By Hope Williams, RD, CD, CDE, CLS
Health and wellness specialist, Ministry Medical Group

Hope Williams, Rhinelander Internal Medicine Health Wellness Specialist

The holidays are over and it’s the beginning of a new year, a time to start fresh and think about the year ahead.

Forty to forty five percent of Americans will make one or more New Years resolutions.
The top resolutions we make have to do with eating healthy, weight loss, exercise, or quitting smoking.

Typically seventy five percent of people who make a resolution stick to it within the first week. After 6 months the number drops to 46% of people who are still following their resolution.

So what is the best way to find a New Years resolution and stick with it? Instead of picking a broad goal like loosing weight, pick an easily obtainable goal.

If you want to lose weight think about what habits you can change to make it happen. For example, a good goal may be eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day for 2 weeks. After the two weeks are up you can reflect and reevaluate your goals.

Normally people procrastinate with their resolutions because they have the whole year, so it is much easier to obtain your goal in a short period of time.
Another good example of a simple New Years resolution would be to exercise 5 days a week for 2 weeks. After the two weeks are over you may realize you were unable to make it to the gym 5 days a week. This would be a good time to change your goal to something more attainable; maybe starting with just 3 days per week of exercise.

Being able to accomplish your goal will make you feel good about yourself and more likely to continue with your good habits.

To set yourself up for success when selecting your New Year’s resolution make sure to be realistic with your goals. Remember that the first step to change is identifying a goal. Without setting a New Year’s resolution there would be nothing to resolve!