Readers resolve to shed the flab

Dubai: Times may have changed, but priorities seem to be the same. Good health and saving money are still dearest to Gulf News readers, according to the results of a recent Gulf News poll.

In an online poll, that ran through the month of December, 2009, Gulf News asked readers what their New Year’s resolution would be. With a staggering response of over 10,000 votes, shedding the pounds was highest on readers’ priority list.

Over 3,000 people, or 29 per cent of voters, said that they either wanted to lose weight or get fit. That is always a popular New Year’s resolution, according to Carole Holditch, a Dubai-based motivational speaker and founder of Good Habits, a support group helping people to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

Having organised classes for over 10 years, Holditch has seen her fair share of people who make and break resolutions.

She said: "According to me, resolutions never work, because they are aimed to be exclusively for January 1.

"People don’t think their resolutions through and set unrealistic goals, like losing 10 kilograms in two months. You are simply setting yourself up for failure and are bound to feel miserable at the end."

For those looking to get fit, Holditch advised doing some deep soul-searching and coming up with a realistic plan to see how they could lose weight and keep it off, too.
The next most popular resolution among Gulf News readers was to save money, with 27 per cent votes.




Fahad Qader, a Dubai-based reader, wrote on gulfnews.com: "Last year was quite a rude shock for me — I lost my job and realised how bad my money management is. I’m hoping to get out of all my credit card debts this year."

Holditch advised readers to go back to the drawing board and figure out the nuts and bolts of how to effectively change extravagant habits.

"If you want to save money, are you willing to make yourself a sandwich to work, instead of ordering out? Or give yourself a budget for socialising? Or even do the gardening instead of paying a gardener? You soon realise that you cannot possibly do more than half the things you wished to do."

However, she points towards the light at the end of the tunnel: "If you don’t believe you can fulfil a certain resolution, you never will. Faith is the number one requirement. If you have faith, you’ll keep trying and you don’t really fail until you stop trying."

And once faith sees you through, the success soon spreads to other aspects of your life.

"Once you succeed in achieving a goal, you want to set yourself another one — success can be addictive. Changing your habits is a battle and it is all about making those small wins, with one resolution at a time."

What is your New Year’s resolution? What are you expecting from 2010? Sound off by clicking on the 'post a comment' link below