Why Now Is a Good Time to Set a Semi-New Year’s Resolution

Ordinarily no one thinks about New Year’s resolutions when it is mid-summer. After all, you’ve got six months left to live life before you should have to worry about getting in shape or losing weight, right? Wrong. There are many good reasons to set a resolution for the last six months of the year.

It Gives You a Head Start

Come January 1st, you’re going to feel awful and horrible about not taking care of yourself the previous year even though you swore that you would. You’ll know that another whole year has slipped away, making you feel behind before you even start.

However, if you set a semi-New Year’s resolution and work on the behaviors you want to change now instead of later, you’ll be ahead of the game. January 1st will come around and you’ll already be way closer to your goal, meaning that you’ll be acclimated to the changes you need to make in order to turn your dreams into a reality.

Living Healthy Is a Lifestyle

The reason a lot of New Year’s resolutions don’t work is because they are viewed as temporary. You have a goal that you intend to meet, such as losing weight or gaining muscle, and once you meet it, it’s over. You go back to your old ways of living and, before you know it, you’re back in your old jeans, starting all over again.

Living healthy is a lifestyle. It isn’t something that you achieve once and can then just set it aside. It is something that requires making changes not only for today, but for tomorrow and the next day and the next. Set a semi-New Year’s resolution then and you’ll continuously be in the mindset to keep working toward your next goal, making it a way of life for you and not just a fleeting fancy.

Semi-New Year’s Resolution Ideas

So, what kind of semi-New Year’s resolutions will help you work toward the goal of living a healthier, happier life? Instead of focusing on a number (such as in “I want to lose 20 pounds”), think more in terms of behaviors you want to have to live a healthy life. This way, each positive choice that you make puts you one step closer to your goal, regardless of what the scale shows (which is important because the scale doesn’t differentiate between water, fat, and muscle).

Here are some great options to consider:

Make it a goal to do something physically active each and every day. Whether you go for a walk after dinner or hit the gym for a grueling workout, aim to put a red “X” on the calendar each day that you engage in movement and you’ll do what it takes to not leave too many white spots.
Resolve to watch your portion sizes. When we live in a land of supersizes and have a “large is best” attitude, it can be difficult to know how much food our body actually needs to survive. Use SlimPlate’s portion controlled diet plates to help you figure these amounts out easily and without having to buy a complete set of measuring cups and bowls and finding a place to store them.
Increase your veggie intake. This is one area where a lot of people’s diet lacks – vegetable consumption. Not only do various vegetables contain a wide variety of necessary vitamins and minerals, but they also are generally high in fiber which means that they make you feel full easier and they keep your digestive tract functioning, all without many calories. Choose as many different veggies as you can as each one is good for you in a different way.
Aim to drink more water. One of the biggest health offenses that many of us commit is in drinking beverages that aren’t very good for us. Sodas, energy drinks, flavored coffee drinks, and even some sports drinks have the tendency to overdo the sugar and caffeine. This can leave you feeling wired, only to make you want to sleep once it wears off. You’re better off drinking more water as that is what your body needs most. Commit to this one change alone and you’ll feel better and likely lose some weight in the process.
Semi-New Year’s resolutions like these (getting active, using SlimPlates, increasing your veggies, and drinking more water) will make you look forward to January 1st because you’ll already be several steps ahead. Then, instead of worrying about how you didn’t meet your goal last year, you’ll just have to worry about what to wear. And you’ll look great wearing it, which is a bonus!