Make Realistic New Year's Resolutions

by Karen Massey, INTEGRIS dietitian

Hi, my name is Karen Massey. I'm a registered licensed dietitian with INTEGRIS Health and Community Wellness and today we are embarking on the new year.

January 1st is almost here. We're hearing all the hype about weight loss and gadgets on television and it is a time a year we think about New Year's resolutions.

You know, weight control is a life long venture, and what I would suggest to you today is that you think about this as a lifelong venture and really prioritize just one or two things that you want to do differently in the 2015 year. And it doesn't have to be changing everything but just honing in on a few things that will make a difference for you.

If afternoon snacking is a problem, that may be just the one goal you want to set. I'm going to bring fresh fruit every day to work so that I'm not as inclined to go to the vending machine.

If your particular problem might be sugary drinks - for a lot of people it is - one 12-ounce pop, a sugary drink, that type of thing, has about this much sugar in it which is a lot, 40 grams, and just switching to a lower calorie version or drinking water or tea can make such a difference. Even if you just set one goal, I'm going to allow myself one Dr. Pepper a day or so many per week will make a tremendous difference.

With exercise, again, we start small, baby steps, doing just a few things differently consistently is more important than taking off with the goal of going to the gym every day for 45 minutes and then not making it very long on that schedule.

Muscle has memory and if you don't have a full 45 minutes one day to dedicate to your walking or to your exercise program but you do have 20 minutes, then just step off the twenty minutes. Take the time you have because what we know is that muscle will rebound or respond much better if we keep little pieces intact even during those rough patches where we may be couldn't fulfill our exercise goals.

So start your New Year out realistically, pick one or two things you want to do differently and be consistent about it.