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Published on December 28, 2022

Three ways to make healthy habits stick in the new year

As we head into 2023, you may be tempted to make a New Year’s resolution or two.

Lose weight, reduce your sugar consumption, exercise more — they're noble goals to start the year, but the reality is that most people give up on such resolutions by February.

Dr. Sean Nguyen“Often, New Year’s resolutions are doomed from the moment they are made because there’s no plan with specific goals or a system for steady accountability,” said Dr. Sean Nguyen, a family medicine physician at Tidelands Health Medical Park at The Market Common in Myrtle Beach. “It’s important to remember that good health is a year-round journey. I encourage people to work with their medical team or fitness and nutrition experts to develop goals they can maintain.”

With a mission to help people live better lives through better health, Tidelands Health has become the exclusive health system partner of the YMCA of Coastal Carolina, which has convenient locations in Myrtle Beach, Pawleys Island and Georgetown. Together, the two organizations are providing access to a variety of services and programs, including healthy challenges to help kick off the new year.

“We’re trying to create lifestyle changes,” said Tricia Harrison, health and wellness director at the Claire Chapin Epps Family YMCA in Myrtle Beach. “We are not in the business of resolution building and keeping because we know that fails most of the time.”

It’s best to make small, mindful modifications that are relatively easy to accomplish that you can build upon incrementally going forward, Harrison said.

Here are three tips to help you achieve your goals:

Start small

Big swings can translate into big misses. Try to break your goals into bite-sized pieces when it comes to changing your health. Rather than resolving to lose 50 pounds, begin to introduce changes like eating out less, drinking a specific amount of water per day or getting active for at least 30 minutes a day.

Think of your health holistically, and tweak your routine incrementally rather than throwing it out or changing it completely.

Find accountability

When even small changes feel impossible, it can help to have a support system that you can share wins and losses with. Try inviting a friend or family member to join you or finding a like-minded community.

For example, the YMCA of Coastal Carolina is launching a 90-day healthy habit challenge in January designed to help keep you motivated as you build sustainable habits. You could also try taking a workout class or joining a group on social media where people share tips and progress. Having someone to answer to will keep you working toward positive changes. 

“The YMCA’s healthy challenge is a brilliant way to help turn a generalized ‘get healthy’ New Year’s resolution into a concrete plan of action that will track progress and actually lead to results,” Dr. Nguyen said.

Be kind to yourself

Holding yourself to an inflexible routine and beating yourself up if you deviate is a quick way to become frustrated and lose your motivation. Have some compassion for yourself as you commit and recommit to making changes.

“If you mess up and you go through a fast-food drive through and you have a binge day, get right back on track,” Harrison said. “You can start that hour, that day. Today is a new day. Reset.”

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Tidelands Health, in collaboration with MUSC Health, is the region’s largest health care provider, serving the Carolinas at four hospitals and more than 70 outpatient locations. More than 2,500 employee, physician and volunteer partners work side by side with our communities to transform the health of our region – promoting wellness, preventing illness, encouraging recovery and restoring health.