5 Tips For Keeping Your New Year’s Resolution! (Healthy Hollywood)

Happy New Year!

Hard to believe 2014 is upon us. It is a good time to re-group and re-set. Healthy Hollywood is determined to take off the holiday pounds and finally get in shape to run a half marathon.

Over 40 percent of Americans will make a New Year’s resolution. Weight loss is typically the most popular one, followed by saving more money. While, most of us, may have good intention, the reality is only 8 percent of us will keep our resolutions.

Life coach expert Samantha Ettus shares with Healthy Hollywood her tips to making resolutions more obtainable.

Here are the top five New Year’s Resolutions and how to replace them:

Lose Weight:
The number one New Year’s resolution is losing weight. Yet, 95 percent of dieters regain the weight they lose. So why torture yourself? As a would-be dieter, if you make small lifestyle changes instead of dramatic deprivations, you will achieve greater success. According to Dr. James Beckerman, cardiologist and author of The Flex Diet, “The two most effective behaviors are easy and free: weigh yourself daily (and write it down), and keep a food diary. It’s about making mindfulness part of your routine. Both behaviors are proven to help people lose more weight than dieting.”

Get Organized:
If your grand plan is to get organized, you might have dreams of filing every last piece of paperwork, putting all of our online photos into albums, and more. Instead, organizational expert Julie Morgenstern recommends changing your ways for the future: “When you finish using something, place it back in its home immediately. Instead of thinking of it as ‘putting it away,’ think of it as ‘setting it up for its next use.’”

Spend Less, Save More:
To bring this grand statement back to reality, two finance experts weigh in. Farnoosh Torabi recommends that you: “Check your bank balance daily. You need to know where you stand so you can make healthier choices.” Daily Worth founder Amanda Steinberg offers this: “Make sure you’re moving your savings into an actual savings account. Money moved to a separate savings account is less likely to be spent. So much of fluidity comes from proactively saving for things like summer camp months and months in advance.”

Enjoy Life to the Fullest:
Resolving to enjoy life to the fullest because it is January 1 is a little bit like waiting for a tragedy to appreciate your life. To not live a full life with what you already have is like buying a new car and only using 20% of its features. Therapist Robi Ludwig suggests you incorporate your dreams into your daily life. “First write down what your dream is. If your goal is to be in a satisfying relationship, break down your goal into small and manageable steps: i.e. Let your friends know you’re interested in being matched up and join an online dating site.”

Stay Fit & Healthy:
As much as we would love to start working out tomorrow (and five times a week!), it doesn’t usually happen that way. 60% of gym memberships go unused despite the optimism resolution makers feel in January. So this year, why not take the stairs instead of the elevator or walk your child to school instead of driving him. Fitness guru Gunnar Peterson lets us in on a magic wellness tip: ”Make sleep your priority for one month, get as close to eight hours every night and see how you feel/look/perform in the gym, at work, as a parent and a spouse. You’ll be amazed.”

For more on Samantha, check out www.workingmomslifestyle.com.

— Terri MacLeod