals many things–the first glimmers of crocus, thin beams of rosy sunshine, and, the
emptying out of health club parking lots. Suddenly anyone can get a space right at the front door. New Year’s resolutions tend to peter out around mid-February, and, just as the world is brightening and perking up, your commitment to fitness has shriveled and died the ugly death of a two-month-old limp holiday helium balloon. We’re talking flat. Sluggish. Possibly chewed on and spat up by a pet. Pretty grim, isn’t it?
Or is it?
We here at Doc Gurley like to think of the end of two months (aka “March 1”) as merely the start of Phase II in a wonderful, predictable roller-coaster of Change. For those who want to feel a zing of re-commitment energy, check out the Doc Gurley classic post “Irritable? Congratulations!” But where do you go from here if you’ve fallen off your New Year’s Resolution Wagon? Should you beat yourself up?
The measured, carefully calibrated, scientific reply to that question is–no, NO, NO! Instead, you congratulate yourself on achieving two better months than you had before you made your commitment–you’ve had two months under your belt of more energy devoted to getting yourself healthy. But now what? Maybe it’s time to assess what worked and what didn’t. Do you need more social support? Was your exercise plan just too time-intensive (mothers of toddlers and infants, raise your hands!)? Now it’s time to brainstorm for how you can approach the next two months! Get a load of this great article on how to make your work-out stick better during phase II–this CNN piece talks about a Doc Gurley favorite when it comes to working out: make exercise a necessary part of your day, instead of something special you have to go do. If you walk or cycle or take a subway to work–it might take you 15, or even 20 minutes longer to get there. But hey–you’ll save yourself a minimum of one hour of getting ready and detouring to a gym and (if you’re like me) at least another ten minutes talking yourself out of the front door parking space, and into the building. When you get home, you’re done! And you get exercise five days a week, just by heading into work! The start of March is the perfect time to begin Phase II of your commitment to yourself!