Health & Wellness

10 Tips to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions Going #HappyRenewYear

2016 is the year to get healthy and fit! We’re already six weeks in, so I want to know how your New Year’s resolutions are going. My resolution to eat better and get healthier has had its ups and downs, but I haven’t given up yet!

A recent Fusion survey of Canadian women aged 35 to 49 showed that about three quarters of us make a New Year’s resolution, and more than 60% of those resolutions focus on getting healthy: getting in shape, eating healthier, or losing weight. Unfortunately, it also revealed that 64% of us give up our resolutions within the first three months, and – no surprise – it’s our packed schedules and the competing demands of work and family that most get in the way.

How are Canadian women doing at keeping their New Year's resolutions?

For sure I’ve been feeling this myself. Lately I’ve been working shifts almost every weekend, and we’ve had what I think is an unreasonable number of illnesses since Christmas. In fact we’re just getting over some kind of stomach bug that hit both my kids. I think I avoided catching it myself (knock on wood), but it definitely put a kink in my new routine of making weekly meal plans and cooking healthy, home cooked meals every day.

When I get tired, it’s so easy to fall back into the convenience of getting takeout instead. But here’s my best advice for keeping New Year’s resolutions going. Just because I didn’t follow through today, doesn’t mean I can’t tomorrow. I haven’t given up my resolution until I give up, and by that I mean until I stop trying. Well, I haven’t given up. I’m going to keep meal planning and focusing on healthy meals for my family like my favourite weekday baked chicken dinner, slow cooker Thai green curry chicken, or these Sunday dinner grain-free cabbage rolls.

These grain-free cabbage rolls are a healthy meal that my whole family enjoys!

Sears Canada is the ideal destination to help time-starved women integrate health and wellness into their everyday lifestyle, all year long! Whether your resolution is to get in shape, give up a bad habit, or learn something new, Sears Canada wants to help us achieve our health goals through their new #HappyRenewYear initiative offering simple, cost-effective solutions and tips for success.

The health and wellness experts at Sears Canada have put together these handy hints and tips for you to help you stay motivated through those tricky first three months of goal setting:

  1. Ditch the snooze button. Wake up 30 minutes early for a quick workout and healthy breakfast at home before starting your work day. This will help you feel accomplished, energized and excited all before 7am! Tip: Walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes every day, burns an extra 1,000 to 1,500 calories a week!
    NordicTrack® 'C800' Treadmill

    NordicTrack® ‘C800’ Treadmill

  2. Make staying on track with your goals easy! Celebrate mini-milestones and achievements with a fun, well-deserved treat. Why not reward yourself with fresh, new workout wear like Sears’ PURE NRG ATHLETICS ®/MD Athletic Capri or Performance Tank? I like pampering myself with something small like a new lipstick or an uninterrupted hour on Saturday morning with my book and a cup of tea.Taking some me time is important to staying motivated!
  3. Get moving! Everyday activities can be an easy exercise opportunity. Use the commercial breaks in your favourite TV show, or downtime when picking up your kids at hockey, to do some easy workouts on the go, such as leg lifts, bicep curls or marching on the spot.
  4. Save time and money, get fit at home! More than 55 per cent of women surveyed prefer working out at home to spending an average $1,400 per year on a gym membership. At-home fitness equipment and accessories are easily found, purchased and delivered at Sears, often for less than the cost of an annual gym membership.
  5. Get your “Om” on and make time to renew yourself with yoga! It not only benefits your physical health, it helps reset your mind, increase focus and creativity, and improves sleep. Yoga is a great exercise during pregnancy too! I did prenatal yoga on DVD once or twice a week while I was pregnant with Tee and loved it.
  6. Make meal planning and prep a part of your weekend To Do list to save time during the work week! I try to make meal planning part of my Sunday routine before going grocery shopping. This is one of the most important things I can do to keep myself on track for the rest of the week. That way I can plan for events during the week and be smart about using up leftovers too.
  7. Get your friends and family on board! Living a healthier lifestyle is so much easier when you have your loved ones’ support. Why not make working out a group activity, or family routine? Hubby and I made a point of talking about why we wanted to make changes, and we remind each other of those things when we have a moment of weakness.
  8. Change up your workouts to keep things interesting. It’s easy to fall off the wagon when your exercises become boring and routine. I’ve heard so many people who swear by kettlebells. I’d love to give these a try or maybe something completely different like karate classes with my daughter!Change up your routine with a set of kettlebell weights.

I have a couple of my own tips to add to this list:

  1. Remind yourself of your reasons for making your resolution. Quitting smoking? Keep a pic of the kids on you at all times to remind yourself of the most important reasons you want to quit. Want to lose weight? Try bookmarking an outfit you’d love to wear in your new size.
  2. I’m a visual person, and being able to see changes helps keep me motivated. Try taking a before picture to remind yourself where you’ve come from, or keep a daily diary of what you’ve accomplished. You can track weight changes, run times, strength training, etc.

Visit Sears.ca to shop for workout wear and accessories to restorative equipment, treadmills and home gyms, by Canada’s favorite brands including NordicTrack and Bowflex, or to find a store location near you.

Connect with Sears Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Join the conversation with the hashtag #HappyRenewYear!

How are you doing with your healthy resolutions? What tips do you have for keeping them going year round?

 
Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation. Nevertheless, all opinions expressed are completely honest and my own, based on my personal experience. Your experience may differ.

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6 Comments

  • I would love to do yoga again. It’s been a few years but I was thinking now would be good time to start again.

  • Oh I wish I had a piece of fitness equipment at home – that would be such a benefit to getting some exercise in while my boys are sleeping. Great ideas to keep your resolutions.

  • Great tips! Truly love the look of that yoga mat. Ommm. 🙂 I hear ya about the unreasonable amount of illnesses. Someone sneezed last night, and I froze in fear with the thought of another round of colds going through this house again already. We haven’t had a break since early Dec. :/ Family health has put a bit of a damper on my resolution this year (So much so, that I’ve been wondering what would happen to these statistics if we moved the start of these resolutions to spring, where mother nature begins her renewals as well, lol.)

  • These are great tips! I’m great at starting a new years resolution! I get all gung ho and start off strong. The problem is if I miss one thing or hit one bump, I tend to fall completely off the wagon instead of get back on. That is my resolution. To allow bumps and to start again whenever I get off track.

  • Awesome tips,i have a terrible time keeping my new years resolutions but this year when i fall off the wagon i am picking myself up and getting back on