Fat January

Did you know that January is the fattest month of the year?

What I mean by that, is according to a UCLA study (no I don't have a link for you, sorry!) people gain the most weight in January. Not December, but January.

That's interesting.

Of course, it could just be our bodies catching up to the enormous amount of leftover candies, hot chocolate, cookies, cake, cheese dip, potatoe pancakes, chocolate (need I go on? I'm getting hungry!) that we ate in the last two weeks of December.

It could be that. But it could also be a result of The Failure Syndrome! See last post!

Instead of actually following your "resolution to get healthy", each day ends with the thought "Boy, I already over-ate at lunch and had that cookie at the office, I might as well have that big bowl of ice cream that's left over in the refrigerator. I've already blown it today."

That mentality goes on and on for a few more weeks, and soon enough, you've gained another 10 pounds. Fat January.

The reality is, that one cookie is no where near blowing it. Yes, cookies have a lot of calories. Probably about 125-200 calories for an average sized chocolate chip cookie. No, not the Costco ones, those are about 250 calories EACH. But, even 250 calories is not much when you think about the fact that it actually requires 3500 EXTRA calories (i.e. above and beyond your basic needs to stay alive) to gain one pound. Even that Costco cookie is only 7% the way there. That is no where near "blowing it".

The damage really happens when you berate yourself for "blowing it", give up, and have the big bowl of ice cream, or whatever you eat after you say "I might as well have that...". At 600 calories per cup, ice cream adds up fast. Assuming you have two cups of ice cream, 3 nights per week, that adds up to a weight gain of just over 53 pounds per year!!!

(MATH: 600x2=1200 calories per bowl: 1200x3=3600 calories per week: 3600x52= 187,200 calories per year: 187200/3500=53.4 pounds gained in one year)

Now, come on. You know you sit down with two cups of ice cream. I would! That doesn't even include the brownie or cookie at the bottom of your bowl, or all the other things you may eat in a week. That's just an average serving of ice cream, only three times per week. That's also 53 extra pounds on your body. Worth it?

Not for me.

So, do you see how entering The Failure Syndrome is actually a self fulfilling prophecy? You never blew it with the cookie, you really blew it when you gave up on yourself, gave in to failure, and accepted that you could not overcome a failure - that wasn't even a failure in the first place!

Of course, I like cookies and ice cream, so I'm using them in this example. But, this scenario plays out the same way in other parts of our lives. Every part of our lives. We are not failures for trying and trying again. We are not even failures for giving up on ourselves. We can make a change at any time. At any moment, we can just decide to make a difference in ourselves and our lives. At any moment, we can just make a choice to do something different.

Try it.

Not only will you make a positive change in yourself. You might even change the world.