Many people begin the New Year by setting resolutions. Many of those resolutions have been abandoned by February. Is this a criticism of people who can’t stick with their goals? Absolutely not! It is an acknowledgement that behavior change is hard. Really hard! There are the select few who are able to make a decision to change and then stick with it until they reach their goals. Most of us start and stop and start again. It is completely normal to start strong and then have a setback. Again, behavior change is hard.

In this post I want to give you some words of encouragement and some tips for success.

• Be gentle with yourself. Beating yourself up doesn’t help. It actually makes it harder to get back on track. Try some positive self-talk. Instead of saying, “I can’t believe I missed another workout”, say “I will go to the gym tomorrow”.
• Set one or two goals. Trying to change nutrition and physical activity habits at the same time can be overwhelming. Often if you slip up on one, you will give in on the other. Set small, realistic goals first. Process goals are a great way to start. For example, “I will go to the gym three days this week” is easier to achieve than “I will workout three days this week for at least 60 minutes each day”. Early successes are key to maintaining motivation.
• Reward yourself. You should acknowledge the work that you are doing and take pride in it. Did I mention that behavior change is hard? Every serving of vegetables provides nutrients. Every extra step you take counts. Every minute of physical activity makes a difference.  You can do this!