Jonathan Wolff suggests setting two or three micro habits, small things that are easy to sustain for the first quarter of the year, to avoid the pressure of maintaining them all year.

Tara Swart and Sarah Berry share their experiences of setting ambitious New Year's resolutions and failing to sustain them, emphasizing the importance of sustainability in health habits.

Jonathan Wolff advises making specific, realistic, and measurable goals, such as attaching a number to weight loss and focusing on small, specific habits to achieve them, rather than vague and lofty resolutions.

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to grow and change throughout life at any age, any stage, any mindset. Understanding this capacity is crucial for achieving resolutions.

Changing a habit involves physically overwriting pathways in the brain. It's like building a brick wall, manual labor for the brain, and understanding this can help people get over the difficult period.

The four-step process for changing a habit: raised awareness, focused attention, deliberate practice, and accountability. It's important to notice stressors and environments that trigger the habit.

Calorie-restricted weight loss diets are not sustainable and often lead to weight regain. Adding healthy food is better than taking out unhealthy food for sustained weight change.

It's important to make micro changes for a macro impact on health. Navigating the holiday season in a healthier way can prevent the need for drastic measures in January.

Overindulging for one day won't change thoughtful behaviors, but overindulging for a week can lead to self-perceived failure. It's crucial to avoid guilt and self-loathing when trying to change a habit.

We're obviously much kinder to our children and our pets than we are to ourselves. We don't give ourselves that same break that we might give to our children.

There are so many things out there like it takes two weeks or 42 days or 66 days or whatever, but none of those are true because basically it depends what it is.

There is quite good evidence to show if you've got a goal, if you've got a target that you've got to meet, then you're more likely to be able to follow any of these resolutions.

Setting micro targets alongside the micro changes could work just as well as a health scare or a wedding dress as a motivator. In the absence of a big motivator, it's easier to achieve micro habits than lofty goals.

Tara's top tips include making continuous small micro-changes, adding healthy food instead of cutting out unhealthy food, prioritizing sleep, and considering the time and rate of eating. Jonathan emphasizes breaking things down into bite-sized chunks, actively doing things, and creating conditions for success in the brain.

Jonathan and Tara discuss the importance of enjoying food and making gradual changes, such as reducing sugar intake step by step to retrain the brain. This exemplifies the effectiveness of micro changes.

Tara Swart emphasizes that simply stopping alcohol consumption is not sustainable in the long term. Cutting down on alcohol is a better approach, especially considering the potential health benefits of certain types of alcoholic drinks in low amounts.

Jonathan Wolff warns about the potential rebound effect of doing dry January and suggests using it as a starting point for overall reduction in alcohol consumption, rather than overcompensating later.

Jonathan Wolff emphasizes the importance of understanding why you drink alcohol and suggests that if it's for social reasons or as a reward, it's okay. But if it's due to negative emotions like depression or boredom, it's not a good reason for doing anything.

Sarah Berry invites listeners to join Zoe for a personalized program to improve health and achieve micro goals, offering a 10% discount at joinzoe.com/podcast. She also encourages feedback and questions for future episodes.