Commonly Broken New Year's Resolutions
About 40 percent of us will resolve to change our lives in some way in the new year, and the majority of us will fail. Here's why—and how you might be able to beat the odds.
By Corrie Pikul
Original Content | December 28, 2012 
Photo: Thinkstock
|
Why it's tricky: Despite good intentions, our nation (and everyone in it) just keeps getting heavier, found a recent report from Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which also projected that obesity rates in every state are on course to top 44 percent by 2030. What's more, 13 states—mostly in the South—could have obesity rates above 60 percent! Make it stick: People tend to think about "losing weight" and "exercising" as two separate resolutions, says Norcross (click to the third slide). While he says science used to advise putting energy into tackling one behavioral change at a time, newer research from the University of Rhode Island has shown that combining two related resolutions (exercise more + lose weight, stop smoking + manage stress, save money + stick to a budget) makes it more likely you'll stick to both. |
