Resolving For Success in 2024 Health and Wellness: 5 Tips

As you ring in the new year, it’s tempting to create an aggressive new year’s resolution complete with a life-altering schedule.

· “I’m going to stop eating all carbs.”

· “I’m going to cut out all fat from my diet.”

· “I’m going to go to the gym every day at 5 a.m. and run five miles.”

· “I’m going to climb Mt. Everest.”

These are good plans, and the resolve is high in early January. However, it can be hard to sustain, and many people end up abandoning their new near’s resolutions before Valentine’s Day. If you are one of those people, take heart. You have company.

U.S. News & World Report shares that 80 percent of people fail on new year’s resolutions.

There are many reasons for the disappointing statistic, but typically it starts with us – and our unreasonable expectations in lifestyle change. It’s not easy to suddenly eliminate behaviors we have followed for years.

The good news is recalibrating those expectations can make all the difference in your success rate and longer-term health. Making a small change and sticking with it can have a more lasting positive impact on wellness than trying to change many things and failing at all of them.

The new trend in resolutions is to swap resolutions for goals. Like anything you do, figuring out what you want the end result to be first and then going back into measurable steps to get there increases your chances of succeeding.

Five Ways to Be Successful in Your 2024 Wellness Goals:

1) Focus Factor: Don’t change everything at once. Throwing out everything in the pantry and changing every bad habit in one day rarely works. Choose a single objective to focus on – if you can do that every day successfully for seven days, your chances of succeeding are much higher.

2) Make a Plan: Though it’s fun to go out and buy new running shoes in January, that doesn’t make a plan for completing a marathon, for example. Map out a realistic activity schedule you can follow without major lifestyle alterations, and focus on checking that off every week. If you want to run that big race but haven’t exercised since 2022, start by walking three times a week for 30 minutes.

3) The Power of Recalibration: Something will happen that will get in the way of your goal. You might sprain your ankle or get sick, being unable to succeed on a given day or week. Instead of using that as the excuse for why your resolution failed, simply recalibrate, and get back on track. When you miss a turn while driving, GPS recalculates the route and puts you back on target to the destination. Do the same thing when something gets in the way of your goal – get back on track when you can and continue forward to the destination.

4) Celebrate Little Wins: If you are trying to lose 50 pounds, shaving one pound in the first week might seem defeating. Instead of being hard on yourself, look at the path. You took a step to your goal. Celebrate that success, and continue on. A win is a win.

5) Team Up: The power of community, friendships and healthcare professionals can help you get to your goals. If you are trying to manage your diabetes better in 2024, attend one of our North Oaks Diabetes Education classes, and connect with others with the same target. Make your annual physical exam appointment, and talk to your primary care provider about your goals – they can help.

North Oaks is here to support your wellness and healthcare this new year. Don’t hesitate to reach out to our professionals to get a baseline for your health goals. To schedule an appointment, please call (985) 230-APPT (2778).