Reset Positive Eating Patterns After the Holidays

Nobody wants to cleanse over the holidays, there is so much good food and cheer and it feels good to let loose a little. Many people have the willpower to re-establish there healthy routines once the holidays are over, but that is not true for everyone.

Most people gain an average of five pounds over the holidays and then never get rid of it. That is probably why there are so many heroic programs in the New Year. Bootcamps, cleanses and the like promise to reset the system and leave you feeling your best. While this may be true, my practice of Ayurveda has always revolved around the idea: get the most benefit with as little effort as possible.

 In business and tech circles this is often referred to as the Pareto principle or the 80/20 rule. Basically it means that 80% of the benefits come from 20% of the effort. The Re-Solution program is based on this understanding.

The Re-Solution program is meant to be sustainable. It is meant to be gentle enough to encourage you to continue some of the lifestyle and dietary changes that you have made after the 14 day program is complete.

By taking the long term approach it minimizes the potential for adverse reactions. The more intense or heroic a new year’s program is the more likely it is that something can go wrong. You injure your back or you have a week of headaches.

Although this program is safe and effective I have many pages devoted to what can go wrong and how to work with it in the book. Even though I have led a huge number of people through this program there are always surprises. There is always someone who does not respond in the general way and that is the essence of that section.

My knowledge of Ayurveda, yoga and modern nutrition continues to grow and so I have done my best to make the Re-Solution program dynamic. That means that there are just enough guidelines and guideposts in order to keep you on track, but there is also flexibility.

For example I provide examples of foods that you can eat during the program and recipes for these different foods, but you are not required to eat any of them. Instead you are encouraged to look at the foods that usually eat and see if you can modify them slightly in order to follow the general dietary guidelines laid out in the beginning of the book.
Each section has multiple options of dietary strategies and when you find something that you like you can continue it for the remainder of the program. In a way the whole program is to introduce you to healthy practices and recipes and allow you to choose for yourself which ones work the best for you.

I think of myself as more of a coach than a teacher. A coach looks at your strengths and weaknesses and pushes you to try new things so that you can benefit from your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. Most teachers provide information that they believe you need to know and then test you on your retention of that information.

The re-solution program is meant to be a guide, just like a coach is a guide. It is meant to provide all the tools and tricks that you would need to be successful, but as a part of the team you are still ultimately responsible for the results that you get. You have to put forth the effort. That is why understanding why you are doing the program is the most important part. If you are not passionate about the goal that is driving you to make these beneficial changes then it is unlikely that you will succeed. If you are part of a team and winning is not important to you then you will not put forth the necessary effort to make yourself and your team a success. I hope that this program provides you the success that you deserve.