Did you know that on average 92% of New Year Resolutions fail – in fact most are completely abandoned by mid-January!
“We all know how it goes: Set an under-defined and overly ambitious goal for the new year, give up two weeks in and then pretend the whole thing never happened by the end of January,” says Tim Herrera, in the The New York Times.
If you are setting a change in your life (ie getting healthier, fitter, etc) on a calendar date (January 1st of the new year) then you are setting yourself for failure form the get go as you are not doing anything to address your beliefs, actions and habits behind the new lifestyle you wish to have first. Let’s say you want to get fit – you haven’t been to the gym in months (or even years) so you set a goal to go to the gym 3-4x weekly in the new year. The new year comes, you are committed for the first week or so then your old habits return and before you know it you haven’t walked through the gym doors in weeks. Why? Because workouts we not part of your daily routine before – and humans are creatures of habit – we always return to our habitual patterns – but there is hope!
Here’s a better strategy this year:
Create solid, sustainable strategies with small, realistic action steps to make those goals happen. “Any resolution to change needs to include small goals that are definable and accompanied by a solid plan on how you’ll get to that goal,” says Dr. Linda Nebeling, an expert in behavioral change and nutrition, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Strategies to Help You Establish New Healthy Habits This Year:
Plan head for the obstacles you will face:
A new diet pattern means you must ditch the old diet and foods 100%. This means you will need to throw away everything in your cabinet that isn’t part of your new diet – otherwise the temptation will be visible overtime you open the door! No one wants to work out in the beginning – in fact the desire to sleep through your workout will be very strong so accept it now! But… as you persevere you will soon find that you love your workouts and hate sleeping in!
Track your improvements:
A recent study found those who journal every meal they ate lost TWICE the amount of weight than those who didn’t! Also, measure more than just your weight. Get a Rhenpho scale from amazon.com it can measure your weight, body fat %, water %, muscle mass and even metabolic age. It’s nice to look weekly as weight doesn’t always drop, but if your metabolic age goes down by 1 year in a few weeks you will be reinforced to continue not just for January but as a regular yearly plan.
Stop using a calendar:
Did you notice I said, “yearly plan”. Healthy people don’t have/do resolutions as they are doing them every day of every year! Stop setting January as your time to improve your health and make it a daily habit that continue year to year!
Change isn’t overnight (or in a few weeks):
Have you heard the phrase “it takes 21 days to form a new habit?” – well that’s old dogma. One study found it can take as many as 254 days to create a lasting healthy habit. Don’t despair if your results are not what you expected after a few weeks – that’s normal. Plateaus are normal. Press on, and if you are still not seeing changes after 90 days consider professional support from a wellness physician who can help you customize your plan based on labs and physical examinations.
Find Support:
You are the sum of those you surround yourself with. As you embark on a new way of healthy living, make sure you cut ties with anyone who isn’t also on the same journey as you. Join the AskDrErnst private Facebook group – we have over 350 local members who are on the same journey as you – some who have lost 100+ lbs. Others have cured their conditions and divorced medicine completely. Plus, I host private live Q/A’s and post unique content- only accessible to group members. Simply log into Facebook, click GROUPS, search “AskDrErnst” then click JOIN!
What’s Your Why?
Do you remember why you wanted to improve your health this new year? It’s one thing to lose 20 lbs. to look and feel better, but what are you really doing it for? Your spouse? Your kids/grandkids? When you forget the WHY behind your change motivation can fade quickly. Create a vision board with photos of yourself and your family or pictures of a vacation you want to take in the upcoming summer. These visual daily reminders can help you to stick with your convictions. Also… remember that a goal which involves someone else as the motivating factor creates automatic accountability and increases your chances for success tremendously.
Resolutions are easy to make but hard to sustain. With the above principles in place, you will have all the tools to make 2022 the foundation of your healthy habits for the rest of your life so that you no longer need to have resolutions.