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Health
Healthy Resolutions for the New Year by
Debra Pugh
Many people set New Years Resolutions for they
see an area in their life that needs improvement. What separates the
people who are successful in reaching their goals and those that
have given up by February? Thomas Edison once said, “I have not
failed 10,000 times. I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will
not work.” Think positive! Avoid negative labels and blaming
yourself or others. Instead, take a problem-solving approach to help
you be more successful this year in setting New Year’s Resolutions
and sticking to them throughout this next year.
Make Specific Plans; not Vague Ideas
It is not enough to say, “I will exercise regularly, or I will have
healthier eating habits.” Be specific and write down a plan of how
many days a week you will exercise and if you are going to walk,
ride a bike, jog, lift weights, aerobics, etc. Then decide if you
will exercise before work, during your lunch time, or after work?
The important part is to schedule the time as an appointment in your
day planner or calendar and do not cancel it! If you want to “have a
healthier eating habit,” you should follow the same plan and record
a goal for how many servings of fruit and vegetables you are going
to eat each day, and how many ounces of water you will drink. Make a
list of food you will need to buy for your meals and healthy snacks
for work and at home.
Make Realistic Goals
While goals should be somewhat challenging, they should be
reachable. Try to make realistic resolutions. If your goal is to
“lose weight,” then take your long term goal and break it down into
monthly and weekly short term goals. You didn’t gain the weight
overnight, so don’t expect to lose it overnight. Research shows that
more than 2 pounds of weight loss a week is actually muscle loss.
You want to lose fat but not muscle. The more muscle you have, the
higher your metabolism is, which means it will be easier to lose
body fat.
Make a Back Up Plan for Interruptions
When you make a New Years Resolution, you are making a plan to
change a habit. A daily or weekly routine will help you to reach
your goals. Stress is a fact of life and situations will occur that
will interfere with your new routine. Expect it, for distractions
will happen so have a back up plan. What you do with these
interruptions is up to you. Don’t look at it as a failure and quit.
It might mean taking a break from your routine for a few days, but
plan to get back on track as soon as possible.
This year, try to be more like Thomas Edison and
think positive. Take a problem-solving approach to help you be more
successful this year in setting New Year’s Resolutions and sticking
to them throughout this next year. Hire a personal trainer or a
certified nutritionist to help you make realistic goals in
exercising, nutrition, or weight loss so you will have successful
resolutions for the New Year.
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