Studies show that 5 out of 6 people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions. For 2010, why not follow some of the ideas below which are geared towards success instead of failure.  Why? Because these ideas are easy to keep.

1. Lose 5 pounds. DON’T resolve to lose 100, just lose 5 pounds at a time.  It’s relatively quick and achievable.
2. One family day each month. Plan a day with your family that’s just for fun.  Go to a museum, have a picnic, play touch football at a nearby park, visit your cousins.  This requires only a small amount of planning and results in a lot of fun and great memories.
3. Sign up for a class. This is another short-term goal that’s easily achieved.  Sign up for a sewing class to tap your inner crafter.  Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn about interior design, so look at offerings at local community schools and adult ed courses.  Many local groups offer one-day classes on topics as diverse as Tuscan cooking or make your own soap.  Enlist a friend for even more fun.
4. Lose one dress size. Dropping from a 14 to a 12 is much more realistic than going from a 14 to a 4!  Once you fit into a 12, you can start to work down to a 10.  Baby steps guarantee success.
5. Eat vegetarian one day a week. This is an easy eco-friendly change that helps your waistline, your wallet, and the planet. All it takes is a dish like pasta primavera or veggie pizza for dinner.
6. Track your spending for one month. Wonder where the money is going? Write down all your expenses for 30 days to get an eye-opening view of what your budget really is.  Then you can make simple adjustments to help save more money and spend it on what you really want, like a fabulous vacation!  Speaking of which…
7. Plan a vacation. We all work so hard and don’t take the time to unplug and relax! Plan at least one vacation a year and, if you can, throw in one or two long weekends, too.  It doesn’t have to be expensive; a tent pitched in the woods is dirt-cheap and can be a blast with the right travel companions.
8. Lose the fabric softener. Fabric softener, especially most dryer sheets, are loaded with chemicals, which you then wear against your body 24/7. Buy some dryer balls which make your clothes just as soft as before but without that chemical smell. You’ll save money and the effort needed to meet your resolution is practically nil!
9. Read a book a month. This one is especially for the Moms who miss their reading habit.  Buy a book (or check one out from the library), and after the little ones go to bed, take some you time to work through the chapters.  It might not be like those “lost weekends” of the past when you’d get lost in a book, but it can still be entertaining and you’ll get a little piece of your “old self” back.
10. Sign up for an RSS feed for this site! It only takes a minute and you’ll automatically receive useful fitness information delivered with a sense of humor.  Think about it: a resolution you can have successfully completed by 12:01 am on January 1! How easy is that?

What’s your resolution?  Please share here :-)

Lisa

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