With the new year - and new decade – ticking over, I’ll bet that many of you have made New Year’s resolutions that involve improvements to your fitness, commitment to working out, weight loss or improving your overall health through what you eat and drink. Motivation to change is high at the beginning of each year with a survey by Finder suggesting that 79% of Australians have set themselves up with new year’s resolutions for 2020.

But….new year’s resolutions are difficult to stick to with many failing before January is even over. In fact, January 12 is the key date when things start to fall apart so if your new year’s resolutions are looking at little shaky already, let’s take a look at why and how you can turn things around. As to why new year’s resolutions fail is easy. In general, we kick off with wonderful intentions and bucket loads of motivation but the ongoing implementation falls apart as we make them too hard, too vague and we fail to establish any plans on how we will achieve our intended goals. So, the solution is quite simple:

1. Keep it Simple – understand you can not make ongoing, major changes overnight. Break your resolution down into bite sized, achievable chunks that will enable you to stay on track. Establish small changes to your current lifestyle that will help you establish ongoing habits that will help you achieve your goals. You want to complete a fun run but would struggle to jog to the end of the driveway currently – break it down into smaller, regular runs that you build up until you can reach the elusive 5, 10 or 42km.

2. Be Specific – what does get fit actually mean? What does lose weight look like? It might be that you want to be able to increase the number of training sessions you do each week or you may want to be able to run further or have more energy to play with the kids. Your weight goals may involve a specific number you want to reach or it might be as simple as wanting to fit back into clothes you have ‘outgrown’.

3. Establish a Plan – so how are you going to get fit or lose that weight? Are you going to increase the classes you complete each week or add a one on one session in to your training schedule? What about weight loss – will it involve activity and dietary changes? What actions are you taking to achieve your goal? Will you require support or can you go it alone? Working out how you will support your new year’s resolution will give you a much greater chance of success!

No matter what your resolutions, let’s take a look at some simple changes you can make that will help support your 2020 resolutions.

1. Eat smaller portions

Most of us are eating a healthy diet but we simply eat too much of a good thing. Cut the portions down and you will notice the difference. One easy change you can make is to use smaller plates – it tricks the brain into thinking you have more food than you really do! You’ll be surprised by the impact this simple change can make to how much food you actually consume.

2. You’ve got to move it, move it

A World Health Organisation Study found that Australia ranked 97th in the world when it comes to the total number of people getting enough physical activity. 97th!!!! We all know that getting up and moving will help you achieve that fitness resolution you’ve made but the added benefit is that it can lower your risk of some cancers and prevent unhealthy weight gain.

The Australian guidelines on exercise suggest for adults they should:

• Be active on most, preferably all, days every week.

• Accumulate 2 ½ to 5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity or 1 ¼ to 2 ½ hours of vigorous intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both moderate and vigorous activities, each week.

• Do muscle strengthening activities on at least 2 days each week.

• And the big one – SIT LESS. Break up long stints of sitting as often as possible as this sedentary behaviour is simply not good for anyone.

3. Reduce alcohol

It’s a simple fact that reducing your alcohol intake will have significant health benefits. You are less likely to develop serious health issues, increase your energy levels, enjoy better sleep and have an improved appearance to name but a few. Let’s not forget that alcohol contains a lot of empty kilojoules that will lead to weight gain even if you have an otherwise healthy diet.

The current national guidelines for drinking to reduce the risk of alcohol-related disease or injury recommend:

• Drinking no more than two standard drinks on any day,

• Drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion. And don’t think saving the daily levels for a big weekend is a good idea – binge drinking is equally as damaging to your health! If you don’t want to give up the booze, then try adding the following actions into your repertoire and help yourself to keep the alcoholic intake down: • Rotate alcoholic choices with water.

• Drink slowly,

• Try drinks with a lower alcohol content,

• Eat before or while you are drinking.

4. Hit the hay

The importance of sleep should never be underestimated! We all know how cranky we can get after one night without enough sleep but the impact of long-term sleep deprivation can be extremely damaging contributing to long term health issues such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and poor mental health.

Going to bed at a regular time and sleeping well throughout the night will help you, be more alert, better able to concentrate, improve your mood while supporting cardiac function and body metabolism and it helps your body repair, regenerate and recover from whatever you throw at it during the day! Get yourself to bed at a reasonable and consistent hour and give your body the rest it needs!

5. Add in some Me Time

Life moves at a hectic pace and our resolutions will very easily fall by the wayside if you forget to allocate some time to yourself to actually achieve your goals. Schedule regular time for you to use for exercise, rest, reading a book, meditation, meal planning – whatever it is you need to keep yourself balanced and fulfilled. You’ll find that you feel more accomplished and better prepared to manage whatever it is life sends your way when you consciously look after yourself!

So, review your new year’s resolutions and make sure you have kept them simple, specific and you’ve set out your plan on how you are going to achieve your goals. And then drop in my five easy suggestions that will help speed you on to success! Look out 2020, here we come!