New Year’s resolutions are tough — those weights won’t lift themselves despite how hard you plead. But the Denver, Aurora and Lakewood area may have a leg up when it comes to sticking to fitness goals.
compared 89 of the largest metro areas in the U.S. and found that metro Denver residents had the second highest chance of sticking to their New Year’s resolutions.
The Care.com analysts took into account how much a city encouraged an active lifestyle, good eating habits and a positive mental state. The only city with an overall score better than Denver was San Jose, Calif.
“Living in Denver definitely sets someone up for success because the infrastructure here is so healthy between the restaurants that we have and our walkability and bikeability,” said Nicole Rubenstein, a registered dietitian with Kaiser Permanente Colorado.
Denverites can use all the encouragement they can get. One in four Americans break their New Year’s resolution in the first week, according to Care.com. Only 46 percent keep with it after six months, slimming down to 8 percent after a year.
Of the top five resolutions, four are health related: lose weight, exercise more, quit smoking and improve overall health.
“I like to think of the New Year’s resolution as a diet and a diet is something thatap very temporary and it tends to be very temporary and the outcomes tend to be more than a stretch,” Rubenstein said.
A slight influx of people see Rubenstein at the start of the year and many say they want to cut alcohol, smoking or sweets, increase their exercise and lose weight. She said it’s better for people to think about adding positive habits instead of just restricting bad ones and setting realistic, step-by-step goals — you’re not going to run that marathon right off the bat.
Although Kaiser Permanente Colorado is not against realistic New Year’s resolutions, Rubenstein said it’s better to have SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time balanced — goals.
