New Year, New You: 7-Day Plan for a Healthier, Happier 2024

Chances are you have made—and then seen fade—a lot of New Year’s Resolutions. I want to share a smart trick to make them stick and an inspiring schedule that will transform your health in 2024.

The Plan: You start a new positive habit each day, then reinforce it on that day the next week.  

The key is to think positively. According to a 2020 study of more than 1,000 people who made New Year’s resolutions, folks who actively pursued new, healthy habits were around 25% more likely to achieve their goals than those whose resolutions involved giving up a bad habit. So, let’s get started.

Sunday: Posse, Passions, and Accountability Day

Step #1: Reach out to friends, family, and acquaintances to reinforce ongoing relationships, rekindle ones that have faded, and make new ones. 

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a supportive social network can reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, and dementia and promote healthier eating, physical activity, and weight.

Find a buddy to walk or exercise with; get a cooking pal to work with on creating healthier meals.

Learn from others: To gain motivating insights, ask members of your posse questions about how they’ve succeeded in achieving one of your goals. For example: How have you been able to increase the amount of vegetables you eat? How did you patch up that rocky relationship with one of your relatives? (That nugget is from Sam Wang, co-author of “Welcome to Your Brain” and Associate Professor of Psychology at Princeton University.) 

Think about what you enjoy and love about life; start planning to do more of what brings you joy and meaning.

Step #2: Write down your resolutions and what you appreciate about life. Then, note what you resolve to do to bring more positive life choices into every day. 

Set realistic goals that you can stick with over time and achieve success. A study from researchers at Rice and Old Dominion Universities found folks who aim to save a lot of money quickly save less over time than those who aim to save smaller amounts. The same thing applies to weight loss, for example. Resolving to lose one-half to one pound a week will get you to your goal—and help you stay there—better than aiming to lose five pounds a week.

To help you stay on track: Get a big wall calendar on which you log your daily achievements for all to see. Or get a fitness tracker—it helps you stay goal-oriented privately if that’s more your style.

Monday: Play Day

Step #1: You will have more energy, a sharper focus, and more fun if you embrace the pleasure of feeling agile and mobile.

Set a reminder alarm on your phone so you never sit for more than 30 minutes. Take a break and climb stairs, do 10 jumps in place, or walk for 2 minutes (even by taking a long way to the bathroom).

Choose a game or fun physical activity to do with one of your friends that will bring you closer to your goal of 10,000 steps a day or its equivalent (pickleball is 150 step equivalents per minute while playing).  Tip: Build to a goal of 10,000 steps daily slowly by walking a few more steps each day until you hit your mark. 

Strength train 30 minutes 2x weekly. Thursday is nutrition day—but here’s a smart food tip that relates to exercise: To rebuild muscle after strenuous exercise, always enjoy a protein-rich drink.    

Tuesday: Breathe—and Breathe Again—Day

Step #1: Destress and provide your body with the oxygen it needs to improve your health.

Lie back and put your hand on your belly button. Notice how it rises as you breathe in deeply. Hold for a count of three—then inhale again, on top of that breath. Exhale slowly, letting stress dissipate. Feel your belly button sink. Repeat ten times.

Wednesday: Better Brain Day

Step #1: Find a speed of processing game on the internet (Freeze Frame and Double Decision have the most data that show they improve brain functioning long term) and practice it for 20 minutes.

Thursday: Healthier Nutrition Day

Step #1: Snacking, especially after dinner, can pile on unhealthy calories. Your best choices are raw nuts, especially walnuts, pecans, and almonds (don’t overdo them; they are calorie-rich, too). Other great snack options are 70% dark chocolate and air-popped popcorn with spices or nutritional yeast flakes. Stock your favorites.

Step #2: Increase control over your calorie intake by adopting intermittent fasting. I like to limit my meals to an eight-hour window of 10 am to 6 pm or noon to 8 pm and eat most of my calories before two or three in the afternoon. This is easiest when you stock your kitchen only with good-for-your-waist foods that make eating right easy (and automatic!). 

Step #3: A nutritional make-over also means thinking about taking supplements that will fill in for your dietary short-comings and make up for changes in how your body processes nutrients as you age. I recommend a half multivitamin twice a day with methylated Bs; a mineral combination, vitaminD2/3 with K2; and omega-3 fatty acids (DHA/EPA).

Friday: Better Sleep and Better Balance Day

Step #1: As evening approaches, start your sleep hygiene program—it is an important part of making it easier to lose weight, improving your heart health, and dodging depression.  

Your goal is seven to eight hours of sleep nightly. Head for bed at the same time daily (say, 10 pm); get up at the same time every morning (say 6 am). Make the bedroom dark, cool, and quiet, without digital devices.

To ease into sleep, consider using relaxing teas like chamomile or rooibos.

If you struggle to fall asleep, melatonin is helpful but should be taken at least an hour before bedtime and at a dose under 3mg.

Step #2: Optimize your morning routine.

When you wake up, do double-deep breathing (see Tuesday). Then do a 10-minute daily practice that combines stretches and deep breathing, like the sun salutation in Yoga.

Next, do balancing exercises: Stand in a corner of the room facing the wall—close enough so you can only fall against one of the corner’s walls. Practice standing on one leg, then the other. At first, with eyes open. Then when you can do it for 30 seconds on each foot (usually within 3 weeks of daily practice—your brain is amazing), try it with eyes closed. 

Saturday: Kitchen Make-Over Day

Step #1: Create a healthy kitchen. Check ingredient labels for these bad boys and banish them.

• Sugar and syrups: brown sugar, dextrose, corn sweetener, high-fructose corn syrup, glucose, corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, maltose, lactose, malt syrup, molasses, evaporated cane sugar, raw sugar, and sucrose.
• Processed carbs.
• Red meat and processed red meats. 
• Palm and coconut oil.

Stock up on healthy foods and snacks.

Sunday: You’re Getting Happier and Healthier Day

Step#1: Going forward, every Sunday for the next 52 weeks, do this weekly program. 

Step #2: Take a few hours to rest and contemplate what you have accomplished, how much better you feel, and what you want to do better in the next week. Soon, you’ll feel much younger and more vital, more able to pursue your passions and help those you love.

References:

1. http://news.rice.edu/2008/08/21/rice-universityold-dominion-study-americans-need-to-save-paycheck-to-paycheck/