We know resolutions are not always easy to keep – Okay, are they ever easy to keep if they are good ones? Because many of you are taking our New Year’s Challenge this month, we decided to share a few tips from over the years, which have helped us tremendously to stay focused on our health goals and New Year’s resolutions.

1) Don’t stress when you slip up – We are human and we are going to make mistakes so if you fall off track, forgive yourself and don’t beat yourself up over it. Self induced guilt will only make you feel further from your goal and can keep you off track. Get over it and give yourself a chance to do better the next day.

2) Lock it up during the week and allow yourself a managed treat day - Not a destructive binge. Be diligent throughout the week with healthy choices and portions but give yourself a day of something you really enjoy in moderation – wine, chocolate, favorite dish. Completely depriving yourself of lifes pleasures can make it hard to stick to your ultimate goal.

3) Move every day. Doing something small is better than nothing at all. It is rare to hear, “I really should have just sat on the couch instead of going for that walk.” When you move you get oxygen to the brain and will feel better.

4) Eat before you go to a social event. If you fill your belly with healthy treats before you head out to your social event it can help reduce the amount of calories you would normally ingest with less desirable high calorie treats.

5) Get a buddy system. Surround yourself with healthy friends. Having a buddy to support you can make all the difference in the world when actually getting to your workout or making a better food choice. They also may encourage you to try something new that you thought you might not like. After all, variety is the spice of life – and it might just click – or you could get a funny story out of it!