Welcome to 2026! Are you entering the new year thinking about all of the things you want to accomplish or what you need to "fix" about yourself, or what bad habits you need to get rid of? Are you exhausted just thinking about this?
There is something about this January 1 date that spurs us to the extreme thinking of doing and being something better. An overhaul, if you will. A reset. We create big, hairy, audacious goals. "By this time next year, I will be thinner, more in shape, running more miles, be more organized, create healthy recipes, etc., etc." What's even worse is that we try to do a lot of these things at the same time. It's extremism at its best, all or nothing thinking with little chance of seeing anything through. And sometimes our goals are a result of our own judgement against ourselves.
New Year's Resolutions: it's a trap to set ourselves up for disappointment.
The design of resolutions is outcome-driven and binary: success or failure, repair or ruin. They rely on force and control to produce change. Unsurprisingly, they don't work very well. Research suggests that most resolutions fail within a month-which means many of us spend the first weeks of the year not renewed but, at best, quietly chastened. At worst, a complete and total failure. (1)
So, how do we create change in our life, our health, our habits?
We create for ourselves prescribed procedures. Ok, yes, this is a fancy way to say good habits. But it's really a strategy. Anything worthwhile in your life needs a good strategy, a plan, a proceeding. If you decide to run a marathon, you are not going to show up the day of the race and run in your Keds. You will research the right shoes, find a good path to train, build yourself up to run more miles every day, learn how to guard against injuries, maybe even find a trainer, etc. The bottom line is you will find a practice, a pattern of behavior that you will regularly perform in order to achieve your goal.
We cannot transform ourselves overnight. It takes time, strategy, a pattern of behavior. It also takes learning about yourself and why you do (eat crap, drink too much, smoke, etc.) what you don't want to do.
My Emotional Eating class, and Habits classes set the foundations for creating optimal habits and strategies. Optimal does not meant perfect. Optimal habits are those that lead to high quality of life and longevity. I teach you how to sort out the invalid fad diet claims, how to avoid confusion and how to make informed decisions. The classes and the Food Over Medicine Club gives all of us the support we need, helps us learn how to be more confident in our decisions about our health.
And most importantly, to learn to be consistent in your daily, healthy habits. Think about the times a doctor has prescribed a medication. You take it according to his instructions, with food, without food, morning, bedtime, etc. You don't say "oh life got crazy and I was busy and I fell off of the medication taking habit". Isn't this what people say when they start a diet and then "fall off of the wagon". The best way to maintain optimal habits is to write a prescription for yourself with daily habits that you want to achieve. YOU are in control. YOU can make better decisions. YOUR life and health depend on it. We call this specific prescriptive communication instead of vague statements.
When it comes to diet and health, there seems to be a big disconnect between the stated goal: “I want to improve my health with food” and the actions that often follow – poor adherence to a health-promoting diet. This results in people spending significant periods of time – sometimes decades – working at dietary improvement, taking “baby steps,” becoming frustrated with themselves and their continued poor health and weight status, giving up, and starting over again. Sometimes the only thing that interrupts this miserable cycle is a health crisis – which could have been prevented with better habits. (2)
The biggest deterrent that prevents people from starting or continuing is the lack of time, the "I am just too busy". I get this. Our days are filled with activity. We are busy living our lives. But we need to remember that neglecting your health and self-care comes at a great expense. Your life depends on it.
Liz Fattore
Nurture Your Health
Licensed Food Over Medicine Instructor
Diet & Lifestyle Intervention
1. Suleika Jaouad "Against Resolutions
2. Pam Popper, Wellness Forum Health
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