Are you determined to get healthy this year?  This is a big goal involving many complicated behaviors. Don’t try and make all your changes at once. You may want to break the process down into stages. What do you want in five years, one year, three months, or one month from now?

For some people, exercise is easier, while changing eating habits is easier for others. As a health coach, I start my clients on a healthy diet first. We don’t discuss exercise until they have established healthy eating patterns for about one month.  Not only does this system enforce success, it is better for the body. If you are dramatically cutting calories or changing the content of your diet, your body needs time to adjust before you start putting new demands on it.

Perhaps this first month is a time to look into different diet programs. The program that will be most successful for you is one you can stick to. Most programs are able to help people successfully lose weight in the short term, but look for one that you can see working for you in the long term.

As you narrow down possible choices, consider that not all programs are as nutritious as they sound. Is there any research supporting that the program is safe and effective? The program I used has been researched at Johns Hopkins University. The NIH funds lots of nutrition research every year and the results are published in a variety of journals, books, pamphlets, and newsletters. I’m now reading Habits of Health by Dr. Wayne Anderson, who has gone through all of the research and consolidated it into an easy to follow book.

What publications have you found helpful in building your knowledge base?