“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Einstein once said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. This applies to just about everything. Lets relate it to what you eat and the stress you may feel at any given moment.

Think about what you eat and how you exercise. Are you thinking? Chances are you are sticking to basically the same foods and same exercise patterns. If this is working for you..Bravo! The same actions resulting in the same outcome. But I think most people will lean toward the side of still wanting to change something about their body, health and/or energy levels.

Think of the first week of the New Year, when you get to the gym and all of the treadmills are full. Six weeks into the year, some of the new people are not there anymore but you still see most of the same people from last year, still running on the treadmill and still looking a bit overweight.

When you keep putting in the same- you get out the same. You get very little change in who you are: on the outside as well as on the inside. These same foods, exercises or lack of, daily choices and THOUGHTS are part of what lead to stress.

This year, instead of making a New Years Resolution, I think you should make a New Year's Intention. Setting a New Year's Intention is setting yourself up for success. When you make an intention for yourself, you must write it down and right down the steps you will take to meet your intention. In a way it is more serious and concrete. It's like when you begin a new business, you want to create a mission statement, which is similar to a intention. When we create Intentions, we change our thoughts and actions so we can accomplish our Intention.

Since you have changed your thoughts, you are going to change some behaviors and ultimately will get a NEW OUTCOME. As you begin to live the life you really see for yourself, you will experience less stress.

Tip: This year, Create a Vision-Picture Board of some things you want for yourself in the upcoming years. Find pictures of what you want. Create Statements and Intentions and place them all on your INTENTION POSTER. As you are really able to visualize what you want for yourself, you will find the means to create a new reality. You will change what you have been putting in to get some new output. This transformation can be Physical as well as Mental. Good Luck!

One of my Intentions is to introduce new concepts in eating, exercise and thinking to as many people as possible, hoping to create new dialogues of possibilities and realities. I want to inspire people to think about Why they have the beliefs they do about food and exercise. I hope as a nation more people begin to challenge and contemplate if everything they have been led to believe about food is true. Choosing foods can be like choosing medicines at a pharmacy. Change what you have been doing and thinking and try something new at least, every other day.

*I tried a Lentil Quesadilla today. I thought I would hate it because of how it looked, but it was excellent. (I got it at Rising Tide, in case you want to try it too.)