|
 |
A few years ago Oprah and her trainer, Bob Greene, put together a “Best Life Challenge” program to help people commit to a healthier lifestyle — to be the best they could be. To start, participants had to sign a contract that stated they would live an active life and demonstrate self-control when it came to eating. The contract went on to promise that those signing it would be conscious of what and why they ate and eat simply to satisfy nutritional needs, not emotional needs.
Why not make 2010 the year you fully commit to your health? Take a lesson from Bob and Oprah and draw up your own contract to get healthy and make yourself a priority. Your signed contract not only makes you accountable, but it serves as a symbol and reminder of your promise to yourself. To start, write down all the excuses you have for not exercising or taking care of yourself. Next, come up with effective counter-measures for each excuse or reason you have. For example, your excuse for not exercising is that you don’t have enough time in the day. A counter-measure may be that you go to sleep an hour earlier and wake up an hour earlier three times a week to get a morning workout in before work. Another example is driving through the fast food lane is easier, quicker and less hassle than shopping, cooking and cleaning up. An effective counter-measure may be that you take some time on the weekend to plan out your meals, shop and prepare them for the week ahead. The final step is actually writing the contract and signing it. Here is where you include the counter-measures. You’ll want to make sure you clearly spell out what you are going to do and how you will handle certain situations.
Use the following template to help you get started on writing your own contract. I, _____________________, hereby commit to living a healthier lifestyle in 2010. I agree to be more active and demonstrate self-control when it comes to eating. I agree to put myself first and commit to the following steps to help improve my accountability to myself. *List what you are going to do here in bullet form I recognize that this contract is solely with me and for me.
|