It is that time of year again when everyone is setting goals for the New Year. An extremely popular New Year’s resolution is to become healthier, to “eat better” or “work out more often.” While these goals are great, and it’s never a bad time to improve your health, these goals can be hard to measure and keep up with. Here are a few tips to making goals and resolutions that are achievable.

Firstly, make sure the resolutions you make are specific. For example, instead of “eat better” make your goal to include more fruits and vegetables into your diet, or to eat smaller portions at meals. Another way to do this is to eliminate one unhealthy or “junk” food from your diet at a time. As you become comfortable with that adjustment, remove another junk food.

Similarly, make sure to set realistic goals. It will make achieving the desired results easier. For example, making it a resolution to “go to the gym everyday” is unrealistic. You miss one day and you feel like you haven’t met your goal, and once you skip one day, it’s a whole lot easier to skip more. Set a goal to get in 30 minutes of cardio three times a week. That way you can be flexible and not too hard on yourself when something goes wrong. You can always increase the time or frequency as this becomes routine for you!

Finally, set smaller goals to meet your end goals. If you want to lose 15 pounds this year, start your goal that you would like to lose 3 pounds by March 1st. Achieving these smaller goals will make you feel accomplished and give you more motivation towards your end goal. This resolution is both specific and realistic, and the best part is you get to cross off this goal, reward yourself, and set a new goal in a short period of time!

Rittenhouse Women’s wellness center is here to help you create goals and follow through with them. Make an appointment for the New Year now!