Emily Hoagland, MS, RD

We all start out a new year with the best of intentions—New Year’s Resolutions to eat healthier, exercise more, lose weight, or some other health related goal. But more often than not, by the beginning of February, the majority of people will give up on their resolutions. Why is that? It’s not because we are lazy or lack willpower. No, it’s because we don’t like to fail. The first time we slip or feel like we’re not sticking to our resolutions, we feel like a failure. In order to avoid feeling bad again, we abandon most if not all efforts related to our resolutions, destined to do it all over again next month, next season, or next year. So how can you be more successful at sticking to those resolutions?

The first step is to be more forgiving. Ditch the mentality that sticking to your resolution is an all or nothing effort. No one is perfect 100% of the time, and it’s not reasonable to expect yourself to be, either. It would be unreasonable to expect your friends and family to be perfect all the time—why is it okay to expect that of yourself?

The second step is to stop judging yourself. Just because you slipped up and overate, skipped your workout, or whatever you did that you feel is not in line with your resolutions, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It doesn’t even mean you lack willpower. It just means events came together that were not supportive of your goal. Take some time to think through what you might have done differently that would have supported your goal. And next time, try doing it!

Third, jump back on the wagon. Get back to your resolution behavior as soon as you can, whether it’s your next meal, the next day, etc. Don’t wait until the next week, the next month, or the next year to try again. This goes hand in hand with step one—one slip does not ruin your efforts! Think of those slips as learning experiences.

There can be several reasons why you might struggle to stick to your New Year’s resolutions, but it may be that your resolutions were flawed to begin with. One common mistake is to set a goal that is unreasonable, such as trying to get back to the weight you were at a previous stage in your life. Your life is probably a lot different now than it was then, so it’s okay for your weight to be different, too. Make sure your resolution is a goal that you will be able to reach, not a dream that you have. Re-evaluate whether your goal is reasonable, and change it if it’s not.

Another common mistake is setting a goal that is too vague, such as “eating healthier”. We may all have an idea of what healthy eating is, but how will you know when you are “eating healthier”? You will be much more productive if you set specific goals, such as “eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day”, because you will know if you reach your goal or not. With a vague goal, you won’t know if you are succeeding, and isn’t that what we all want—success?

Finally, it’s also important to set small goals along the way (every day, every week) that you will easily be able to reach. Research shows you’re more likely to succeed through a series of small changes. On AOM’s website, you can manually select one small change goal at a time. If you take the Food and Physical Activity Scan (FAPAS), you can select two goals—one food and one physical activity. And before you know it, those small goals will add up, and you’ll be fulfilling your New Year’s resolutions. Stick with it, and good luck!

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