A Registered Dietitian’s Advice on Setting Successful Resolutions

Happy New Year! Time to set those ambitious goals with the best intentions to achieve them… but did you know that less than 10% of people actually stick to their resolutions long-term? Not great! This is because we set goals that are not realistic. 

What I have learned is that small and simple changes and CONSISTENCY over time are really the keys to success. A few behavior changes, that you are more likely to sustain and build upon in the long term, are all it takes. 

Follow these six steps to successfully reach your goals for 2024. 

 

• Take time to reflect. 

 

Take some time to really think about your health and current behaviours. Write down your answers to the following questions: 

• What areas of your health do you want to improve (eg. social, physical, spiritual, mental)?
• What healthy behaviours and habits do you currently have?
• What healthy behaviours and habits do you want to improve on?

 

 

• Choose 2-3 behaviours that you want to improve. 

 

You may want to increase your physical activity to improve physical and mental health this year. Adding more strength and cardio training would support this goal. Another example would be to eat more veggies or drink more water during the week. 

 

• Set SMART goals.

 

A SMART goal is one that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.

If we take increasing your veggie intake as an example, your goals might be to: 

• Make half my plate veggies for dinner 4 nights a week. 
• Make a veggie bucket every week on Sundays after doing groceries for easy, grab-and-go snacks during the week. Refer to my article here: https://themomandcaregiver.com/the-best-trick-to-get-your-kids-eating-more-veggies-really/ 
• Have veggies with hummus or tzatziki as a snack every afternoon. 

 

 

• Assess your true confidence in achieving those goals. 

 

Are you 90% confident you can achieve the goals you set? If not, tweak your goal so you are. Success breeds success, so we want to set goals that we can achieve and feel good about.

 

• Find peeps to keep you accountable!

 

Do you have friends with similar goals? Set up a group chat so you can update each other daily on your efforts. They can also be a great resource if you need that little push after falling off the wagon for a bit. 

 

• Enjoy the journey and put less focus on the destination!

 

Instead of focusing on how you will feel when you reach your goal, be present and mindful of what you experience along the way. For example, if exercising more is a goal, do you have more energy, sleep better, feel more focused on the days you do?  Use these little wins as motivation to keep pushing forward. 

 

Jenn Giurgevich is the founder of Spark Nutrition & Health, a virtual nutrition consulting business.
Visit www.sparknutritionandhealth.ca for more information.