32
| SUNRAYS
JANUARY 2013
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
Stay Motivated!
Tips for keeping your New Year’s resolutions
New Year’s resolutions can be overwhelming. You start out excited and enthusiastic, but, after a few days or weeks, your
drive to stay with it starts to decline. Well, we’ve got you covered here in Sun City! Below are a few tips for whatever
resolution you have made, whether it’s eating healthier or exercising more, or even to just get organized. Here’s to you
and whatever your New Year’s resolution may be. Stay strong!
For Nutrition & Fitness Resolutions
By Tarie Beldin, RD, LD
I believe the reason that most people can’t stick with their
resolutions is that they start out gung-ho, making drastic
changes right from the beginning that they cannot keep up
with after the initial excitement wears off! Many people can-
not go from being totally sedentary to running five miles a
day, or eating fast food for each meal to being a vegetarian.
The result is someone who is sore, or, worse yet, injured or hungry and feeling
unsatisfied and deprived.
Here are some tips that can make it easier to reach your New Year’s goal—
without pain or starvation!
1.
Set a REALISTIC goal.
You should have a main goal and several mini-
goals that support your main goal. Your goals should be doable and measure-
able. There is a difference between saying that I want to be physically fit this
year and stating I will lose 1-2 pounds per week or I will walk for 15 minutes
three days a week.
2.
Write it down.
When you write down your goals and make plans on how
to achieve them, the more likely you are to be successful. Also, keeping food
and activity records have been shown to shape behaviors and help you reach
your goal.
3.
Make small changes.
Rather than going from a junk food
junkie to a vegetarian, try making small changes like substitut-
ing water for soda, or cooking at home three nights a week versus
eating out every night. As you feel comfortable with the changes
you have made, then you can implement others.
4.
Reward yourself
(
and
not
with a hot fudge sundae!). As you
reach your mini-goals, reward your hard work. Take a cooking
class, buy a new pair of tennis shoes, get a massage…something
to look forward to and to help motivate you.
5.
Make mistakes!
You are going to eat birthday cake, go to a
happy hour, catch a cold and not make it to the gym for a week—
that’s life! Each time one of these situations happens is an oppor-
tunity for learning and problem solving.
