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Nearly half of all Americans make a New Year’s resolution every year, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. If you’re one of them, you know how rarely resolutions stick. Want to increase your odds of success? Make healthy New Year’s resolutions a family affair.
“When attempting to make a positive change, it’s helpful to surround yourself with accountability,” says Rachel Stahl Salzman, MS, RD, CDN, CDCES lecturer in medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Weill Cornell Medicine. “By getting the whole family involved in your healthy resolutions, you have accountability living in every bedroom in your home.”
Here’s how to get started.
There are two ways to develop New Year’s resolutions: approaching and avoiding.
While approach- and avoidance-oriented goals can both contribute to better health, one may lead you there more quickly.
“Research shows that you’re more likely to carry through with approach-oriented New Year’s resolutions,” Salzman says. “For even better results, make your health goal specific—aim to include a vegetable at every meal or exercise three times a week. This way, you know when you’re hitting or missing the mark, which encourages you to keep at it or to get to work.”
If you’re looking for New Year’s resolutions that can help improve the health of your whole family, get started with these.
“The New Year is a great time to begin healthy lifestyles that lead to long-term health benefits,” says Sarah R. Barenbaum, MD, obesity medicine director at the Comprehensive Weight Control Center and the GI Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program. “With realistic goals, you can start a healthier diet, achieve weight loss, reduce your risk for heart disease and more. Do it with the whole family, and you all benefit.”
By making healthy New Year’s resolutions a family affair, you have built-in accountability, and everyone benefits.
Need a helping hand fulfilling your New Year’s resolutions? Find a doctor at Weill Cornell Medicine who can help you develop specific goals and a plan to reach them.
