Don't give up those health resolutions yet...

By this time of year many New Year resolutions have begun to wane. Dr. Cooper has written on acquiring new habits that it takes about five months for a habit to take hold. So if you can hang in there until may you will be encouraged by the results and the habit is now how you live. Another thing he advises is to allow yourself some margin of error. For example I hope this year to eat two servings of fish a week to improve my artery and heart health. I know ahead of time that goal will be challenged because I am not the only one planning the menus. One of my solutions is to have a healthy fish meal as one of my lunches. It is still possible a week may go by where I didn't meet my goal. If I meet it 80 to 90% of the time the net result is good for me.
Exercise goals build a little flexibility in your plans. Do you want to go to the gym, pool 3x's a week very good, but have a back up plan. can't get to the gym workout at home with exercises that use your body like push-ups, sit-ups, squats, jumping jacks or use exercise tubes or bands to have a resistant workout. You will stay with your plan and feel the results.
Give room for busy times or illnesses to interrupt your good intentions. They happen so just work back into your routines. Many of us will fail at weight loss. It reminds me to focus on health and not just the scale. Over time you will be going the right direction. With weight loss or fitness we want to see instant results. It is better to be 80% on target and note how good you feel a month from now.
Not being perfect applies to habits in other areas of our lives. For example reading things that inspire us, our devotions, Bible reading, prayer, we don't have to be perfect or nothing at all. If we do it 80% of time it will catch on and we will enjoy the results. Beating ourselves up usually leads to quiting. No it is better to take a deep breath, laugh a little and do something today.
I feel better with each walk I take. It matters that I walk on most days. But I have missed days due to injury, sickness and some life's distraction. It is good to take the walk today and follow it up with a walk tomorrow and soon I am back on track. Life has to be lived, so don't beat yourself up - today we can do something good for ourselves.  Everybody misses once and while so make sure that is in your health thinking. Above all keep walking.