The Successful Resolution Achiever

Last week, I introduced the 5 Bs to increase your chances for success with your New Year’s Resolutions.

• Beneficial
• Buddy
• Blog
• Brain
• Biochemical Balance

Here’s how they fit together. You create Beneficial positive goals with a Buddy that can help you stay focused and Blog about the positive steps you took each day to keep you going. The last 2 Bs are Brain and Biochemical Balance, which are explained below.

Brain
In the Reuters interview, I talked with the journalist a lot about “compliance” – a very “hot” topic in lifestyle research these days, but basically just a fancy way to talk about “how do we get people to STAY with their healthy programs?” (and not go “back” to their “old” ways). A key aspect of compliance research has to do with WILLPOWER – which you might think of as “determination” or “self-discipline” or “self-control” or some other definition that would basically be the opposite of having control over a certain “weakness” (for cookies or French fries or chocolate or whatever – these just happen to be 3 of my favorites).

The interesting thing about “willpower” is that we have an astonishingly poor ability to exert any control over it. Willpower is a mental resource controlled by the part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex (right behind your forehead) – the same part of your brain involved in mental focus, memory, and problem solving. When the prefrontal cortex gets overloaded with “problems” at work, home, and in any aspect of your life (what we might also call “stress”) – both our cognitive functions and our willpower suffer. This “overload” situation means that we’re much less able to “resist” the lure of junk food when we’re stressed – or even when we’re subjected to any type of mental load. No wonder we can hear the Ben and Jerry’s calling our name when we get home from a stressful day at the office.
This sounds terrible – mental stressors overload the brain and short-circuit our ability to stick with the healthy program that we want to follow. Luckily, we know a great deal about why mental stressors lead to physical cravings – and we’re just realizing that we can balance stress responses (the “mind” part of the equation) to exert positive biochemical and physiological changes (the “body” part of the equation). By promoting “Balance” in the body and mind, we can harness the power of the prefrontal cortex to help us rather than hinder us in our ability to adhere to our resolutions.

Balance
What if I were to give you a choice of 3 perfectly safe injections – one would control your appetite and help you shed belly fat – another would improve your energy levels (mental and physical) – and the third would sharpen your mental focus and elevate your mood. Which injection would you choose? All three, you say? Yeah – me too!

What if I were then to tell you that your brain is already perfectly capable of giving you (or withholding from you) these “injections” on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis? When your brain is exposed to any type of stress – be it work stress, family stress, financial stress, or even the stress of sleep loss or dieting – your “willpower” weakens (prefrontal cortex overload) in direct proportion to the biochemical changes in your body. Stress leads to imbalances in cortisol (a stress hormone), blood sugar (the brain’s primary fuel source), and a variety of inter-related hormones, enzymes and neurotransmitters. When we’re under stress, our brains give us more of certain “injections” and less of others – so our internal biochemistry becomes unbalanced and we feel hungrier, and more tired, and more depressed – and we quickly lose the motivation or the “willpower” to stick with the goals that we’ve set for ourselves. We join those 88% of people who “fail” to achieve their New Year resolution because the stress of life has unbalanced our bodies and short-circuited our mental resolve.

How do we firmly place ourselves in the 12% of successful resolution achievers? We can’t escape from the stressors of daily living – so we must do whatever we can to maintain that balance that can so easily be thrown off by daily stress. By following the “Five B’s” – keep your goal Beneficial by emphasizing the positive – set your goals with a Buddy – Blog about your daily successes – harness the power of your Brain – and maintain Biochemical Balance – 2010 might be the year that you achieve BOTH of the most popular New Year resolutions at the same time (“lose weight” and “reduce stress”).

Dr. Talbott received his Master's degree in Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts, his Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Rutgers University, and is a graduate of the Entrepreneurial Masters Program from the Sloan School of Business. Dr. Talbott has published over 200 articles and 7 books on nutrition, health and fitness. He has served as a nutrition consultant and educator for elite-level athletes in a variety of sports, including professional triathlon, the NBA, the US Ski and Snowboard Association, the Performance Enhancement Team for USTFA, and US Olympic Training Centers. Website: http://shawntalbott.com