Like many, have you set personal resolutions for 2019 and failed miserably? Most of us vow to eat better or exercise more in the new year, however nothing changes year in and year out.

The university of Bristol conducted a study in 2007 and found that 88% of people who make New Year’s resolutions fail.

The key to success is being specific with your goals and being accountable to someone for achieving these. The following will help you in the coming year

Be realistic

Your goals must be achievable, or you will get disheartened, lose interest and give up.

Be specific and Make your goals simple

Often our goals are too vague and so achieving them is more difficult. Set simple and specific goals.

Plan but take it one step at a time

Know exactly how you can achieve your goals and how you will measure or track your achievements. Make a list of things to do and not to do and stick these up where you will see them regularly.

Talk about your goals with family and friends, get them involved, have someone hold you accountable

It is easy to lose motivation quickly but having someone support you and encourage you along the way will greatly improve your chances of success. But be sure to chose wisely as some people can hinder more than help.

Make your goals enjoyable

When you are having fun, weight loss and exercise don’t feel like hard work. Join a walking or running club, walk or run with a friend, add motivational messages to your alarm, create a workout music playlist, enjoy a nice meal with friends after a workout, compete with your friends, explore new areas to walk or run in, go dancing or play with your kids in the park.

Track your progress

There are many phone apps that can help you track your weight, what you eat and the exercise you do, here are a few suggestions:

• My FitnessPal – Tracks weight and diet
• Map my walk / map my run / map my fitness / map my ride – Links with My FitnessPal and tracks activity
• Google fit – weight and activity tracker
• MyPlate Calorie Tracker – Tracks weight, diet intake and links to google fit
• Strava – exercise tracker

Stay positive and keep trying, even when you have a setback. Don’t give up.

Motivation is the key to success. Have someone who will help motivate you to keep going.

Reward yourself

Remember to reward yourself with a treat of your choice once a week as a reward for a job well done.

Tips for Losing weight

When trying to lose weight the worst thing you can do is deprive yourself, do not skip meals. It is important to make healthy choices at each meal and still allow for a treat of your choice once or twice a week. Here are some healthy tips to lose weight:

• Eat 3 small meals a day
• Avoid snacking, but if you need to, choose healthy snack options such as fruit/vegetable sticks/yogurt/nuts
• Reduce your starch intake by eating less bread, potato and rice
• Reduce your fat intake by cooking with less oil, adding less margarine or butter to your bread, removing fat from meat and skin from chicken and avoid fried foods
• Reduce your sugar intake by avoiding biscuits, cakes, sweets, chocolate and cooldrinks
• Eat more fruit and vegetables – strive for 5 portions every day
• Eat more whole-grains – wholewheat bread, wholegrain rice cakes, wholegrain cereals
• Drink plenty of water – keep a water bottle with you, at your bedside or on your desk and sip throughout the day.
• And be active – the NHS states that to stay healthy, adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every week. This includes cycling, swimming, dancing or brisk walking or hiking.

Please also see our previous blogs https://www.staywelloh.co.uk/national-fitness-day/ and https://www.staywelloh.co.uk/facts-about-fats/ there you will find some additional links that may be useful.