When a new year begins, people all over the world make a list of goals they want to achieve over the next 12 months. These lists often include joining a book club, learning how to dance, asking for a promotion and, of course, the top two resolutions: sticking to a diet and going to the gym.

Eating healthily and exercising are great for your body, but many people approach these two facets of life in unhealthy ways. First, not many people can manage to stick to a New Year’s resolution. Things come up and the new year’s goals are forgotten, pushed to the next year. Secondly, while many diets have been quite successful for many people, recent studies have shown that most people who lose a great deal of weight often regain those pounds (and more) after five years.

Finding a healthy size and becoming a stronger, more confident version of yourself may in fact be less difficult than eliminating white foods or eating only grapefruit.

To Diet or Not to Diet

Everyone has at least one friend or family member who is always on a diet. Sometimes it’s all protein, sometimes only foods that begin with the letter ‘B.’ Fad diets are typically unsustainable over the long term; if you’re looking to drop five pounds to fit into a new dress or suit, they may work, but true health often comes from changing the way you feel rather than the way you look.

Americans are people who are on the go—school, work, parties, non-stop. That means we eat quickly and we usually eat on the way to our destinations. This has fostered a lack of reverence for food, as opposed to other cultures that make it a point to enjoy small gourmet meals with friends and family on a daily basis.

So the first step in becoming a newer, healthier you is to slow down and enjoy food for what it is: nourishment for your body. After a few weeks of paying attention to your body (particularly your stomach), you will begin to understand what your body needs to sustain itself. It usually does not need greasy fast food or sugary drinks.

Another important part of enjoying food as nourishment is to eat intuitively. This means eating when you’re hungry, and only eating as much food as you need to feel satiated. Many people eat thoughtlessly, which encourages overindulgence—suddenly you’ve eaten an entire entrée and you’re almost too full to move, which can be unhealthy if done too often. If you’re going out to dinner and know that you’ll be too caught up in the conversation to stop eating when you’re full, order a half-sized portion.

Eating until you’re overly full is one thing, but drinking alcohol can cause the same effect. People often forget about liquid calories when they order several cocktails during a night out, but most mixers are laden with artificial sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup, and all of those drinks add up. If you are a frequent partier, booze can pack on the pounds.

And throughout your efforts to be healthy, remember that no one is perfect. If you indulge every now and then in unhealthy eating, it won’t kill you.

Working Out and Up

Mireille Guiliano, author of the bestselling guide French Women Don’t Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure, states that French people don’t use gyms, eat deliciously rich food and are some of the healthiest people in the world. That may or may not be true, but one important variable to examine when comparing France to the United States is the structure of communities in each country. Most French cities are centralized with efficient public transportation, as opposed to the suburban sprawl and slow buses in many U.S. cities. People in small French towns are able to walk to work, walk to the grocery store to pick up fresh ingredients for dinner after work, then walk home. Is it any wonder why French people allegedly never gain weight?

For better or worse, most U.S. cities are not designed to encourage walking. America fosters a car culture. So how do Americans get exercise? For most, the answer is their local gym. However, few actually make it to the gym on a regular basis.

Changing the way you view food may be easy, but making time to exercise is difficult. Figure out blocks of time that will be most convenient for you: before work, after work, only on weekends, etc. Then find a gym that will accommodate those times. A lot of gyms have flexible hours to work with many clients’ schedules, so this part shouldn’t be too hard.

If you have a specific body part you want to focus on toning, most gym equipment is labeled with the muscle groups each machine strengthens, so this is a good guide. For specifics, consult one of the gym’s personal trainers.

If you just want a good, all-around workout, movement in general does the trick. Walking, running, lifting weights—it’s all good, as long as you feel your body stretching and being active. If basic exercise isn’t motivating you, look into your gym’s classes. Hip-hop dance classes, water aerobics and yoga all help you become more fit.

For those who can’t afford a gym membership, try to work out a bit closer to home. Many apartment complexes have small workout rooms in the main office, and even a brisk walk around the neighborhood is better than nothing.

And if you live close enough to walk to work or ride a bike, think about doing so. Not only will trips to work be all the exercise you could ever need, but you will also be reducing your carbon footprint.

In the end, don’t think of eating or exercising as a competition. This is your life, and the most important thing in it is your health.

By Caitlin McGarry

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