Your Paleo 2015: Fine Tuning Your Paleo Goals and Choosing Top Priorities

Now that you’ve got your first run at your 2015 SMART Paleo goals lined up let’s fine tune a little. Have you come up with 20 reasons why losing weight is finally going to happen this year, for instance? Maybe 20 is a bit of an exaggeration, but the point remains: if you cannot see good reasons, and I stress the plural here, to carry out what you’ve listed as your goals, think them through a bit more and perhaps but some on the back burner. You’ve got to make sure that each and every action item on your list is first and foremost something you want to do, something you believe in and not something that you’ve reluctantly added on just because you ‘should’. Your doctor telling you to lose weight otherwise you’re going to have to start taking meds for hypertension, your significant other threatening to walk if you don’t get your butt off the couch and to the running trail and your kids being upset that you can’t keep up with them on a hike are valid, poignant reasons to enact goals, but ultimately if it doesn’t ring true to you, you’re not going to budge. (In this case, figuring out why you’re not bothered about these issues may be a goal in and of itself! Yoga…meditation anyone?) So how many goals are on your list, then? And how many mean something significant to you, to the point where you’re willing to be slightly uncomfortable (only inasmuch as it’s a bit of human nature to be uncomfortable with change…but that’s how we make change in the first place!) for a brief period of time to being to get through the rocky part with the trust and confidence that the outcome will be worthwhile? Choose a few off your list, those that are most important, most realistic and save the rest for another time. If you’re new to the Paleo arena and are about to start a new job on January 5th and have just moved into a new apartment, you may be better off having one first goal simply to learn what Paleo really is, rather than decide that on top of everything else, you’re suddenly going to begin grocery shopping, cooking and omitting all processed foods right away. All forward progress is crucial, commendable and that in and of itself shows signs for positive change, much more so than a broad overview lacking detail which might present itself as ‘I tried Paleo at 100%, it was too hard and I’m still fat’. Write up your top three, or perhaps even five and sit with them overnight. If anything doesn’t feel right, change it! And be sure to tune in tomorrow where we get to the fun stuff: how to celebrate New Year’s Eve, Paleoista Style! No deprivation, no ‘cheating’, no worries!