How to make those New Year's resolutions stick

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Last year, I made a New Year's resolution to nurture my health.

This involved making a pile of changes to my lifestyle, but the way I ate was at the top of that list.

This is true for many of us: eating in a healthier way is always among the most popular resolutions. The only problem? Sticking to the resolution; some studies have indicated that only 8 per cent of us who make a New Year's resolution actually stick to it.

That's no surprise, but, if you have a resolution that you really want to turn into a reality, how can you be part of that 8 per cent?

Know your 'why'

I'd been living with a few persistent health niggles for my whole adult life. Regular migraines left me unable to function for days at a time, a skin condition (psoriasis) was making life uncomfortable – and getting worse as time went on – and I was constantly exhausted.

Disillusioned with mainstream approaches to these conditions, I decided it was time to try something new.

I took myself off to a naturopath and engaged a health coach; both of them told me that food was going to play a big role in improving my health. And as much as I considered myself someone who ate healthily, the truth was there was far too much in my diet that shouldn't be there.

Their suggestion was to scale right back to basic whole foods. That meant cutting out gluten, dairy, sugar and alcohol. This would be a detox of sorts, after which I could add things slowly back in, to monitor how each one made me feel.

The reality of it was daunting, but that 'why' – the potential to get rid of migraines and improve my skin – was strong.

Gemma Clark, nutritionist from The Sprout, agrees that keeping your eye on the big picture of your health is the best way to stick to your resolution. "Ask yourself why it is that you want to achieve this," she says.

"For example, you might want to drink less alcohol because it's good for your waistline – but if the scales aren't moving you can become disheartened.

"Try instead to approach the resolution from the perspective of drinking less or eating better for all these other health benefits instead of just weight loss. You can then see the changes more readily."

Don't be too restrictive

The food changes I was aiming for were highly restrictive, and the reality was that it hard.

It became almost impossible to eat out. Even eating at home was difficult: I had to eat different meals to my husband and children, and the planning and cooking of my week's food became so time consuming it was like having a second job.

It was extremely hard to stick to the plan and to keep that 'why' in mind through the frustrations.

Clark says this level of restriction is definitely not ideal: "We make it hard for ourselves. We list all the things we can't have, aiming for diets that are too restrictive.

"In every adult is a child, and when someone tells a child not to touch something the first thing they want to do is touch that thing. So, when we tell ourselves we can't eat something, that's the first food we crave.

"Trying to do everything at once is overwhelming and we're setting ourselves up to fail."

Aim for small changes

One thing that my health coach encouraged me to do was to get to the ultimate goal slowly.

While it was hard for me to see value in this at the time – I'm an all or nothing sort – in hindsight it was the best approach.

This gradual approach is best for most of us.

"Make realistic mini goals each week," Clark suggests.

"For example, if you want to eat a diet of more whole foods, you could first aim to eat a salad every day – and that's the only change. The following week, you might continue eating your daily salad and also add in a goal to drink two litres of water each day.

"Use those mini goals to build up to the big goal."

I hit my big goal and, because I felt so good, I stuck to it – mostly – for a year and a half. My skin has settled (although it hasn't been a miracle cure), I haven't had a migraine since, and I'm generally more energetic and healthy.

I've let things slide over the past few months – most notably with the rediscovery of chocolate and wine – which leads me to a new resolution for the coming year.

This New Year's resolution is, once again, all about eating well – but this time without aiming for perfection. After all, life's too short to not eat a little chocolate alongside a good glass of red.