This is the time of year we make promises to ourselves to eat better, form an exercise routine, lose weight, lower cholesterol, gain control of diabetes or otherwise improve our health. These are great goals! Unfortunately, a small percentage of people will make lasting changes and reap the rewards that come with healthful living.
I am not a big fan of resolutions that require strict behaviors or lofty goals. Resolutions like the following rarely last.
- No fried foods or desserts until I lose 25 pounds
- Follow diet XYZ until I lose 25 pounds
- Lose 10 pounds per month until I’m thin
- No more sodas – ever
- Workout 60 minutes 6 days per week
Instead I encourage my patients to personalize their diet plans, set reasonable behavioral goals, assess their progress often and re-write their goals as necessary. Eating well and losing weight when we are busy with our overscheduled lives and when we are constantly faced with large portions of high-calorie foods is hard. Let’s accept that it’s hard and stop racing to the finish line. Instead, let’s make a steady path that will eventually get us where we want to go and allow us to stay there.
Pick one or even a few dietary or other lifestyle changes. They should be neither so hard that you are bound to fail nor so easy that you get nothing from them. Avoid anything so strict that you feel deprived – a clear hint that your new behaviors will be short-lived. Write your goals down. Are they so specific that you – or even a stranger who reads them – will know exactly what you are going to do? If not, re-write them.
Some vague goals:
- I’ll eat better.
- I’ll eat less junk food.
- I won’t drink so much soda.
- I’ll exercise more.
Some specific goals:
- I’ll eat two servings of fruit and at least 2 cups of nonstarchy vegetables every weekday.
- I’ll give myself a dessert allowance of 750 calories per week, to be divided over 3 or more days.
- Instead of drinking soda with lunch, I’ll have flavored water or unsweetened iced tea everyday this week.
- I will walk (or do other exercise) for at least 90 minutes per week for the next month. After four weeks, I’ll aim for 120 minutes per week and keep adding until I reach 200 minutes per week.
When you’ve mastered a few goals, pick a few more, then a few more and so on. Give up the notion that there is a best plan or an easy plan. Your best plan is the one you can live with, allows you some flexibility, and gets you to your goals – even if it takes longer than you’d like. Focus on the end goal. If weight loss is your goal, it’s not important how much weight you lose, it’s important how much weight you keep off.
Have a beautiful and healthful 2014!