Tips to Keep Those New Year's Resolutions by Barbara Ebel, M.D.

This is a health blog but I bet most of you don’t need help in formulating your list of New Year’s resolutions regarding health. That’s why I’m not going to suggest all the possibilities. We’re pretty good at knowing how to start a clean slate on January 1st, so here’s the more difficult part of New Year’s resolutions:  It’s keeping them!

According to the USA.gov website, these are our most popular resolutions:

Lose weight
Volunteer to help others
Quit smoking
Get a better education
Get a better job
Save money
Eat healthy food
Manage stress
Manage debt
Take a trip
Drink less alcohol
Reduce, reuse, and recycle

As you can see, almost half of these are related to our health. Most people will have a shorter list than what’s above with the greater percentage of resolutions related to the health ones.  So, my suggestion is to keep those good intentions but let’s focus on how they might be easier to keep, not like Angus & Phil.

1.      Don’t make a long list. Won’t you be more successful if you limit your resolutions to two or three?

2.     Think hard about the number one health issue that really needs to change in your life. Make it a meaningful issue for a New Year’s resolution and then don’t make it ‘abstract.’  For instance, I’m a writer, so instead of setting a goal of writing an entire full length book in a few months, I decide to write 4,000 words a week. That’s more specific and attainable.

3.     Your resolutions may require secondary changes. For instance, if you love sweets, but must lose weight, make it mandatory that your previous favorite store cake doesn’t make it into your grocery cart. Don’t set yourself up for failure. This may require changing old habits at the grocery store!

4.     To achieve your goals, write out a plan. This goes back to number 2. For instance, if

you want to get more exercise, and more walking is one way to do it, then decide on  the days of the week, time, location, etc. and stick to it!

5.     How about sharing your goals with people who can help you attain them?
Perhaps you can help them also! It’s even suggested that our goals and progress of New Year’s resolutions can be posted on Facebook. The bottom line is we can lie to ourselves, but we can’t lie to others.

6.     Constantly remind yourself of your goals and visualize attainment regularly. Post your resolutions on your refrigerator, write them down and how about making them your current book’s bookmark?  Yes, you can even stick a note in your Kindle.

7.     If you have a bad day with staying on track with a resolution, don’t throw in the towel! All is not lost. Since 2014 is not a leap year, there will be 365 days. Every single one of those days is an opportunity to be kind to yourself with healthy habits and resolutions that will help you attain good health and longevity.

8.     Do you need extra help or enjoy technology guiding you along? Check out all the available apps to help you attain your goals from losing weight to quitting smoking. Check this one out to start:

http://news.yahoo.com/14-free-apps-help-keep-200000108.html

Don’t let this week’s good intentions fall by the wayside. Approach 2014 in a sensible manner to guarantee success with your health resolutions. You can do it, I know you can!

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Here’s a family recipe handed down from my Mom. With vegetable juice and oatmeal, this meatloaf is healthy and one of the few ways I use ground beef.

                           Mom’s Meatloaf
1 ½  lbs ground beef
1 cup tomato or V-8 juice
¾ cup OATS
1 egg
¼ cup chopped onions
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

Mix ingredients and bake in loaf pan at 350 F degrees for 1 hour.
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