Keeping Your New Year’s Resolution

Many people look at the New Year as an opportunity to break bad habits and initiate good habits. Unfortunately, many of us have great intentions for the first few weeks then our resolutions fall to the wayside. The good news is there are steps you can take to help you succeed.

First, think about what you want to change about your current lifestyle. Then prioritize your list. Pick a few things you want to work on. You will be more likely to succeed if you only focus on making a few changes rather than ten. After you have thought about what you want to change, think about how you are going to do it. Make sure that your goals are measurable. Instead of saying “eat less,” make a resolution to eat between 1,000 and 1,200 calories per day. If you to want increase your activity, state how often you want to exercise and for how long. An example could be, “my new year’s resolution is to exercise 4 times per week for 30 minutes.” That type of resolution is something you can measure and track. There is no way to track your resolution if you simply state, “exercise more.”

Make sure that you write your resolutions on paper and post them in a place where you can view them often. Writing the resolution down on paper makes it more real and posting it where you see it often gives you accountability. Finally, don’t adopt an all or nothing mentality. If you go over you calorie allotment for the day by eating a cookie, so be it. Don’t eat 10 cookies because you think you’ve already blown it. Every meal is an opportunity to eat well. If you eat a high calorie lunch, compensate at dinner. You might be surprised at how close you can still come to your calorie goal. If you don’t have the time to exercise for a few days, don’t let that be the end to your resolution. Do what you can. If you can take a five-minute power walk at lunch or take the stairs all day at work, you’ve done some exercise and that counts.

A resolution is about challenging yourself to go above and beyond. You rose to the challenge and accomplished your goal. Think about how good it would feel to ring in 2008 and know that for one entire year you did the best you could do.