New Year's Resolutions: 10 Resolutions To Make And Keep In 2011

New Year's resolutions are a bit like babies: They're fun to make but extremely difficult to maintain.



Each January, roughly one in three Americans resolve to better themselves in some way. A much smaller percentage of people actually make good on those resolutions. While about 75 percent of people stick to their goals for at least a week, less than half (46 percent) are still on target six months later, a 2002 study found. It's hard to keep up the enthusiasm months after you've swept up the confetti, but it's not impossible.

This year, pick one of the following worthy resolutions, and stick with it. Here's to your health!

1 of 10

Lose Weight


1 of 11

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

The fact that this is perennially among the most popular resolutions suggests just how difficult it is to commit to. But you can succeed if you don’t expect overnight success. "You want results yesterday, and desperation mode kicks in," says Pam Peeke, M.D., author of "Body for Life for Women". "Beware of the valley of quickie cures."

Also, plan for bumps in the road. Use a food journal to keep track of what you eat and have a support system in place. "Around week four to six...people become excuse mills," Dr. Peeke says. "That’s why it’s important to have someone there on a regular basis to get you through those rough times." More From Health.com: 25 Ways to Beat Stress Over the Holidays The Secrets to a Super-Happy Winter 7 Tips for the Best Sleep Ever

Phone Hacking/Bribery Scandal Timeline

Midwest Storms

Syria Bombing 2/26

The fact that this is perennially among the most popular resolutions suggests just how difficult it is to commit to. But you can succeed if you don’t expect overnight success. "You want results yesterday, and desperation mode kicks in," says Pam Peeke, M.D., author of "Body for Life for Women".

"Beware of the valley of quickie cures."

Also, plan for bumps in the road. Use a food journal to keep track of what you eat and have a support system in place. "Around week four to six...people become excuse mills," Dr. Peeke says. "That’s why it’s important to have someone there on a regular basis to get you through those rough times."


More From Health.com:
25 Ways to Beat Stress Over the Holidays
The Secrets to a Super-Happy Winter
7 Tips for the Best Sleep Ever

comments(6)

Total comments: 6 | Post a Comment

1 of 11

This Resolution

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

I say that every year This year it's on

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Top 5 Resolutions

loading...

Top 5 Resolutions

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[LogicalMathMan]

01:16 PM on 12/31/2010

Mine is not to stay in touch with people just because they discovered Facebook. :-)

All the best for 2011.

[Steph Monster]

02:09 PM on 12/30/2010

Im planning to go green this year, just a few small efforts make a huge difference

http://www.fourgreensteps.com/infozone/lifestyle-health/-25-easy-green-resolutions-for-the-new-year

[magicmary]

09:05 PM on 12/29/2010

Manpower says that 80% of employed people plan on looking for a new job in '11. Part of the reason is that layoffs came but the people who got to keep their jobs had a lot of added stress. A lot. Hire enough people to do the work! Employers do jack sh^t to help the stress level of their employees. They could start with maybe a 35 hour work week and yes, I would take a pay cut to get that! Americans work too much!

[Steph Monster]

04:33 PM on 12/29/2010

My 2010 resolution was to go vegetarian and it turned into a Vegan diet, so I'm all about that for 2011. Its all about finding the right recipes I rly like this site, especially for soups http://www.fourgreensteps.com/community/recipes

[Ljilja]

02:49 PM on 12/29/2010

Stay in touch - but be careful of cell phones. Radiation can be dangerous.

Also, being connected all the time can cause way too much stress.

http://graciouslivingdaybyday.com/

[BassguyGG]

02:42 PM on 12/29/2010

These are all very good suggestions. Most of them are on my list already, especially getting more sleep.