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Will you eat better this year? Exercise more? Finally learn to speak Italian? According to your New Year’s resolutions, definitely.
But, all too often, come January 15th, or February 2nd if we were really good, these resolutions evaporate. For some, it's not the end of the world (“ciao” and “pizza” can fulfill all your Italian needs). But when it comes to nutrition, physical activity or scheduling routine check-ups, living up to your resolutions can signify the difference between boosting your health or falling back into crappy old habits.
A few simple psychology tricks to the rescue, requiring no more than two minutes a day to keep yourself on the right track. Don't think it's possible? These tricks helped one of the most challenging groups – diabetic teenagers. No teenager likes to be sick. And diabetics have it really hard - they're at this age where their parents can no longer control their nutrition and the frequency of their blood sugar level measurements. And sometimes they just want to rebel and live a little, even if at the expense of rising blood sugar levels. These three deceptively simple steps helped them do the right thing.
1. Watch your step.
Keep a record of how you're doing. How many donuts did you inhale today? Did you actually go for that run? Did you practice your 10 new Italian words of the day , or still stuck with 'Mozzarella'? Now comes the scarier part – think of tomorrow. Don't let yourself get away with "This was one time!" Or the ever popular "it's just one extra pound!" , Instead, draw a line to show you where you're heading if you keep up the bad work- The one time when you slacked can extend itself to months of couch-potatoing. The one pound a week, if you keep it up, to a hefty 30 pounds by the time summer vacation rolls around.
2. Point fingers.
Instead of just staring at your bleak trend, ask yourself 'Why did this happen?' Only you know why. Maybe you could not resist the donut temptation. Maybe you scheduled the run for 9 pm, but fell asleep. Maybe you forgot the earphones at the office, and your family did not appreciate hearing 'peccato' over and over again (that's Italian for 'too bad'). When you write down the reason, you have to be honest.
3. How are you gonna fix it?
The next and crucial question is 'How are you going to fix this'? No place to hide. You know what you did, you know what it means, and you also know how to fix it. Stop buying donuts. Go for a run at 6 pm. Use your Italian app in the car, so you can greet your fam with 'buona sera'.
But does it help? According to a study published by Josefh Caffazo and colleagues in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, an app that included these features increased teenage blood glucose testing by 50%. No small feat when dealing with people this age, who know what they need to do, but don't always feel like doing it. Pretty much like the rest of us, when it comes to New Year's resolutions.
