It’s the New Year and for most people that means setting some New Year’s resolutions. We are also over half way through January which means many of us have already abandoned those resolutions. Below, we give some tips to increase your success with sticking to your resolutions or get you back on track.

1. Make small changes that fit your life. Many people try to change everything at once and set unrealistic expectations. Start with one small change that you can easily accomplish even on your most busy or worst day. Stick with this change for at least 2 weeks before making another small change. Don’t set yourself up for failure as once life gets stressful, you’ll abandon what isn’t a habit yet.
2. Make it a habit. Motivation is fleeting, and we don’t always have discipline. Making a habit of your changes means eventually you will do it without thinking because it feels natural. The easiest way to make something a habit is to attach it to something you already do. For example, you have lunch at the same time every day. Noon hits = lunch. Attach a 10 min walk post lunch. Noon = lunch then walk. Find what fits best into your life.
3. Find what works for you. There are all sorts of diets out there. None of them are magic. If you can’t see yourself eating a certain way forever, it’s probably not the diet for you.
4. Calories are king for weight loss. Not carbs, not fat. Calories. This is why a variety of diets can be successful. If you like eating carbs, awesome, eat them but stay within a specific calorie range. Same goes for fat.
5. Regardless of your carb or fat preference, you should be eating adequate protein (about 0.8-1g/lb body weight). Protein takes more energy to digest which equals more calories burned. Just eating more protein alone can increase your muscle mass which is awesome.
6. If you’ve always been on a diet, give it break. Learn healthy habits instead and set goals based on healthy food intake. If your lacking on your fruits and veggies intake, set a goal to eat one of each per day. After a few successful weeks of doing so, increase the number to two each per day. Small changes add up.
7. Strength train. Lift weights. Muscles are awesome. Strength training will build muscle which will reshape your body, make daily activities easier, reduce your risk of injury and help reduce daily aches and pains. For women, don’t fear weights. You will not bulk up unless you eat in excess. Strength training is the fountain of youth. Everyone should do it.
8. Walk daily. 10,000 is a good goal but if you aren’t close to that number, start with adding 100 extra steps per day. You’ll be at 10,000 in no time.
9. Pick an exercise program that you enjoy and will stick to. If you can’t get to the gym 5 days per week but 3 works well, then do that. The best program in the world doesn’t work if you don’t do it. But also point 7.
10. Be patient (says the most impatient person in the world). You don’t need to be perfect, just consistent over time. One missed workout or one meal out is not going to ruin your progress. Giving up after one of those happens will. If you drop your phone and it gets a slight crack in the screen, you don’t continue smashing into the floor until it’s completely broken. The same applies to your diet and exercise journey. Change doesn’t happen overnight. We are used to having results RIGHT NOW but that is not realistic for lifestyle changes. The more time you take to make changes, the more likely they are to stick.

We hope these tips are helpful. If you have any questions or don’t know where to start, don’t hesitate to reach out. Remember, make the steps to achieve any resolution simple, easy, doable and practical. Set yourself up for success not failure.