The start of a new year is a natural time to start afresh and evaluate your goals for the coming months. However the fact that many people break their resolutions within days of making them suggests few people put a plan in place to stick to their resolves.

So, what makes a good resolution and how do you follow through to make sure you succeed? Here are our top tips for sticking to your healthy New Year’s resolutions.

Set Realistic Goals

It’s important to set yourself realistic goals with an idea of what you would like to achieve in mind. If you overburden yourself with an exhaustive or unattainable list of goals, you’re likely to set yourself up for frustration and disappointment. Keep your resolution specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. It’s also a good idea to write your goals down and put them up in a prominent place (fridge, bathroom mirror) as a reminder of your target.

Stay Focused On Your Actions, Not Your Progress

Too many people approach their health with an all or nothing attitude. Good health should stem from the aim for continuous healthy lifestyle choices. By making small positive decisions every day, you will be on your way to a healthier you. Small things like drinking a glass of water instead of soft drink or choosing salad instead of chips at dinner will move you closer to your goal. Use these daily positive actions as your benchmark for getting closer to your objectives.

Be Positive

It’s easier to eliminate bad habits when you replace them with good ones. Rather than restricting yourself by saying you won’t have something, make a healthy choice part of the resolution. For example, if your resolution is to eat less junk food, make packing yourself a healthy lunch each day part of your resolution. You could also incorporate a promise to always have healthy snacks with you to avoid drive throughs and vending machines!

Keep a Record

It can be very rewarding to see your daily activities documented when you’re trying to implement habitual change. If your resolution is to eat five serves of vegetables each day or drink eight glasses of water, keep a notebook with you to tally up your daily intake as you consume it or use an online diary such as myfitnesspal. If your goal is to increase your daily activity, don’t forget to put on your activity tracker each morning and track your steps using your online account. It will give you a buzz to know hitting your daily goal is getting you closer to your long term objective.

Integrate Physical Activity

Come New Year’s Day there will be a plethora of people promising to “exercise more”. It’s a great goal to have, but many people will have let it fall by the wayside by February. If you know you’re going to find it difficult to fit exercise into your schedule, utilise as many opportunities as you can to naturally incorporate it into your day. Some suggestions include:

• Make a promise to yourself to always take the stairs rather than the lift,
• Implement an email free day at work where you walk to your colleagues’ offices to talk,
• Walk to the shops on a Sunday morning for the milk rather than driving.

This incidental exercise really adds up over a day to increase your daily physical activity.

Don’t Give Up!

Realistically, you’re going to slip up at some point. However the people who are most successful at achieving goals are the ones who get straight back on track. Don’t beat yourself up over a slip; it isn’t failure - give yourself another chance. Keeping goals is all about your long term commitment. Look at the rest of the day, week or month and decide what adjustments are necessary to make continued healthier choices.