Re-Starting New Year's Resolutions

Contributed by Kathryn Kotlarz - UB Dietetic Intern

So it’s late February and the excitement of the New Year has subsided, and for many of us, this also means our new year’s “get healthy” resolution motivation has most likely fizzled. For those of you who are still going strong, good job! For all the others, don’t worry, it’s not too late to start it up again! You may just have to make a few modifications!

Through my observation of other’s New Year’s resolutions, I’ve noticed that there are two categories of resolution that tend to be pushed to the side: Those that are too ambitious and those are too broad.

 Many people are empowered by the start of the New Year, and want to take their resolution to the extreme. For example, some people tell themselves they’ll go from never going to the gym to going 6 days a week; or they may resolve to be a vegetarian. And some may even strive to do both! These are both great resolutions; however they are major lifestyle changes, which take time. You need to ease yourself into these changes; otherwise you’re simply setting yourself up for frustration, and possibly, a broken resolution. This may also deter you from trying these healthy habits later in life because you weren’t successful the first time.

Another reason why resolutions aren’t always effective is because the goal is too broad. Some people may say they’ll work out more. Well what does that mean? Are you going to add 30 minutes of gym time to the days you work out, add another day at the gym etc? Others may say they’re going to eat better. Once again, what does that mean? Are they going to cut down on soda consumption, eat more fruits and vegetables etc? If you don’t give yourself specific goals and guidelines to follow, you’re much more apt to slack off. For example, someone who resolves to eat better may say they’re keeping up with this resolution, but in reality they’re maybe eating one more piece of fruit per week, at most. It’s a good start, however if you don’t have a concrete goal to work up to, you’ll never go any further.

Neither of these types of resolutions are bad however, in fact I feel they can be used as a great learning experience! So take a step back to think about the “get healthy” New Year’s resolution you made in late December which you may have since forgotten about and ask yourself why?  Was it too difficult? Was it too expensive? Were you not getting the desired results? And edit your resolution accordingly!

Here are a few examples:

1.  Instead of vowing to become a gym rat, start by going to the gym 1 or 2 times per week. After a few weeks, bring that up to 3 days and maybe add another 30 minutes to one of your days. Then continue to increase accordingly.
2. Don’t become a full vegetarian just yet. Try making one day a fully vegetarian day, such as Meatless Monday which UB endorses, to start. Once you get your feet wet with the vegetarian way of life, and determine if it’s for you or not, then you can proceed to cut out meat on other days of the week until you’re 100% meat free. Or maybe you’ll just choose to stick with meatless Mondays. Either one is a step to better health!
3. Don’t cut out soda completely just yet. If you drink multiple cans of soda daily, perhaps strive to drink one less can a day to start, and gradually wean yourself off every few days until you’re only drinking one can of soda every other day or you’ve completely cut it out.

By being a little more reasonable and specific about your goals, and by taking a gradual approach to achieving these objectives, you have a much greater chance of making this resolution a life-long habit. Did you notice that I never once used the word “fail”? It’s because you didn’t fail, you just fell off the horse, so to speak, but that horse is more than happy to let you get back on! You can help relieve the stigma that New Year’s resolutions are pointless because they never work by sharing your success story!  So don’t let the past two months deter you from achieving your goals. The year has just begun! Learn from your past mistakes, consider this a second chance and take it one step at a time! And remember two key things:

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1.  Just because your cheat or slack off for a day or so, doesn’t mean you should throw away your    resolution! Tomorrow’s a new day
2. It’s never too late to make a healthy change. You don’t have to wait until 2014 to try again!