New Year, New App: Tackling Your 2018 New Year’s Resolutions

The biggest reason we fail at our resolutions is because they aren’t tangible, realistic goals to which we can hold ourselves accountable. It’s time to look at our resolutions from a new perspective! Here are some helpful apps to improve accountability and sustainability when it comes to your resolutions. 

Eat Intuitively
Here we are, friends — the classic “weight loss” resolution. The best person to make healthy, smart choices for your body is you. Eating intuitively is a lifestyle, not a diet. Treating your body right should never be a chore, but something you enjoy doing because you look good and feel good when you do it. Also, remember that what works for one person may not work for another — it’s all about the balance. You don’t have to drastically limit your carbs or give up dessert after every meal if you don’t want to. Eating healthily and intuitively is a feeling, not a look. Remember that.

Helpful Apps:
Rise Up
Calorific
Fooducate

Inhale Confidence, Exhale Doubt
Many of us want to cultivate more happiness and gratitude in our everyday lives. We all struggle. Yes, even those that seem perfect on social media. It’s okay to not be okay sometimes. It’s okay to not have it all figured out. But don’t let that stop you from pursuing your dreams or following your passions with confidence. Invest in positivity and the belief that you can do anything you put your mind to. Recognize your worth, and surround yourself with others that do, too. 

Helpful Apps:
Gratitude Journal
Happify
Build Confidence

Exercise for Strength
Regular movement does not just build physical strength but also emotional and mental strength. Not only will you have more control of your body when you exercise regularly, you’ll also have more control of how you think, act and feel. 

Also, remember what we talked about as far as tangible, realistic goals. If losing 50 pounds this year is important for you, don’t let anything stop you from achieving that in a healthy, positive way. If all you want to do is go for a walk three times a week to relieve stress and lighty tone your body, then set up an access plan that will result in success. Incorporate your workout at a time that’s best for you. If you’re not a morning person, it’s not realistic to try to make yourself wake up at 6 a.m. before work to get in that workout. Also, exercise comes in a variety of activities. You don’t have to set foot in a gym if you don’t want to! Try paddleboarding on Lady Bird Lake, going to yoga or taking a dance class. Being active shouldn’t be a chore, but something fun that you enjoy doing, whether for the results, the challenge, or because you actually have a great time doing it. 

Helpful Apps:
ClassPass
StudioHop
MapMyRun

Take Time for You
Self-love and self-care are ideas that rose to the top of Google searches and made appearances in numerous BuzzFeed articles in 2017 — and for good reason. We often need rest and don’t take enough of it. It can be hard to when we live in this mode of go, go, go all of the time. But making time for yourself to do things you enjoy is important for your health and overall happiness. One of these is just taking time to be alone and meditate or practice yoga. Just twenty minutes out of your day for some quiet time and self-reflection can drastically change your outlook on work, life and relationships.

Helpful Apps:
Calm
Headspace
Daily Yoga

Holding Yourself Accountable
If you’re looking for an accountability app that will help you in all areas of your life and health, there are also apps that can help you stay organized and on track to completing your goals. stickK ensures success through accountability contracts, which use your avoidance of loss to drive positive behavior change. The other two approach your goals in a more comprehensive way, using logs and charts to help you visually see all of your personal, food and fitness goals as you make your way through the year. 

Helpful Apps:
StickK
MyFitnessPal
Loop Habit Tracker

New Year’s resolutions shouldn’t be something that linger over our shoulders, marked by fading motivation as January and February pass us by. When trying to make positive changes in your life this year, apps are great tools to organize and identify tangible, realistic goals — and hold yourself accountable all year long.