I am sure I am not alone in saying that for many, many years, I watched hundreds of Monday’s come and go without starting that diet which I had planned to on the Friday before. Once you have decided to start your diet on a particular date, you are filled with dread as that day approaches, perhaps you eat a good breakfast but by lunchtime you go back to your usual hamburger and then you have to wait until the following Monday to come around again ( because gets can only start on a Monday right?).
Just before my friend Heather Weber and I turned 30, we made a pact that the first Monday of our 31st year would be the one, the new chapter in our lives which would see us lose weight and live well, and that is exactly what we did. If you are like I was and keep putting off that diet, here is how to make sure that this Monday, is the start of a new you.
Preparing in Advance
Make the deal with yourself a month in advance, this will give you time to mentally prepare for you diet and you will notice that you begin to change some habits in anticipation of your new way of living. This is not just about mentally preparing, in the time leading up to your diet you should be planning for what kind of meals you will be eating, how you will prepare your food and how much exercise you will do. Make sure that you write a lot of things down so that when the time comes, you are fully prepared.
Tell The World
Make sure that you tell people close to your what you are planning to do, this will give you some accountability about your new diet and it will give you the necessary pressure to stick to it because nobody wants to be a failure.
Start Clearing Out
Many a Monday has come for me when I have said “I can’t start today because I still have that pizza in the fridge”. Make sure that you remove this option by gradually clearing out all of the fatty foods and treats that you have in the home during the weeks leading up to your diet.
Don’t Stop
On that Monday that you decide to start the diet, whatever should go wrong, if anything, you must forget about it and move on. Giving up because of a tiny error may set you back weeks or months so it is best to ignore it entirely and carry on regardless. Willpower is not something that all of us have a great deal of but remember that you are trying to change habits here which will simply not happen overnight.
Give yourself enough time to prepare, set the date in stone and that make sure that this will be the last time in your life that you say “next Monday…”.