As I sat at home deciding what my New Year’s resolution should be for 2017, I remembered that I had not kept most of last year’s resolutions. I then thought about the many reasons why I had not succeeded and realized that I had not made a plan on how to change my ineffective habits. For example, when we decide to make positive health changes in our lives, we sometimes focus on how great the weight outcome will be and not on how we are going to get there.

Just as an organization needs an operational plan to be successful, our bodies need an operational plan on how to make healthy changes in our lives through exercise and diet. Without a working health plan, we may never reach our personal health goals or at best, they will be short lived.

For the majority of us in this age of fast food and technology at the push of a button, we are battling our weight and realizing a decrease in our overall fitness each year. Don’t spend another year mourning the loss of that New Year’s resolution that got away. Decide what you want to accomplish this year, then develop a plan to meet those goals.

For most of us, we need assistance in order to reach our goals. Look at the exercise benefits and weight loss success that has been seen on “The Biggest Loser” television show. Those individuals show remarkable results and tell how they are able to do things they have never dreamed of before. The kind of results seen on this show don’t just happen; but are planned out in the type and intensity of exercise in which they participate. Along with exercise, they also implement changes to their diets.

To help you reach your goals this, Tanner Health System’s Get Healthy, Live Well provides healthy eating and exercise tips on its website at GetHealthyLiveWell.org.

As for me, one of my resolutions this year is to help our staff become healthier in 2017. Now, let’s get going!