Background on Resolutions
Most New Year’s resolutions are related to health, fitness, and weight loss.
How long do people stick to a diet resolution? In a study called “A digital epidemiological estimation of weight loss diet persistence:”
- Researchers tracked online searches from 2004-2019 indicating interest in specific diets, e.g., paleo, low-carb, South Beach
- Diet searches spiked in January (resolutions?)
- Diet searches were lowest in November and December
- Lengths on diets ranged from 6 weeks (low-carb) to 5 weeks (Paleo, Weight Watchers) to 3 weeks (South Beach).
- The highest dropout rates were among the diets hardest to follow during holidays, e.g., low-carb
Resolutions versus Goals
Resolutions are general intentions or promises to make a lifestyle change/improvement. They’re often tied to a time point (e.g., New Year’s, the start of a new semester, or an upcoming event like a wedding). They’re outcome-oriented, and often vague and hard to follow.
Goals are actionable steps to get closer to a broader objective or outcome. They’re time-bound, specific, and process-oriented.
What do you need to achieve objectives?
Goals or resolutions. One study looked at progress towards solving a life problem.
- 46% who set a resolution reported success at changing a problem 6 months later.
- 4% who didn’t set a resolution success at changing a problem 6 months later.
Self-efficacy
- Belief you can do it
- Having confidence you can find a recipe to use a new healthy food, feeling like you’re capable of planning and doing a workout
Ability
- Skills necessary to achieve goals
- E.g., Meal planning, label reading, food preparation ability, doing a certain activity, following an exercise program.
Readiness to Change
Precontemplation
You haven’t yet identified a problem or considered a need to change.
Contemplation
You’ve recognized the need/desire to change, but haven’t acted on it.
You might, for example:
- Create your account in Lark, order your scale, look at the features
- Notice that you eat fast food regularly
Preparation
You make a plan.
You might, for example:
- Start logging food in Lark, set up your Lark scale
- Identify times during the day/week when you might exercise and schedule them in your calendar
- Plan lunches that you could take from home and buy portable containers
Action
You start implementing changes.
You might, for example:
- Log in when you receive notifications from Lark
- Exercise during your scheduled times
- Pack a healthy lunch twice a week
Maintenance
The choices have become habits.
You might, for example:
- Log meals and activity most days
- Automatically mentally or physically block off your 7:15 a.m. time slot and walk
- Stock your pantry with the foods you need for your lunches
Relapse
These may be setbacks. You may go back to old habits.
You might, for example:
- Start staying up late and missing your morning walk
- Get too busy to pack your lunch so you start going out for fast food every day
Make Small, Easy Changes for Success
Small changes set you up for success. Trying for too much, too fast can lead to feeling discouraged. For example, if your baseline habit is to eat meat daily, it’s unrealistic to aim to adopt a plant-based diet. Instead, you might aim for two meatless dinners a week.
Or, if you rely on frozen or boxed dinners, it’s not likely you’ll be able to cook gourmet meals from scratch every night. Instead, consider a goal of adding 1 cup of frozen vegetables to your meal most nights.
SMART Goal for Success
Setting SMART goals can help you make progress towards your main objective, such as lowering risk for diabetes, losing weight, or being more active.
Here’s a link to a worksheet!
https://www.lark.com/resources/lark-smart-goal-worksheet
Here are the components of SMART goals.
- Specific - When a goal is specific, you know exactly what to do.
- Measurable - When a goal is “measurable,” you can say, “Yes, I did this!”
- Achievable - A goal can be challenging and still achievable
- Realistic - A relevant goal gets you closer to your overall objective, whether it’s direct or indirect
- Time-bound - The duration of your goal should be long enough to see a result or build a habit, but short enough to be able to focus on it
Here are some examples of SMART goals.
- If your objective is to lower diabetes risk, a SMART goal may be, “I will lower my A1C by 0.3% in 3 months by reducing high-carb foods in each meal to no more than 2 servings.”
- If your objective is to lose weight, a SMART goal may be, “For the next two months, I will have my usual after-dinner dessert only once a week instead of seven times. The other nights, I will have a one-third portion of dessert and add a cup of fruit.”
- If your objective is to get fit, a SMART goal may be, “I will do 30 minutes of walking 5 times a week and participate in a 5k walk in 3 months.”
- If your objective is to eat healthy, a SMART goal may be, “I will make bean or pea soup every Sunday for the next month, and have it three times during the week for lunch or dinner instead of a frozen meal or takeout.”
Accountability
Increasing your accountability can help you reach your goals. Here are three tips.
- Map it out
- Identify milestones and rewards as you hit them
- Put deadlines on your calendar
- Reassess regularly and adjust as needed
- Log and track
- Log food including meals, snacks, and beverages
- Log walks, workouts, and other physical activity
- Track progress such as calories or key nutrients, active minutes, or sleep
- Weigh regularly
- Lark can help
- Use social support
- Tell others what your goal is and how you are planning to achieve it
- Join a support group and participate as much as you can - try the Lark DPP Facebook group!
- Check in with your support person on a regular basis
