New Year’s Resolutions
“Just put one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be walking out the door”
- Santa Claus is Coming to Town
New Year's resolution or habits for a new year? It is the season where everyone will be talking about New Year's resolutions, and many of these resolutions will be health related. Some will be signing up for a marathon or joining a new gym to improve their fitness. Others may be starting a new nutrition plan to lose weight. Ultimately, most people will set big goals that end up being too much of a challenge. Some may reach their goal only to fall back into their previous habits when the goal is complete. The gym industry actually depends on you setting a goal and quitting. They want you to sign up for the membership, but hope you do not show up so there is enough room for their dedicated customers. As I discussed in my previous blog on 10/25/2023 “Habits and Willpower” it is more important to build habits than to set goals. Building one habit will lead to stacking more habits.
“Your habits become your character and your character becomes your destiny”
- Lao Tzu
The mistake most of us make is we set goals that are too big for our current starting point. Some people live for the extreme challenge, but most of us need to build slowly. So take an honest look at your starting point. Have you ever considered trying to improve your health beyond just trying to look good? Do you generally eat the Standard American diet with lots of sugar and processed carbohydrates? Do you have any fitness plans? Do you have any stress reduction plans? How is your sleep? Now consider your reason for a New Years resolution. If you have quit your resolution in the past it may be because your reason was not good enough. Maybe losing weight to look good isn’t a good enough reason. Maybe eating healthy to fight off some disease in the future is not enough of a reason for you. Instead, consider building one small habit with the only goal being to feel better and having a sense of accomplishment. Make it a habit you know you can complete and once it becomes a part of your lifestyle you can build from there.
If you are considering improving your nutrition, but are not at a great starting point, the latest and greatest diet trend may be a set up for failure. Consider just improving your breakfast. Most of us have turned breakfast into a morning dessert with cereal, bread, bagels, donuts, waffles, pancakes, coffee sweeteners and fruit juices. This results in a sugar spike and ultimately an energy crash at some point in the morning. I would suggest trying a protein only breakfast with eggs and meats. This will start your day without the sugar spikes. An alternative would be to skip breakfast entirely. If you finish dinner by 8:00 pm and do not eat again until noon that is a 16 hour fast. You may have heard people discussing the benefits of intermittent fasting, but in reality intermittent fasting is just a fancy name for skipping breakfast. If you try to avoid sugar and processed carbs, intermittent fasting is pretty easy. You may feel hungry for a few minutes but your hunger will pass quickly if you are less addicted to sugar. You will notice without the sugar spikes you have more energy and more focus. You will feel better. If you feel better you will make a habit of a better breakfast and you will even consider improving other meals during the day.
If you do not have a current exercise plan I would suggest starting with walking. It is the backbone of all fitness. Walking on a treadmill is good. Walking outside is better. Walking in nature is best. Listen to your favorite music, podcast, or just walk with your own thoughts swirling around in your head. Take your dog or your kids. Walk with friends or go on hikes. Just try to walk several times a week. Even if you are active at work, walking for fitness or leisure has great benefits. Once you have the habit of walking, you can increase distance or speed or even add new elements to your fitness plan.
Nothing is more important to your health than sleep. If sleep is a problem, fix your sleep first but start with something simple. Consider waking up at the same time everyday. This will ultimately lead you to being tired at the same time everyday. Consider not watching any screens in bed at any time. This includes computers, phones, and TVs. The sleep section on TheRealHouseMD will discuss the importance of sleep and provide suggestions and videos on how to improve it. Pick one or two and start building a better sleep routine.
Finally, consider improving your stress levels. If your stress is at extreme levels and is causing depression or anxiety, consider asking your primary physician or a therapist for help. If your stress is controlled, but you want to feel better then consider a new habit. The beauty of a daily fitness routine is it is also a stress relief plan. Going on a walk and listening to something you enjoy will help reduce stress. Improving your nutrition by improving your sugar spikes will improve your stress as well. Getting a good night's sleep will give you the energy to control stress. Outside of these suggestions consider taking ten minutes a day to meditate, pray, practice gratitude, or breath work. Practicing gratitude has been proven to improve your whole mental outlook. Just go through a mental list of everything for which you are thankful. Meditation is a great stress reduction tool as well. There are several phone apps and videos on YouTube to get you started. A common complaint is people say they cannot meditate because they cannot control their thoughts. That is the whole point. First, you notice how much your mind wanders long before you learn to focus and control stress. Others notice their prayer is more meaningful after learning to meditate. Arthur Brooks, in his book, Build the Life You Want, describes how as a Christian he learned to pray by meditating with Buddhist monks. For someone who needs more active relaxation techniques consider breathwork. Just search for breathwork on Youtube and plenty of options will come up.
Pick one habit and get started. Once it becomes part of your life, build from there. Remember you do not need to wait a full year to start your next habit. If you are mindful that your new habit is making you better you will learn to enjoy building new habits. Starting small will start you on a path to success. Now, some people have a “go big or go home” mentality when it comes to setting goals. This can be useful, but I would suggest setting a clear end date and a plan on how to transition this goal into a life habit. If you train for a running race make sure you have a clear fitness routine you plan to continue after you accomplish your goal. If you start a strict nutrition plan make sure you have a modified plan you can stick with for life. An example in my own life was I wanted to increase the amount of vegetables I ate. I grew up as a picky eater with raw carrots and iceberg lettuce being the only vegetables I would eat. About ten years ago, I became a vegetarian for 90 days as a New Year's resolution. The goal was not to be a vegetarian for life, but to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables I ate. It forced me to try and ultimately enjoy new foods which led to me changing my eating habits.
In setting a goal consider S.M.A.R.T goals. This is an acronym that can help you evaluate and add structures to your goals. S.M.A.R.T stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timely. A specific goal is more likely to become a habit than a general goal. A goal to be healthy will often fail because it is too general and being healthy could mean many different things. However, a goal to walk 5 days a week is much more specific, will lead to being healthier and will be successful. A measurable goal is more likely to be successful, but be careful how you measure success. If your goal is to run a 5k, this is measurable and you may complete your goal, but then sit on the couch for the rest of the year. Or maybe you want to lose ten pounds which is easily measurable, but do you have the habits not to gain it back? I would recommend a simple yes or no measurement. Does accomplishing the activity make you feel better? If the answer is yes, you will make it a permanent lifestyle change. Next, make your goal actionable. It needs to be something that you have the means to accomplish. If your plan is to walk you need to form a plan of when and where to walk. If your goal is to eat a healthy breakfast, you need a meal plan.Your goal should be relevant to you and your life. This is where the ‘why’ comes in, and the more compelling your reason for your goal, the more likely you will complete it. Consider a goal that is low effort but high value. The 80/20 rule means you get 80% of the result for 20 % of the effort. If you walk daily several miles you will get 80% of the results of running for distance with 20% of the effort. Make the goal time bound to measure progress. Have a target date to accomplish the goal. For a New Year’s resolution, a full year or forever is a long time. Consider 90 days. Once the 90 days are complete, decide if reaching the goal was beneficial to improving how you feel. By 90 days it will be a habit you can continue for a lifetime.
Good luck and Happy New Year.