Are you struggling to have a successful new year’s resolution? If you are, it may be because your goals and expectations are too extreme and not very realistic. You may have set a resolution that was impossible to meet depending on your lifestyle.
Take a closer look and ask yourself if you set yourself up to be in a state of rebellion? This can come from setting limits on yourself that can leave you feeling deprived. This can come from such commitments as “I will avoid all bread or all fried foods”, etc. You have put yourself in a mindset that you can’t do something or that it is bad or it is not allowed. Learning to think of food as nourishment and managing portions may be a better option for you to help you be successful.
Did you decide you would run 5 miles every day and maybe you have done this for one day since making that decision? Your lifestyle probably didn’t go as you thought it might. No one’s lifestyle goes as we want it to all the time. This is why having small things that we can do on a frequent basis can make us successful in accomplishing our health goals. Take a good look at your schedule and determine what you could do on a daily or near daily basis.
You don’t have to be perfect to be successful at improving your health. Little things can make a huge difference. Instead of aiming to run or walk for an hour 5 days a week, you might aim to run or walk for 10 minutes 5 days a week. Another small thing could be to leave a few bites of food on your plate at your meals on a daily basis.
Think that won’t make a difference? The 10 minutes a day of movement is better than sitting and gets you into a healthy habit while contributing to your health benefits. Does leaving a few bites on your plate really make a difference? One hundred calories less, every day for a year, can result in a 10 pound weight loss. These small changes all lead to a successful result. 
Grace graduated in 1993 from UT Southwestern Medical Center Allied Health Sciences School with a Bachelor of Science degree in Clinical Nutrition. A few years later she concentrated her efforts in diabetes and became a certified diabetes care and education specialist. During her career she has worked as a registered dietitian nutritionist in long-term care, renal dialysis, home health, and diabetes outpatient care. Currently self-employed, she specializes in wellness and diabetes. Grace is a member of the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. Grace now writes nutrition content for websites using her education, current research, and 29 years of experience.