10 Healthy New Year’s Resolutions You’ll Actually Keep

Work out an hour a day! Lose 20 pounds! Stop eating cookies! These may sound like some of the overly-ambitious promises you make at the start of every year, only to break a few weeks later. Get-healthy goals are good, but only if you can actually keep them.

Here at Nutrisystem, our mission is to make healthy living easier. We want you to succeed at this. And this year, to help you get off to a successful start, we’re dishing out 10 New Year’s resolutions to consider making in 2024. They’re realistic and achievable, so you won’t abandon them in a month. Plus, they’ll help jumpstart your journey toward a happier, healthier you.

Here’s to the very best year yet! Check out these 10 New Year’s resolutions for a healthy 2024:

1. Aim to drop one to two pounds a week.

We can’t say it enough: being overweight or obese increases your risk for a number of health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Plus, obese adults often report experiencing more aches and pain and poor sleep than their “normal” weight peers

But did you know that obese adults have a shorter life expectancy as well? That’s right: in a study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, researchers concluded that obesity and extreme obesity may be to blame for a reduction in life expectancy by up to eight years. Make this the year you follow through on your weight loss resolution.

Evidence shows you’re more likely to keep the weight off when you lose it slowly and steadily, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And as you work toward your ultimate goal, your effort along the way does your body good: Even a modest weight loss, such as five percent of your total body weight, can help improve blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. [If you weigh 200 pounds, a five-percent weight loss equals 10 pounds.] A weight loss program like Nutrisystem can help you achieve this healthy rate of weight loss.

2. Walk more and do body weight exercises.

You’ve heard it a million times, and for good reason: Walking is safe for most people, low-impact and requires nothing more than a pair of supportive shoes. Walking helps manage your weight, strengthen your body and boost your mood. Do it regularly and research suggests you’re likely to live longer.

Begin with a slow stroll, for just a few minutes a day; then gradually build up your time and pace to the recommended 150 weekly minutes at a moderate-intensity. Break that up into small chunks if that’s more doable for you: Three, 10-minute brisk walks a day, five days a week.

After you get into a walking routine, consider adding body weight exercises into the mix. Lunges, push-ups, crunches and squats: These equipment-free moves are a great way to build strength. Regular strength training helps build lean muscle mass so you burn calories more efficiently; it also helps strengthen bones, manage your weight and sharpen thinking skills.

*Always talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise routine.

3. Add veggies to every meal.

Eating more vegetables is one way to help meet your “eat healthier” goal. Non-starchy vegetables are low in calories, high in filling fiber and loaded with nutrients that may help reduce your risk of disease.

While you may be pretty good about getting some greens on your dinner plate, don’t skimp on other meals. In the morning, add spinach to an omelet or try smashed avocado on whole wheat toast.

Pile a lunch sandwich high with extra fixings (tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado) or use lettuce as a wrap instead of bread. During snack time, munch on carrots dipped in hummus or blend frozen broccoli or cauliflower into a fruit smoothie.

4. Practice deep breathing.

Deep breathing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to start meditating. Spending even a few minutes a day in meditation may help reduce stress and ease anxiety.

Find a quiet spot, get in a comfortable position and focus all your attention on feeling and listening as you slowly inhale through your nostrils for a count of three, then exhale. Try placing your hand right below your navel so you can feel your belly rise and fall.

5. Sip water throughout the day.

Research has shown even mild dehydration can sap energy, reduce your ability to concentrate and negatively affect your mood. Plus, scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found people who drank one, two or three more cups of water a day cut calories and reduced their consumption of saturated fat, sugar, sodium and cholesterol. At Nutrisystem, we recommend drinking at least 64 ounces of water each day.

6. Catch up on your check-ups.

Missed your last mammogram? Too busy to keep that eye appointment? Not this year. Your health is far too important to be put on the back burner. Especially since many health conditions have better outcomes if detected early on.

Regular health exams can help find problems before they start, or earlier when your chances for treatment and cure are better, says the CDC. According to the American Diabetes Association, early detection and treatment of diabetes can reduce the risk of complications associated with the disease. The American Cancer Society points to the importance of early screening tests for breast cancer, which can identify breast cancers when they are small and still confined to the breast. Since the size and spread of breast cancer are primary determinants of a woman’s prognosis, early detection is especially important.

Talk to your doctor about what screenings or exams you may need, and when you need them. Take inventory of the last time you visited your dentist, family physician, eye doctor, etc., and get them scheduled right now. Your health is too important to wait.

To make the most of your visit, compile your medical history, bring along any medications (including vitamins and supplements), prep a list of questions ahead of time, be specific with any symptoms you may be experiencing, and be honest so your doctor can better assess you.

7. Make time to volunteer.

When people contribute to their community or an organization they are passionate about, they lead happier lives, have lower rates of depression, and may even live a little longer than those who do not volunteer, according to a research review of more than 50 studies.

Think about causes that are important to you, and research groups that deal with those issues. Also consider what you have to offer: if you love building or outdoor work, or have a knack for teaching kids, look for opportunities where you can use your skills.

8. Pace your drinks.

Especially around the holidays, all that toasting and cheersing could lead to one too many cocktails. One drink a day for women, two for men is considered light to moderate, and may even help protect against heart disease. But heavy drinking (more than three drinks on any day or more than seven per week; for men, more than four on any day or more than 14 per week) can actually hurt your heart and your liver, as well as raise your risk of depression and certain cancers, according to research.

To help keep consumption under control at a party, pace yourself to no more than one alcoholic beverage per hour. Sip slowly, and space them out by making every other a non-alcoholic drink, such as water, soda or juice.

Don’t drink on an empty stomach. Alcohol is absorbed more slowly with food in your belly. Throughout the year, keep a drink diary: Note each drink before you drink it—on a card in your wallet, in a note on your smart phone, on your kitchen calendar, or wherever works for you. It may help you slow down and shed light on any potential problem.

9. Set a bed-time alarm.

As odd as that may sound, the most important sleep strategy is to stick to a schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night, get up at the same time every morning.

Set an alert to ring about a half hour before you plan to hit the sack to give you time to wind down, power off the laptop, put down the smart phone and get ready for bed. When you get into a regular sleep rhythm, you get better quality and more sound rest.

10. Do more of what you love.

Make a list of your five favorite things to do. Then think about the last time you did each of them. Been a while? There’s no time like the present!

If you love movie dates with your honey, schedule one this weekend. If you used to savor early morning strolls with your neighbor, put them back on your to-do list. Qualitative and anecdotal studies have demonstrated a link between engaging in enjoyable leisure activities and life satisfaction. Other similar studies have suggested that engaging in leisure activities is associated with lower levels of depression.

You could also schedule a vacation. Having trouble justifying this one? Look no further: in a study, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, researchers found that men at high risk for coronary heart disease who took more vacations had a lower risk of dying early than their non-trip-taking peers.

Plus, according to data from the Framingham Heart Study, women who took a vacation once every six years or less were nearly eight times more likely to develop coronary heart disease or have a heart attack than those who took a minimum of two trips per year.

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