weight loss goals

Goal Setting for New Year’s Resolutions

Here are some guidelines for setting New’s Years Resolutions you can achieve:

1. Set Achievable Goals.

We’d all like to reach a goal to win the lottery or become a millionaire this year. While those two things would make for a fabulous year, the odds are against you for achieving it. Goals are stepping stones and guides to getting what you want in life. Setting achievable goals helps you to keep your resolutions, feel good about yourself, and move your life forward in the direction you desire.

2. Make Specific Goals.

If your goal is too vague or too big it can be difficult to complete. A goal to exercise is nice, but is too general. Decide on something more specific such as exercising 15 minutes, three days a week. Being more specific helps to identify what you what to accomplish and makes it easier to track your progress. Keeping a log will help you complete your specific goal. This not only helps you to achieve your resolution, but will make you feel good each time you do it.

3. Go Beyond This Year.

Set more general goals for the future. Setting 5, 10, 15 and 20 year goals gives your life direction, and a map showing where you want to take your life. Sometimes it is easiest to start backwards starting with a 20 year goal of where you want to end up in life, and then work towards the 15, 10, 5, and 1 year marks to set goals and resolutions that will help you achieve the end results you want in life.

Remember, the basic steps for achieving your New Year’s resolutions is to decide what you want, determine what needs to occur to reach your goals, and most importantly, take action on your goals.

Here are some valuable internet resources that will help you reach your goals for the New Year:

Goal Setting Will Make That New Year’s Resolution Happen
Key to Successful New Year’s Resolutions
Smarter Goal Setting Acronym – Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution With SMARTer Goal Setting
Tips for setting New Year’s resolutions for kids and families
Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals For The New Year
Goal Kicker – New Year Resolutions Count Down: 3 weeks to go
Turn Your New Year Resolutions Into Real Results
New Year’s Resolution Makeovers
Practical Goal Setting Tools
Green Goal Setting
Four Steps to Prepare for Goal Setting
New Years Resolutions – Achieving Goals

By Carolyn Almendarez

What are your goals for the upcoming year? Share your resolutions in the comments below.


Flickr photo by Alan Cleaver

Start A Fitness Program

Start A Fitness Program

Staying fit is a great way to help yourself and help your family. Commit to starting a fitness program right now.

Start by exercising 1 minute today, 2 minutes tomorrow, and so on each day adding an additional minute to your exercise routine. This is an easy way to make fitness a habit and to start incorporating exercise into your daily routine.

Exercising with friends, family, and neighbors makes getting fit even more fun. So grab your neighbors, kids, and friends and start running, biking, swimming, dancing, walking, rollerblading, skiing, and actively playing in your neighborhood.

There are many ways to exercise and move your body to strengthen your muscles, increases mobility and flexibility, tone your body, and make yourself feel great. So get up and move – it’ll only take a minute to get your fitness program started today!

By Carolyn Almendarez

I want to hear from you. What is your favorite way to exercise? Share in the comments below.


children running in park by Artist: Peipei

Start a Health Habit

We are now officially into that wonderful time of year I call “Food Season”. A time of parties, socials, Halloween candy, pumpkin pie, eggnog, candy canes, and lots of alcohol. The average person typically gains 5 pounds or more over the three month holiday season.

Start your holidays off on the right foot by implementing a new health habit today. Go for a walk, add salad to your dinners, eliminate or minimize soda pop, caffeine, and alcohol. Eat corn on the cob instead of candy corns and mix your eggnog with skim milk instead of alcohol.

Simple steps of adding more healthy foods and exercise, while decreasing or eliminating those not so healthy foods and habits will quickly add up to making a healthier you. Include your children and neighbors in the effort to start healthy habits to create healthy neighborhoods and healthy communities.

By Carolyn Almendarez

What healthy habits are you going to start? Share your plans to stay healthy during the holidays in the comments below.

Mind-Body Solutions for Health and Happiness, Carolyn AlmendarezCarolyn Flynn Almendarez holds a Master’s degree in Counseling with additional studies in Nutrition and Holistic Health. She provides a unique blend of mind-body solutions to create health, happiness, and loving relationships. She is a strategist, problem-solver, and intuitive guide. She believes every woman deserves to feel beautiful, serene, and happy. She is committed to helping women create lives they love. She is the author of SMART Talk, Heal Your Grief, and Holiday Peace and Joy.


Artwork by PeiPei

Exercise

exercise

A healthy neighborhood starts with healthy people.

Get fit in your neighborhood today by going for a walk, riding your bike, playing sports, or running around with your kids. Exercise is fun and feels good.

Make it a family event and play tag or go swimming. Regardless of your age or physical abilities take some time today to move a little more than you usually do; your body and mind will thank you for it. Do a little more each day and exercise will become a natural part of your daily life.

A healthy neighborhood starts with you, so get fit in your neighborhood today.

By Carolyn Almendarez

What is your favorite way to exercise? Share your favorites in the comments below.


Riding bikes by Artist: Peipei

wild flower by Carolyn Almendarez

Mud and Flowers

No matter how busy I get, it is always good to take time and chat with my neighbor.

My neighbor told me that the most beautiful flowers come from the most god-awful mud.

She was telling me that sometimes when life gets difficult there just may be something extraordinarily rewarding coming from all that turmoil, aggravation, and fuss.

I learned a lot in that ten-minute chat.

By Carolyn Almendarez

What benefits have you received from seemingly awful situations? Share your insights in the comments below.