How Social Media Can Help You Keep Your Resolutions

The promises we make at the start of the New Year are made with enthusiasm and excitement. Then, by February or March, our energy has lagged and we may even forget what we promised to ourselves on New Year’s Eve.

However, 2015 can be different. Why? Thanks to technology, there are plenty of ways to stay engaged and accountable that simply weren’t available before.

Here is how social media can help you keep your New Year’s resolutions.

Weight Loss

The most common New Year’s resolution seems to be weight loss. MyFitnessPal is an app and website that will make weight loss easier by making it simple. When you first join, you’ll fill in your height and weight and then set a goal for yourself. Based on that goal, MyFitnessPal will calculate what your daily caloric intake should be.

Then use the food journal – preloaded with over 4 million foods – to keep track of how many calories you are consuming every day. No more reading labels or keeping track in your head – the app knows how many calories was in that grilled chicken and in that large coke. You can also add in exercise, and MyFitnessPal will tell you how many calories you burned on that jog or cardio class and adjust your daily calorie intake to account for those you burned at the gym.

Exercise More

Maybe you are happy with your weight, but not happy that sometimes you get winded after a walk up a couple of flights of stairs. The C25K app , for those who want to move from couch potato to 5K runner, offers a guided eight-week plan to build up endurance. Plug in your headphones and head outside (or to the treadmill). Runners alternate between running and walking as they build strength. By the end of the eight weeks, you’ll be running father than you ever thought possible.

Quit Smoking

Another popular New Year’s resolution is to kick the habit of smoking. The Livestrong My Quit Coach app is physician approved and allows you to pick the method of quitting that best suits your personality.

The Livestrong My Quit Coach app will help you snuff out your smoking habit once and for all in the New Year.

Eat Healthier

The website and app Pinterest is the perfect tool for healthy eating in the New Year. You can search generally (like healthy eating ideas) or you can search for a specific plan (like paleo or gluten free). You’ll be met with photos of thousands of recipes and tips for eating healthier. Create a virtual bulletin board entitled New Year’s Resolution 2015 and pin all of your recipe ideas there. Then, when you are writing out your grocery list for the week, all of your recipes will be saved in one place for easy access.

Save More Money

After we drain our bank accounts with present purchasing and parties in December, many people make a goal of saving money in the New Year. Mint is a website and app that takes the guesswork out of budgeting and balancing.

Create personalized budgets and watch purchases and expenses be automatically filed into different categories. Then you can see how much you really spend going out to eat or on gas. Easily organize bills, see where you’ve got room to tighten your belt and get warnings when you are close to going over budget. For people who have shunned paper budgets, this app is a must-have.

How Social Media Can Help You Keep Your Resolutions