Keeping Those Healthy 2014 New Year’s Resolutions

By Dr. Scott Bormann

Dr. Scott Bormann
Dr. Scott Bormann

The holiday parties are over and your New Year’s resolutions are still fresh in your mind. Many of us make goals to improve our health in the new year — quitting smoking and losing weight are usually among the most popular resolutions. Small changes in your habits can make noticeable differences within just a few weeks.

When it comes to making a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, recognize that it’s going to take time and will require changes to both diet and exercise — but mostly to what you eat. Many people set their expectations too high and too far in the distance. Losing 50 pounds a year is not a bad goal, but thinking about it as losing a pound a week will make you more likely to succeed. Meeting short-term goal after short-term goal helps you feel motivated because you can see the progress.

It’s important to keep smoking goals realistic too. If you smoke more than a pack a day, you might be able to quit, but it may help to start out by cutting down to one pack per day. For people who smoke one pack a day or less, I suggest they try going cold turkey or using a nicotine replacement product.

Choose realistic diet and exercise routines. I don’t recommend any fad diets because a change in lifestyle is what is often needed to keep the weight off. The only “diet” I do recommend is Weight Watchers because it teaches you how to control portion size and gives you a better idea about how to make healthy food choices. I don’t recommend a carbohydrate-free diet, but often carbohydrates are our waists’ biggest enemy and the first place we can start with dietary changes. Never make a carbohydrate (rice, pasta, potatoes) the main portion of a meal; focus instead on small portion sizes and cut out all sugary beverages and alcohol. If you’re not sure about portion size or what to eat, I tell my patients to check out the American Heart Association’s nutrition guide on heart.org at bit.ly/NutritionGuideHeart.

When choosing an exercise routine, be sure it’s something that fits your lifestyle. Don’t pick something so strenuous that you’re going to burn out — incorporate fun activities that challenge you while burning calories. I’ve noticed more of my patients using exercise program videos like P90X and Insanity. A challenging exercise is great, but work your way up; don’t injure yourself on a high-level workout when you’re starting out. And remember: Weight loss is heavily dependent on what you eat, so it’s very difficult to exercise all the weight away without considering diet too.

When it comes to keeping that resolution to quit smoking, remember that it is easier to kick the habit with support. If your significant other or co-workers smoke, it will be helpful if they join you in your effort to quit. This cuts out smoke breaks and keeps you honest. If you’re the only smoker in your group, consider using Indiana’s Tobacco Quit Line: 1-800-QUIT-NOW. This gives you support when the urge to smoke hits. In terms of over-the-counter aids, I believe that nicotine patches work better than gum, but it depends on the person. I don’t recommend electronic cigarettes because they are not well-studied at this point. Some people have good results using e-cigarettes, but we really don’t know their long-term effects.

If you keep your goals close by, realistic and obtainable, you will be surprised by how big of a change you will see when you look back at 2014 a year from now.


Dr. Scott Borman practices at IU Health Family Medicine South at the IU Health Methodist Medical Plaza. He can be contacted at 317-865-6700.

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