Making and keeping your New Year
resolutions
The holiday feasts are over and a new year has begun. Many of you have probably made resolutions to
improve your health. This may include
losing weight, eating healthfully, and exercising regularly. It is easy to say that you will make all
those changes. But how do you keep your
resolutions without getting frustrated by February? Below are some tips to successful wellness:
1.
Create measurable
goals.
That means attaching time, numbers
and amounts to your goals. Goals that
are not measurable are too vague, difficult to achieve and usually forgotten. Here are some examples:
§ Immeasurable
Goal: Exercise more
§ Measurable
goal: Exercise 4 times a week, Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:00 am for one hour.
§ Immeasurable
Goal: Eat more fruit
§ Measurable
goal: Have 4 fruits each day – 1 at
breakfast, 1 at lunch, 1 at mid-afternoon snack and 1 for dessert.
2.
Make your
goals reasonable and achievable.
If you make unrealistic goals, you
are setting yourself up for failure. When
you can meet your goals, you feel motivated.
This also incorporates creating measurable goals. For example,
§ Unrealistic
goal: I will stop eating “bad” food.
§ Realistic
goal: I will avoid foods with added
sugar by reading the food label from Monday to Saturday, but I will have a
special treat on Sunday.
3.
Schedule
your exercise goals
Make your exercise goals part of
your life in the same manner you schedule meetings, appointments and
dates. If your goal is to exercise 4
times a week, make time for your work-out in advance. Put it on your Blackberry, iPhone, or
whatever calendar you use frequently. Do
not cancel your exercise appointments with yourself.
4.
Get friends
and family involved.
It is highly motivating when you
eat healthfully and exercise with friends and family. This is great for both social and wellness
goals. Here are some examples:
§ Cook
healthy meals for your friends and family.
Show them how tasty a balanced eating plan can be.
§ Start
a healthy eating dinner club where once a week you rotate between homes and the
host prepares a special meal. Or guests bring
a dish from an assigned food group that is incorporated into a healthy meal.
§ Exercise
with friends and family. After dinner,
go for a long, brisk walk or bike ride together. Schedule weekend games of Frisbee, softball,
basketball, tennis or soccer. Go to
exercise classes with workmates regularly.
5.
Create a
contract with yourself.
Your goals are not real until you
write it down. As stated above, make
sure the goals are measurable. Write
down all details including amounts, dates and times. And don’t forget to sign the contract and
have it witnessed by a close friend or family member. Lastly, post your contract so that you can
see it daily.
6.
Stay
motivated
There may be times when life gets
in the way of achieving your goal. That
doesn’t mean that you have to throw away the contract. If you go off-course, take a good look at
your goal. Is it realistic and
achievable? What are your roadblocks? Do you need to revise it? After reviewing and possibly changing your
goal, create a new contract and get back on the road to wellness.
I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year!
Reyna
