Generally, at the end of December we cast serious thought to what we will do differently in the New year. Give up smoking, give up drinking, give up eating! Exercise more, spend more time with the family, save more.

The top New Year’s resolution for 2012 was, surprise surprise, lose weight. So how many of these resolutions are actually kept? And how can you make a resolution that you know you will stick to?

According to a survey conducted by the University of Scranton and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45% of Americans usually make one or more New Year’s resolutions. However, only 14% of people over 50 keep their New Year’s resolutions, with people in their 20s doing better, with a 39% success rate. Maybe people in their 20s are better at changing their lives. Or maybe those over 50 in the study were more honest. Either way, it is clear that well over half of people who made an honest resolution with the best intention of sticking to it failed in their self-appointed task.

Looking Back
As the resolution making approaches, people start looking back over the year, or the last few years, and reflecting on the things that have happened; some good, some bad. Some may even look back at old holiday photos and notice that they have grown a few pounds heavier each year. Or maybe you think back to what you were doing last year, or the year before, and realise that your health has changed enough to prevent you from doing what you used to be able to do without even thinking about it. You may be proud of your achievements this year and want to make sure that you feel that same great sense of pride in achieving so much next year.

Achieving your Goal
However you feel, and whatever you want to change in your life, you need to ask yourself two questions:
1/ Is my goal realistic?
2/ Can I make these changes and live with them happily?

If the answer to either of these questions is “no” then it is very likely that you will join the 61% of twenty-somethings and 86% of over 50s in December 2013 with an unsuccessful, but well meant, resolution.

If you are going to stick to a resolution, you need to make sure that you can achieve it, over time, and that you can enjoy life while you are doing it. So a resolution to lose 100lbs in 2 months by eating nothing but lettuce is unrealistic because it is not achievable and you are likely to be pretty miserable for those two months. What’s more, it is not likely to be sustainable weight loss; crash diet weight is likely to go back on as quickly as it comes off.

If you are overweight, you may have tried several different diets over the years, with equal determination and commitment each time. We know that sometimes it is just not that easy to lose weight, to change habits that have accumulated over a lifetime, and to maintain those changes for ever.

At Weight loss Mexico we offer a range of weight loss surgery procedures to suit the needs of our patients. We don’t think bariatric surgery is cheating; it still takes a lot of courage and commitment but can be helping hand to get on the right track. At the same time we don’t think that everyone with a high BMI is right for bariatric surgery; we treat every patient as an individual and help them to decide what is best for them.

This year, if your resolution is to lose weight; to change your lifestyle, change your health and keep the weight off, then contact us for an obligation-free consultation. See if Weight Loss Mexico can help you to make 2013 a year when you achieve your New Year’s resolution.