New Year's Resolutions: Making them Stick

Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center - December 31, 2013

With the New Year fast approaching, many people will be soon start thinking about things they would like to do differently in the coming year. Research into resolutions tends to show a fairly consistent pattern. Most people will make some type of resolution at the beginning the New Year. A large majority of those resolutions will have something to do with health or weight. And most of the resolutions will be abandoned within the first few months of the year.

We tend to be more driven by our habits and more reactive to our environments than we may to recognize. Despite a very rational understanding of the benefits of making more healthy choices, most of us still tend to engage in some types of unhealthy behaviors. The National Institutes of Health and Center for Disease Control consistently report that the large majority of illnesses affecting Americans today could be greatly diminished, or even completely controlled, through more healthy behaviors. Some examples include injuries from activities such as driving while using a cell phone or driving too fast, overeating, smoking, substance abuse or unhealthy alcohol consumption.

Live Well Idaho Falls is being presented by The City of Idaho Falls and EIRMC is a series of interactive discussions designed to support people in making and sustaining healthy changes in their lives. This series will feature experts in the fields of nutrition, heart health, diabetes, nursing, exercise and behavior change. The goal is to provide people with the information they need to know where to start and what to do in order to enjoy a more healthy life.

The series will begin on January 8th with an interactive discussion called "New Year's Resolutions: Making them Stick," Dr. Kyla McBurney-Rebol, a neuropsychologist at the Wellness Center will talk about the basic principles of changing behavior. Participants at this discussion will learn how to recognize the factors that undermine healthy change and how to keep these factors from knocking them off track.

Subsequent discussions will address healthy eating, reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, heart disease, diabetes, finances, back and joint pain, exercise, and more. We invite everyone to join us for these free discussions and to enjoy the benefits that a little healthy change can make in your life.