Bring in the New Year with a Healthy, Active Lifestyle

(FORT WORTH)—Instead of making a resolution to stick to your diet this year, make a goal to live a healthier, more active lifestyle. A healthier lifestyle will help you not only to achieve your goal of losing weight, but it will reduce stress, prevent disease, boost your energy level and benefit your overall wellness. The Small Business Wellness Initiative, a community collaborative project, offers five tips to a successful healthy, active lifestyle plan:

• Set Specific, Attainable Goals
  The first step to making a healthy, active lifestyle change is to set specific, attainable goals. Decide what you want to achieve. Is losing weight your primary concern or do you also want to lower your cholesterol? Start out with a specific goal that is moderately easy for you to reach. For example, rather than telling yourself that you will workout, decide how many times you want to workout per week and for how long. Another key to success is making your goal attainable. Choose an exercise or eating plan that fits with your lifestyle and limitations.
• Stick With It
  One thing to remember when making a lifestyle change is that it is not going to happen overnight. Take small steps toward achieving your goals. Select a healthy eating plan with foods that you enjoy, not ones that you will be forced to eat. Keep in mind that the best exercise plan is the one that you will do. Choose an activity that you like and stick with it. Give your plan at least six weeks and monitor your progress.
• Getting Around Obstacles
  You may encounter some obstacles when trying to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. For example, you may find that you do not have time to go to the gym or prepare healthy meals while traveling or during extended work periods. Develop strategies to help you get around the obstacles. Plan in advance how you will handle it if you encounter that obstacle. Building social support into your goal can also help you get around obstacles. Involving your friends and family in your plan can be very helpful strategies.
• Evaluate Results
  Do not wait for this time next year to look at your goals and see what you achieved or where you failed. Create measurement points for your goals and evaluate your progress. Did you meet your goal? If not, what got in the way? Do not give up on your healthy, active lifestyle change just because you do not meet your goals. Set a new goal or try out new strategies.
• Reward Your Efforts
  Establish rewards for yourself for each success. While feeling good about your healthy, active lifestyle change is a reward in itself, many people like to reward themselves for specific goals attained. Rewarding your efforts can be an important part of making lifestyle changes and may help you stick to your goals.

About the Small Business Wellness Initiative
The Small Business Wellness Initiative is a community collaborative project funded by a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services. The mission of the Small Business Wellness Initiative is to enhance the health, productivity and quality of work life for small business leaders, their employees and their communities. Community partners include Tarrant Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse, the North Texas Small Business Development Center and Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems.

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