Losing Steam? How to Stick to Your Healthy Resolutions
Making resolutions is easy. Keeping them can be hard! Find out five strategies that will make your healthy goals stick so you can enjoy long-term success.
This January only, save 40% on ALL healthy meal plans and connected cookbooks in the Prepear app!
Eight Percent. That’s the percentage of people who stick to their new year’s resolutions in a given year. At first glance, that number seems like a bummer.
After all, we all want to get organized, eat better, and smile more in the new year. And nobody wants to be one of the 92% of eager, hopeful people who resolve to live better in the new year…. and then slip back into old habits.
But some of us succeed! And guess what? YOU are going to succeed this year. We believe in you! That’s why we’re sharing our best tips and tricks to help you join the “8% Club” this year.
Check out these five tried-and-true strategies that you can do right now to help you turn your best intentions into lasting healthy habits. Let’s do this!
1. Make concrete goals.
Too many resolutions fizzle because they weren’t well-defined in the first place. “Eat healthier” is vague, which makes it hard to translate it into real changes. Are you going to eat more vegetables? How many more? Will you cut back on sodium? By how much?
Try using ultra-specific language to define your goals. Swap your “Get into meal planning” resolution with “Make a 5-day meal plan each Sunday.” (Or let us do it for you.)
2. Build flexibility into your plan.
“I’m not going to let my kids have fast food ever again” sets you up to feel like a failure the first time you give in to the drive-thru on a super-busy day.
Instead, build flexibility into your resolutions: Try something like this: “We’ll only eat fast food once a month from now on.” You’ll actually make bigger changes in the long run by avoiding absolute statements.
3. Focus on the positive.
New year’s resolutions tend to focus on the forbidden. But that can really suck the enjoyment out of positive change! Focus on the things you want TO do, rather than the things you want to STOP doing.
Instead of saying, “I want to eat less sugar,” try, “I want to eat more fruit.” You’ll cultivate a more positive attitude about your goal, and you might just crowd out those sugar-cravings in the process. And if you need inspiration for including more fruits and vegetables, well… that’s our speciality.
4. Tell your friends.
Speaking your resolution out loud gives you accountability and confidence! Share what you plan to do with your family and friends and you instantly make it more real.
Better yet, enlist a few friends to share the same resolution as you, and achieve your goals together.
5. Find joy in your journey.
No matter your specific goals for the new year, find joy in the journey towards a healthier family every day. Did your son try asparagus for the first time? Celebrate it! Did your daughter finally declare that she liked carrots? Share the news with your friends.
Even small victories count. And the process isn’t just more important than the result, the process IS the result. So keep up the good work! We’ve got your back.
In fact, to celebrate your efforts, this January you can save 40% on Super Healthy Kids’ meal plans. We support you all the way, from the meal plans and recipes to grocery lists, all delivered to you in our interactive connected cooking app, Prepear.
We hope you’ll come see what we put together for you. And good health to you and yours in the new year!
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
Learn More about Natalie
Setting goals in life make the children learn how to be constant in whatever objective they want to take advantage of. It helps them to grow as a person, and also it helps them to grow in health.