Time to reset resolutions

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BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- For many, resolutions started for the new year are forgotten, but a U.S. health official said there is nothing magical about the first of the year.

George Askew, chief medical officer of the Administration for Children and Families, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, said the end of January might be good time to take stock of what went wrong, and then reset your goals.

"It's perfectly fine to do a reset," Askew said in a statement. "There's nothing special about Jan. 1 for setting resolutions and deciding for yourself that you need to make some changes in your life."

"People tended to dream big about what they can accomplish, but if the big dreams don't work out, scale back to what you reasonably think you can do, work on that, and pick up again when you fall short," Askew suggested.

Or join the Healthy Monday initiative, founded in 2005 in association with The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, to help end chronic preventable diseases.

Want to eat more vegetables? Start eating one more on Monday. If you have forgotten the extra vegetable or didn't have time to prepare another vegetable by Saturday start again on Monday.

Jan. 1, might not be a magical date, but Mondays are. Research conducted by Johns Hopkins showed people view Mondays -- more than any other day of the week -- as the day to kick start healthier choices and behaviors. Respondents chose Monday as the day they would start diets, exercising, quit smoking and make doctor appointments.