10 Tips to Help You Achieve Your
New Year's Health Goals
1. Find Your Motivation
What is motivating you to lose weight? Do you want to look better in
your clothes, feel more energetic, or simply improve your health? Get
clear about what you want, and then use that to inspire you throughout
your journey.
2. Have a Plan
If you were to go on a long road trip, you wouldn't just jump in the
car and go. If you did, you'd arrive hungry, tired, and fatigued. That's
the same way you'd feel if you jumped into a whole new lifestyle with
no planning. By January 1st, outline the changes you want to
implement and decide how you'll fit them into your schedule. Keep in
mind that it may be best to take steps rather than tackle everything at
once.
3. Make Goals
Goals help measure progress. If you don't know where you want to end
up, you won't really know how to get there. When making your goals, you
need to make SMART
(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals. For
example, a SMART goal would be something like, "I will walk for 15
minutes 3 days for one week." Or, "I will prepare one new healthy recipe
each week for the month of January."
4. Track What You Eat
Looking closely at what you eat is often an eye-opening experience.
Keep track of everything you put into your body. You don't have to
do it for the rest of your life, but it is a great habit to start.
Tracking will help you tweak your diet so that you can still enjoy foods
you love without sabotaging your weight loss or healthy eating efforts.
5. Use Reliable Resources
It may be tempting to try a fad diet, but these are usually
unrealistic, difficult to maintain, and sometimes even dangerous.
Instead, find a reliable source of information to help you understand
nutrition.
6. Eat Breakfast Every Day
Surely you've heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the
day. It is! Eat a big healthy breakfast as early as possible. It will
give you more energy, lead you to make healthier choices during the day,
and keep you feeling full so you eat less later on.
7. Fill Up on Vegetables
Vegetables are filled with nutrients, water, fiber, and very few
calories. If you fill half of your plate with vegetables, you'll get
fuller faster and cut down your calories without feeling deprived. Use
herbs and spices to jazz up vegetables instead of using butter and/or
salt to flavor them.
8. Exercise
In order to burn calories at a faster rate and build a healthy body,
you'll need to incorporate exercise into your life. Take it slow at
first, and then increase your time and/or intensity once you feel
comfortable. If you haven't exercised in a while, talk to your doctor to
make sure that you are healthy enough to begin an exercise plan.
9. Take It Slow
A major mistake many people make when trying to tackle a health
resolution is trying to do everything at once. This is almost always a
recipe for disaster. Spend a few weeks just trying to achieve 1-2 goals
at a time. When you have established new good habits, put a couple more
goals on your plate. Remember: You want to make permanent changes, and
these will take time to implement.
10. Be Prepared for Lapses
A lapse is when you temporarily "fall off the wagon." This is a
normal part of the process; no one is perfect. It is important for you
to take a moment to recognize that you got sidetracked, but don't use it
as an excuse to throw in the towel. Every day is a new chance to start
over, so return to your healthy lifestyle immediately.
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