As we begin the new year, many of us are also starting rigid New Year’s resolutions that we will inevitably forget about before the end of January (if not sooner!) One need only look at the high percentage of New Year resolutions that fail to recognize that this rigid approach is not viable. Maybe instead of New Year’s resolutions, we should focus on committing to a goal of improved personal care habits that are part of a healthy lifestyle. Finding real solutions, including clean skincare and fitness routines with healthier, balanced eating you can stick with long-term, is a much better approach. This three-pronged approach will yield more effective skin care results and make you feel better in your mind and body in the process. Remember, each step you take demonstrates that you’re committed to personal growth and well-being. Read on to discover how to commit to practical, realistic habits for a healthier life.

Committing To a Healthy Life
Committing to a decision to embrace well-living is the only way that actual change can occur. Once you make this wonderful self-loving choice, you can start carving out a realistic wellness map that depicts what that will look like for you. If you aren’t sure where to start, do your research. Maybe explore that fitness class, anti-inflammatory diet, or skincare regimen you’ve been thinking about. If it piqued your interest, you are on the right track. Since we are more inclined to stay the course with something that interests us, finding a fitness, diet, or skincare routine that appeals to you (not your neighbor or best friend!) is essential. When we partake in something we enjoy and feel good about doing, chances are we’ll come back for more!

Real Solutions vs. Imaginary Solutions
Mathematically speaking, the real solution definition is a solution to an equation that is a number you can plot on a number line belonging to the real number system. In Algebra, real solutions rule out imaginary solutions like “y” or “x.” We think the same principle should apply to the various categories for New Year’s resolutions. In other words, having doable goals that can be realized is the key to success — not impossible standards of perfection. You are real, and your approach to the year ahead needs to be based in reality. While we can’t tell you what that will look like for you, here are some suggestions to get you motivated to carve out a healthier lifestyle:

• Clarify your goals. Decide what you really want and whether you’re willing to work for it. If you aren’t sure, take the time to make your goals clear. To truly commit to yourself, put pen to paper to record your plan to take with you on your 2024 journey. So, what do you want to achieve?
• What are your skincare goals? Is it skin health, radiance, clarity, or younger-looking skin?
• What is your body goal? Is it being stronger, more sculpted, or looking and feeling better in your clothes?
• What is your dietary aim? Do you want to promote longevity, feel more energized, or improve your mood?
• Take a picture or enlist the help of a friend to take pictures of your face and body, and plan to take progress photos at 30, 60, and 90 days so that you can track your progress.
• Make a plan. Once you clarify your goals, you can create a plan with the necessary action items to drive success. Be honest with yourself about roadblocks you previously encountered that halted your progress and find detours to help you get around those barricades.
• For skincare, if you find it burdensome to wash your face come bedtime, do your nighttime routine well beforehand when you can still follow through with each step. If you love your evening shows, keep your serum, moisturizer, and eye cream by your TV to apply while streaming. And don’t let sleeping in be an excuse to skip your routine, either. Lastly, don’t run out of your products. A skincare subscription will help prevent an interruption in your progress.
• For exercise, if you aren’t a morning person, don’t tell yourself you’ll work out in the morning. Or if you rarely make it to the gym after work, sorry buttercup, you need to suck it up before work to get in your fitness. (Studies indicate that morning exercisers are more inclined to stick with their plan, anyway!)
• For your diet, if you know you can’t control yourself when you keep your favorite food in the house, don’t buy it. That doesn’t mean you can never have chips, cookies, or cake again. But leaving temptation out of your pantry will help eliminate the need to try to resist.
• Take daily action. Putting your plan into consistent, daily action is essential for your cumulative progress – you can’t expect to achieve results otherwise. Your skin and body need regular daily care and nourishment to stay healthy. Each time you wash your face, eat a healthy meal, or take a walk, you commit to your wellness.

Three days of eating well, moving your body, and following through with your skincare routine, followed by four days of eating junk food, sitting on the sofa, and going to bed with your make-up on, will sabotage progress and keep you from achieving your desired outcome. Similarly, quick fixes or drastic measures aren’t the answer. Highly restrictive diets, harsh procedures and products, and back-breaking extreme exercise don’t win the race, with a steadier approach proving that the tortoise and the hare fable has merit.

• Track your progress. Refer to your plan periodically to confirm that you are on the right route. We don’t recommend analyzing your skin daily in a magnifying mirror or daily weighing. Instead, do a weekly or monthly check-in with yourself to review your plan, action items, and improvement. Look back at your original photo from when you started compared to today. Hopefully, you will be amazed at the progress, but if you don’t see it, ask your friends and family if they notice a change. If something isn’t working, look into alternative options.

Include being gentle with yourself as part of your plan. If you’ve veered off course, there’s no need to throw your plans over a cliff. One cookie or one missed workout does not an unhealthy person make, and beating yourself up for a momentary lapse of humanness has no part in a healthier approach to living. Instead, recalculate and get back on the highway to wellness! Remind yourself that you can't get where you want to go if you don't put in the work and redouble your efforts to resume your momentum – in a non-punishing way, of course!

Practical Tips For A Healthier Life
Here are some real solutions you can implement to reach your healthier lifestyle goals. If committing to toxin free living is part of your plan, choose healthy, non-toxic foods and products free of potentially harmful additives, with safe ingredients instead. Take a day (or two) to go through your pantry, refrigerator, medicine cabinet, beauty drawer, shower, etc. Here’s how to clean house:

• Read labels and give away or toss foods that don’t align with your healthy eating plan. The “biggies” are sugar (along with corn syrup and other sugar monikers), saturated fats, refined grains, and processed foods. We’re not advocating for 100% sugar-free or fat-free foods, as a balanced approach is found to work best for long-lasting dietary goals.
• Do the same for your skincare, body care, cosmetics, and hair care, tossing or recycling anything that doesn’t live up to clean beauty standards. This means keeping only sulfate free, cruelty free, phthalate free, mineral oil free, paraben free, formaldehyde free, artificial dye and fragrance free products that are ethically sourced.
• If something doesn’t have a label, look it up online to find the ingredient list. When in doubt, throw it out. Starting with a clean slate will make you feel lighter and make room for healthier choices!
• Discard expired products. If you can’t find an expiration date but think a food or product is over a year old, chances are it is expired. You have our permission to go ahead and toss it.
• If you know you won’t eat or use something, gift it to a friend or family member or leave it in your work breakroom – someone will surely enjoy it.
• Moving forward, to see the fruits of your dedicated daily labors, choose a trusted brand that generates results. Once you do, you will save hours shopping around or making buying mistakes.

Do Better, Be Better
Prioritizing your real wellness solutions is your #1 responsibility, as inaction won’t help you reach the finish line. You must act your way into looking, feeling, and being better, one small step at a time. You might have to make sacrifices to stick to your plan. Uncover and become willing to let go of old habits, ways of doing things, or temporary pleasures that aren’t worth the long-term price. It may feel like you are rewarding yourself by going to after-work happy hours or nightly grazing on simple carbohydrates until the wee hours, and ditching exercise, your skincare routine, and sleep for “one more episode.” While these things may feel good at the time, they will nix your progress. Ask yourself if you will be okay with the consequences in one, two, or three years if you keep up this behavior. Practice “one day at a time,” and soon you’ll have several “good” healthy days behind you and healthy lifestyle habits to last a lifetime.

Your Skincare Commitment
If you dream of having clearer, smoother, or more even skin by spring, a daily commitment to your total wellness routine is vital.

• Be patient & don’t give up: Patience and understanding that change doesn’t happen overnight will take you far! Whatever you do, please don’t use your new regimen for one week and decide it doesn’t work! While you will see improvement within a day or two of using Pevonia skin care, you need to stick to a product for one to three months to see optimal results. This is due to your skin’s natural turnover cycle, which can take a month or longer. Your skin needs exposure to your new regimen from one to three cycles (longer as we age or have more significant concerns) to get you where you want to go.
• Get help: Not sure where to turn? Find the right Pevonia products online to help you achieve your skin care goals. Try shopping by concern, with categories like Acne, Advanced Signs Of Aging, Sun Damage & Prevention, or Sensitive Skin featuring products to meet your needs and a routine you know you will use!

Stubborn issues may need an extra helping hand. If you aren’t seeing results quickly enough or if you want to treat yourself as a reward for your new, healthier lifestyle, enlist professional guidance and services to complement your real at-home solutions and propel your transformation. Visit Find A Spa for an oasis near you for in-depth consultation and recommendations for products and professional Pevonia treatments. For today’s top skincare concerns, we recommend the ProCorrective® Clear-Control Blemished Skin Treatment, Myoxy-Caviar® Mask Treatment, and Micro-Retinol® Essential (Peel) Treatment.