Making health related changes

Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution to start doing something healthy — exercise more often, take a yoga class, eat better, get more rest, wear your seatbelt? Have you ever kept that resolution? Why not? Come on, be honest with yourself: It was harder than you thought, wasn’t it? Take a minute to think about what keeps you from doing what’s healthy?

This is a common problem with health-related behavior — we don’t stick to it. Part of this problem falls under the heading of compliance — whether or not we follow through with a physician’s recommendations or treatment or our own health-related plans. But what determines whether or not we engage in health-promoting behavior to begin with? Some people make it look so easy. They go to the gym. They eat right. They don’t smoke. There are numerous reasons why some of us do more healthy things than others. Read the rest of this entry »