Resolve not to sabotage health goals

New Year's eve triggers people to make resolutions to be better in some way. For many, the new resolve focuses on improving health. This may include losing weight, eating a more healthful diet, or incorporating more exercise into an already full lifestyle.

Question: Why do so many people fail at keeping their New Year's resolutions, even when the resolutions lead to better health?

Answer: It seems that many people actually sabotage their efforts and don't realize it. Here are our Top 10 ways to sabotage your health resolutions.

1. Attempt to change too many things at one time. By diluting your focus and efforts, you increase your opportunities for failure.

2. Make resolutions unforgiving. For example, if you say, "I will never eat chocolate during the week," then one slip-up means the resolution failed and you give up trying.

3. Make your expectations very high. For example, vow to lose 50 pounds in five months. This is virtually guaranteed to fail, or at least drive your family and friends crazy.

4. Start an exercise program by going as fast and hard as you can every day. This will cause you to be very sore for the first few days and lead to the revised resolution to exercise weekly instead of daily.

5. Classify foods as "good" and "bad." Only eat from the good food group. With the resulting decreased variety of foods, a nutrient deficiency is likely to develop and put an end to this resolution.

6. Decide that all your body needs is a salad a day. Besides the cravings for food of substance, nutrient deficiencies can cause muscle loss, reduced energy level and decreased capacity of the immune system. In time, this strict diet can lead to a feeling of "being punished."

7. Try the starve-a-day/ binge-a-day diet. This has a good chance of turning into an eating disorder.

8. Rely on TV infomercials as your scientific resource for health information. If the promises of weight loss and fitness seem too good to be true ... very likely they are.

9. Use Web sites that provide simple solutions to your health problems. But, keep in mind that misinformation can be more damaging than no information.

10. Place a guilt trip on yourself if you fail to achieve even one of your expectations. That should put a quick end to any resolution.

Good nutrition involves eating a wide variety of wholesome foods in moderation.

Alan Titchenal, Ph.D., C.N.S. and Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S. are nutritionists in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, UH-Manoa. Dr. Dobbs also works with the University Health Services and prepares the nutritional analyses marked with an asterisk in this section. See also: Health Events