Tips For Successful New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions will be easier to keep if you can figure out your pattern of behavior.

"You need to understand the behavior chain - the links between the factors that lead to undesirable behavior and its consequences," says Dr. James Bray, a psychologist at Baylor College of Medicine.

For example, if your resolution is to stop overeating, pay attention to how you feel before eating and note whom you're with, where you are and what's on your mind.

Keep track of what and how much you eat and how you feel afterward. Write your observations in a journal so you can look back after a week or more to see if there's a pattern to your overeating.

"You might find that you tend to overeat when you're depressed, lonely, or with a certain person or in a certain place," says Dr. Bray, associate professor of family and community medicine. By becoming aware of these links, you can try to avoid situations that make you more vulnerable to the undesirable behavior.

Dr. Bray recommends writing specific resolutions, such as the number of pounds that you want to lose, rather than general resolutions, such as `I want to go on a diet.'

"This enables you to measure your progress and have a better chance of meeting your goals for the new millennium," he says.

- From Baylor College of Medicine

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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