Dear Pamela,
I just started Dry January. Every year I take this month to press reset. I don’t drink any alcohol, I workout more regularly, I prioritize sleep and I stop eating goodies all the time.
Every year I drop weight and feel great. I swear I will keep it up.
Over the months, bad habits and excuses start creeping back in. By summer, I am usually debating Dry June, but with travel and friends, I never do it.
When Fall comes with all of the holidays, my best intentions are out the window, I gain more weight, and I start the cycle again.
It’s like I know what to do, but just can’t keep doing it.
This year I will turn 50 and I want to feel good about myself. This cycle makes me feel like a failure.
How can I do better?
Sincerely,
Dry Goals
Dear Goals,
How can I phrase this…..
Fuck Dry January
What do you think of when you hear Dry January? That’s right. The Sahara Desert. Chapped lips. Old beef jerky. Tumbleweeds.
You’re about to become a monk wearing a burlap sack and using a bag of rocks for a pillow.
It’s something to get through.
Penance for the fun you just had.
D-R-Y: One tiny, three letter word and total misery is evoked in every aspect of your life.
Here’s a better approach
Make January the Opposite of DRY by focusing on what you ARE DOING.
You ARE DRENCHED with sweat from workouts that make you stronger and push your mood through the roof.
You are bathing your cells in nutrient-packed REAL FOODS and they are are silent-screaming with joy.
You are happily HYDRATING with liquids that serve your body instead of sending your metabolism and hormones spiraling with alcohol.
You are getting your well-fed and exercised cells into bed on time so you can SLEEPING LIKE A ROCK and bounce out of bed eight hours later, ready to squeeze every ounce of zest out of the day.
None of that sounds dry to me.
It’s all about your mindset
If you hate everything you do in January, prepare to fail.
If you look at that list above and think, “Nope, I can’t,” narrow down what exactly you feel you can’t do and then rephrase it by saying, “That’s not a priority to me.” How does that feel?
If you look at that list and say, “Hell yea! That’s what I want to feel like.” Let’s go! You absolutely can operate that way every day.
It’s possible to think, “I’m going to choose x instead of y because I WANT to feel my best.”
That lands a lot differently than making a choice because you feel you SHOULD.
Why your heart hates Dry January
Remember the term Yo-Yo dieting from the 80’s? That’s what you are doing and it’s actually worse for your body than if you just stayed fat.
Watch this math:
Drop 10% of your body weight = Heart Disease risk drops 5%
Gain 10% of your body weight = Heart Disease risk increases 10%
= If you gain back EXACTLY what you lost, you have increased your risk of heart disease 5% versus if you hadn’t made a change at all!!
(These %’s are approximate, but this increased risk is fact)
Heart disease is still the #1 killer of women in America = this is not about vanity, it’s about your lifespan.
It’s going to take more than the month of January to create the type of health that’s going to keep you alive and living like a kick-ass woman.
If I had a mic, I’d drop it.
I know you’ve heard me. I know you are squirming in your seat just a little, feeling uncomfortable with the idea of changing.
Let go of that fear
Who cares what you’ve done before.
Who cares if you might need to try new things.
Who cares if some of those things might not work, and you’ll need to try something else.
Who cares if you fail and then start again
You will not let perfection be the enemy of progress.
You are worth the effort.
You are getting older and your body needs you RIGHT NOW.
If you’re motivated, but not sure how to start, you might need a trainer or coach. That direction and accountability is priceless.
Now, go get those goals. See your health-cup as overflowing and bottoms up!
Sending you wet and sloppy piles of health,
Coach Pamela
