Most women make New Year’s resolutions, and healthier choices are often at the top of the list of to dos for the new year, according to a survey conducted by health info website VitalJuice.
Health vows abound on January 1
The site found that 89 percent of all women make resolutions, and 94 percent of women surveyed said they were planning to make a resolution for 2010. Among the most popular choices for resolutions this year included:
- Exercise more (17 percent)
- Lose weight (15 percent)
- Be a happier person (15 percent)
- Eat healthier (10 percent)
- Reduce stress (9 percent)
Of those who said they were making resolutions this year, 80 percent said they had “do over” resolutions they hadn’t been able to achieve previously, but 66 percent of women said they’ve been completely successful with a resolution in the past.
Some of the resolutions women most commonly said they’d been successful with include:
- Eating healthier (52 percent)
- Exercising more (49 percent)
- Losing weight (27 percent)
- Spending less money (22 percent)
- Being a happier person (16 percent)
Most hope they can keep their resolutions
Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they pick a resolution they hope they can achieve, while 21 percent said they resolve to do things they know they can achieve and 1 percent have serious doubts about whether they can reach their goals.
As women age, 53 percent say they choose resolutions that are easier to keep than they did when they were younger, and 78 percent say they’re better at sticking with their resolutions than they used to be.
Still, a lot of people aren’t thinking about those new year goals for very long. While just 4 percent of respondents said they think about their goals for just a week, 28 percent focus on them for only two to four weeks, 26 percent for five to eight weeks and 43 percent are still thinking about them into March.
Forty percent said the best way to keep a resolution is to make the goal manageable, while 28 percent said telling a friend or family member helped them stick to a vow. Twenty percent said writing down their goals helped. Twenty-seven percent said they shared resolutions with a significant other, and 25 percent with friends, but 21 percent told no one (and just 2 percent shared the information on a blog).
Some things off limits in January
Lots of women seem to have pretty general goals about eating healthier, losing weight and exercising more, but many women also have certain things they refuse to give up in pursuit of their goals. Sixteen percent said they wouldn’t give up chocolate, while 14 percent had some other kind of specific food item they refused to part with.
Twelve percent said they wouldn’t do without alcohol, and 8 percent wouldn’t skip sex, the same number who refused to stop eating sweets or desserts.
Cash would be a big motivator
Thirty percent of women said money would help motivate them to reach their goal, while 13 percent said a trip or vacation would help them keep their resolution. Only 11 percent said a feeling of accomplishment would be sufficient motivation, and 10 percent said looking or feeling better would do the trick.
Forty-three percent said paying a “fine” of $100 or less for breaking their resolution would be enough to keep them on track, but 22 percent said they’d need between $101 and $250 to stay with their goal.
What a woman wants
Eighty-five percent of those surveyed said they planned to get more exercise in 2010, while 45 percent said they’d diet more, and the same number were looking for more sex.
Just 12 percent of women said they’d rather see a cure for obesity in the coming year rather than a cure for cancer. And 59 percent said getting more exercise is more important than getting more sex. Fifty-eight percent said that when trying to lose weight it’s important to exercise more, while 42 percent said it’s more important to eat less.
Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed with rather give up eating sweets for a month rather than go a month without sex. But giving up the cell phone for a month just narrowly beat out skipping sex, with 52 percent saying they’d give up their phone and 48 percent saying they’d skip sex.
Eighty-nine percent said they’d rather have an extra $10,000 than lose 10 pounds.
(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)
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Women want to exercise more in coming year, plus other resolutions