The clean slate of a new year is the perfect opportunity to make changes in your life. Whether you have been waiting to book a vacation or putting off joining a gym, the first quarter of the year is the time to take action. But you need more than a single burst of motivation to keep up with your resolution for longer than a few weeks — you need focus, planning and plenty of support, especially if you want to make changes to your health or lifestyle. This year, try some of these tips to keep your new goals on track and make 2018 a year of total health.
Resolution: Focus on Fitness
Getting your diet and exercise regimen in shape is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions — but it is also one of the hardest to maintain. Your health takes time and effort, and if you are unaccustomed to spending time and effort on fitness, it can be a difficult adjustment to make. If you truly want to make your new health routine work this year, here are a few different approaches to keep you on track:
First, you can try setting smaller goals: for example, instead of going from zero gym time to an hour every day, start with two or three days a week. You’ll be less likely to burn out, and you can slowly add more to your routine as you adjust.
Another tried-and-true method is finding a workout buddy or getting your friends and family on board. Switching to healthy foods is much harder if your spouse claims they are allergic to vegetables and your friends insist on dining out every weekend. The more support you have, the more likely you are to succeed.
And, for those of you who have tried fitness resolutions in the past but were underwhelmed by your results, it may be time to seek help with resistant areas. For many people who are otherwise in excellent physical shape, certain zones simply refuse to give up their fat. In men this is often the area around the waist. For women it is often the inner and outer thighs. The frustration with the stubbornness of these areas can cause a person to lose motivation and fall out of a healthy exercise pattern.
Here is where the team at the Whole Beauty® Institute can help. Treatments like SculpSure, liposuction, and BodyTite can reduce stubborn areas of fat and tighten loose skin. This can motivate a person to seek even higher levels of fitness.
Resolution: More Me Time
Studies show that stress is detrimental to your health. It weakens your immune system, disrupts your sleep cycle, makes hormones go haywire and can even cause high blood pressure. If a busy, stressful schedule has started to catch up to you, your 2018 resolution may be to treat yourself with a little more TLC this year. But if you’re used to overextending, you might be unsure how to break the habit.
Our first tip is to practice saying no. Fear of disappointing a friend, family member or coworker by declining a task or invitation is a major reason people end up with too many plans and responsibilities. Work on putting yourself first in these situations: find ways to politely decline that don’t make you feel uncomfortable. This year, your goal is to find out exactly how much you can put on your plate before you start to feel overwhelmed, and to avoid adding too much more.
Once you have a more comfortable schedule, you’ll find that your free time can be spent in ways that are relaxing and fulfilling. Our second tip is to schedule “me time” the same way you might block out time on a work project or with a friend. Make time on your calendar for hobbies and self-care — you may even want to treat yourself to a winter skin rejuvenation program at the Whole Beauty® Institute. Winter is a great time to repair any damage your skin might have suffered from sun exposure over the warmer months. We offer IPL treatments, which remove brown and red spots from the skin, and custom peels that can address a variety of skin issues. If your face is looking hollow, our skilled team can restore volume with fillers and soften harsh expression lines with Botox and Dysport.
Resolution: New Year, New You
If a healthy outlook is your goal, 2018 might be your year to rediscover yourself and your confidence. Studies show that confident people are happier, more positive and more successful. When you wake up every day and feel like the best version of yourself, you can see the effects in every aspect of your life.
Your first step in making this resolution work is finding out what is holding you back. Sometimes, this requires some serious soul-searching — it takes courage and strength to admit that your flaws are personal and to find a way to work on them. You may also find that your self-consciousness is due only to your own fears and worries. If that is the case, let the New Year be your reason to take the risks you haven’t been able to before.
Sometimes, too, aspects of your physical appearance can be a source of frustration. At the Whole Beauty® Institute, we have seen patients transform both physically and mentally after their surgeries. We love to watch the incredible effects that can occur with a person’s self-image when plastic surgery is done in way that respects a person’s intrinsic identity.
Winter and early spring is the ideal time for many of our surgical procedures, since it is a little easier to keep a low profile during the recovery period. Favorite procedures for our patients at this time are face lifts, eyelid surgery, breast augmentation, structural breast lifts, and body contour surgery.
Now is a great time to visit the team at the Whole Beauty® Institute so that you can set your rejuvenation goals for 2018. You can learn about our advanced approaches to surgical and non-surgical rejuvenation.
Find out what we can do for you- contact us today at 312-751-2112 to schedule your consultation.