New Year’s resolution: Keep it this year!

Carol Moseley, a registered dietitian at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center, says the best way to keep your resolution to lose weight is to change your lifestyle.

Moseley is director of the hospital’s Healthy Directions program.

“I tell people to focus on becoming a healthy person instead of saying, ‘I’m going to lose this much weight,’” she said.

“If you set unrealistic goals to where you say, ‘I’m going to run 6 miles a day,’ but they’ve been on the couch for seven years, that’s probably not going to happen.”

Start with simple, realistic goals — like cutting out sugary drinks and soda.

Moseley advises people to commit their goals to paper: “If they think it, they need to ink it. Write down your goals. It’s only a thought until you write it down. When you do that, it becomes a commitment.”

More advice: Practice different eating habits.

“It takes 21 days to create a habit,” Moseley said. “So if people can work on things and just get to that 21-day mark, then things will become easier.”

Small changes here and there can help you achieve your overall goal. Here are some examples about eating out:

• Instead of eating a Big Mac combo, have a kid’s hamburger meal and a diet Coke.

• Instead of getting that thick crust, meat-lover’s pizza, have a thin crust, vegetarian pizza.

• Instead of eating an 8-ounce T-bone steak, try a 5-ounce serving of grilled fish.

There are plenty of other things to learn. If you would like to get involved in Healthy Directions, attend an orientation at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center Thursday at 6:30 p.m., and then again Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m.

For more information, call (601) 553-6399.



Think about it



If you were to switch from eating a Big Mac combo to a kid’s hamburger meal with a diet Coke once a week, the calories saved in one year would total 52,000.