Does your New Year's resolution pass the test?

By Halley Molstad, CD, RD, Gundersen Nutrition Therapy

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You started out strong, following your New Year's resolution every day. But now you might be losing steam. You might be wondering if you can keep your resolution. You might be wondering if you're good enough. But I have a different question for you: Is your New Year's Resolution good enough? To find out, ask yourself these three questions:

1. Is my resolution specific? If your goal for the New Year is to get healthy, you may find yourself overwhelmed with all the changes you can make. To make this resolution more manageable, focus on one or two areas and choose specific goals. For example, you might choose to work on eating more vegetables. Once you choose an area to focus on, make an action plan that fits your lifestyle. For example, you could set a goal to add a vegetable to your lunch or cut up vegetables on Sunday to have available all week long.
2. Is my resolution realistic? Accomplishing small goals can give you the motivation you need to keep going! If you're currently eating one serving of vegetables per day and your goal is to eat five servings of vegetables per day, you might get discouraged and give up when you don't meet your goal. A more realistic goal would be to eat three servings of vegetables five days per week. You don't need to accomplish your long-term goal right away; choosing a short-term and more realistic goal will get you on your way to meeting the long-term goal.
3. Is my resolution measurable? How will you know if you accomplish your goal if you can't measure it? If your goal is to eat more vegetables, you have to define "more" in order to have a way to measure successes or setbacks. A measurable goal would be to have two serving of vegetables with dinner five days per week.

Create a resolution that is specific to your needs, realistic for your lifestyle and has a way to measure success!