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Most resolutions seem to revolve around getting "fit." Whether you resolve to go to the gym more, lose weight, start dieting, etc. But resolutions that require a sudden and drastic lifestyle change seem impossible to accomplish, and there's a good reason for that.

According to a US News and World Report, 80 percent of people fail their New Year's resolution by the second week in February. The study explains that the high rates of failure are due to the approach people make to changing their habits. Most people try to change their daily activities and habits through sheer willpower, rather than work to change their attitudes and motivation. Any big lifestyle change is stressful. Without committing to changing your mindset, activities like going to the gym and changing how you eat can be near impossible.

Meanwhile, Troy doesn't do New Year resolutions because he feels their so cliche. He personally doesn't believe in the attitude of going from zero to sixty with any changes. He feels that the idea that things will suddenly change on January 1st is crazy. He instead prefers to take a more methodical approach to his lifestyle changes. After realizing he wants to make a change, Troy commits to sticking with a new habit for 30 days to try and make it a habit. He then reevaluates his goals and behaviors, adjusting as necessary.

And Scot doesn't like making resolutions because of the pressure and stakes that seem to come with it. "It just feels like ‘resolution' is a big word. Dramatic. If you fail, oh boy, you're a big fat failure."

With all that in mind, Scot and Troy have been looking for a new take on New Year's Resolution. Listener Jay Failed All of His Resolutions

Listener Jay is a self-proclaimed IT nerd from the Salt Lake Valley. He no longer makes New Year's Resolutions. He used to make the same sort of resolutions for the same reasons that most people do, but he feels that they are ultimately doomed to fail.

A person may see something in themselves that they would like to change, but they don't know how to actually make the change in themselves. So they go through an intellectual exercise of identifying and doing the activities they believe will make that change (often incorrectly).

For example, someone who wants to "get in shape" may start pushing themselves to go to the gym for an hour a day. They intellectualize that fit people go to the gym, so they do that.

But doing just the activity itself didn't impact Jay in a life changing way. He didn't like doing the activities he would resolve to do. His success rate was miserable:

"On the resolutions themselves? On those particular days, I'd venture zero percent," says Jay.

A man can only take so much failure, so eventually he stopped making yearly resolutions. It's Easier to Quit Activities than Goals

Jay feels his failure wasn't caused merely bad luck, nor was it due to a lack of commitment. Instead, he believes it had more to do with his mindset.

"I intellectually want something to change," says Jay, "but I don't emotionally want to change. I see a version of myself that is different than the version I currently am. That I want to be. But when it came down to it, when you're talking about the actual activities I was doing. If those activities got hard or tiresome, it was easy to quit."

Because Jay had not yet emotionally connected to the goal he wanted to achieve, he would go to the gym until it got hard, then he would go back to the way he was before.

For Jay, to successfully change himself, he needs to connect to a goal on an emotional level. Once that happens, quitting a goal you have feelings about is a significantly more difficult than quitting activities that are difficult to do in the first place. Learn to Win in the Moment

Jay doesn't feel resolutions are all bad.

"It's important to review who we are, and who we want to be. It should be perpetual, but a new year's resolution can be a great way to remind you to evaluate where you are in your life."

But just because January 1st comes around and you make a resolution, doesn't mean you have the emotional resolve in your life to commit to that resolution. Tying a resolution to a date makes it extremely easy to fail. You start once. Try once. If you have any setbacks you have to wait another year to the next new year.

Jay started his most successful lifestyle change at what would seem like the most difficult time. Jay's family is all about food around the holidays. There are always lots of sweets and tons of food readily available all day long. All the socializing revolves around food. While visiting his family he would overeat until he felt terrible but felt it was okay because it's the holiday.

He always would go home feeling bad about the food choices he made. It was as if he had to "get back on track" after spending the holiday with the family. As if all that rich holiday food was an inevitable set-back he had to endure each year.

So on one recent Christmas - while staring at decadent buffet at a cabin with his family - a thought struck Jay:

"These are not the choices I want to make for my health," he thought.

It dawned on him that the goals he wanted in his life, like a healthy weight, was emotionally important to him. He found he had a distinct visceral reaction to overeating. So he chose to pass up on the sweet and rich foods.

Jay actually lost weight over the holiday by keeping focus on the goal he had a connection to.

Jay believes that the best way to make big life changes is to find the moments when you have an emotional investment into what you want to do. When your gut tells you something needs to change. Seize that moment and commit to it right then, rather than waiting for a magical time like the New Year.

Jay suggests a few positive strategies he uses when he finds himself slipping into his old bad habits—ask yourself:

• "How can I win the moment?"
• "The thing that I want now, is different than the thing I wanted before. And I'm going to hold onto that sense of victory."
• "Wake up and say "Who was I yesterday, who do I want to be today and what can I change today? If it's something that hits you emotionally it's something you'll really work on."

Scot has a philosophy of presents: never give someone something they'll have to take care of. This includes books, plants, animals. Don't give people a responsibility.

In spite of this philosophy, he received a pair of at home genetics kits over the holidays. He doesn't know if he wants to take it with all the responsibility that is involved with knowing your genetic health information. So he's trying to find someone to take the second kit off his hands.

Troy doesn't want to take the kit. He's unsure about at home genetics testing. He doesn't want to know what genetic diseases he may be predisposed towards. He'd rather avoid the stress and the impact that knowledge may have on his life.

On the flip side, producer Mitch has already had his genetics tested and feels the test was no big deal. He wanted to know all his health information. He actually appreciates knowing his genetic predisposition for different diseases. For him, knowing at age 30 lets him work towards prevention of the diseases. He feels the test results gives him a sense of control over his health.

After hearing both sides, Scot is still on the fence and has a lot of questions about the DNA testing kit, but he doesn't want to do it alone. He's going to give the second one away to a listener.

If you're interested in knowing your DNA or engaging with the results, go to our website or facebook, take a short 5 question survey to be entered to win your very own DNA kit. Housekeeping

It's a brand new season for 2020. This season we're looking to incorporate more of our listeners' perspectives We want to hear from you, so don't be afraid to reach out to talk about your health.

Quick update on producer Mitch's Bell's Palsy. After a stroke scare that turned out to be Bell's Palsy, Mitch has been approached by listeners in public asking about his drooping face. After a month or two of face crippling symptoms, Mitch has full function back of his face. The only remaining signs are that his smile is still a little lopsided and he can't sarcastically roll his eyes like he used to.

Even though bell's palsy is caused by nothing he did, it did give him a scare about his lifestyle and the potential consequences he may face down the road. He has a new appreciation for his health and now considers this scare his turning point. Just Going to Leave This Here

On this episode's Just Going to Leave This Here, Scot has a man named Crazy in his backyard digging a trench and Troy recently visited Machu Picchu. Talk to Us

If you have any questions, comments, or thoughts, email us at hello@thescoperadio.com.

Interviewer: People with eating disorders experience severe disturbance in their eating patterns. It's important to remember that eating disorders are mental illnesses and the physical effects are the symptoms. That's coming up next on The Scope.

Announcer: Medical news and research from University of Utah physicians and specialists you can use for a happier and healthier life. You're listening to The Scope.

Interviewer: Three percent of Americans suffer from binge eating disorder. We're talking with Dr. Jason Hunziker, a psychiatrist at the University of Utah. Dr. Hunziker, what mental conditions can cause an eating disorder?

Dr. Jason Hunziker: There are lots of mental illnesses that are associated with eating disruption or eating disorder for different reasons. An example would be somebody with schizophrenia gets very paranoid often, so they won't eat their food because they're afraid it's been poisoned. We have other people who are so anxious about allergies in food that they just won't eat, so they have a specific phobia about certain foods. Some recent studies have shown that people with bipolar disorder and/or depression also struggle with eating disorder of a different type in which they binge eat.

Interviewer: First of all, what is binge eating?

Dr. Jason Hunziker: Binge eating is when you're going along fine and you eat normal foods, then you have an episode in which you just can't get enough food. You binge on whatever's in front of you. Most often it's not stuff that's good for you.

Interviewer: Always.

Dr. Jason Hunziker: You eat lots of it. Then, you eat to the point that you almost feel like you're going to burst. That leads to some people then going in and purging and getting rid of the food that they just ate.

Interviewer: So, it's different than, say, on a Saturday night I'm in front of a movie and I'm eating everything that's in my kitchen. That's different. It's those people that do that but then feel guilty, and then they throw up afterwards. Is that correct?

Dr. Jason Hunziker: That's correct. Usually, with binge eating there is a number of times you need to participate in that event before it even gets classified as a binge eating disorder. That has to be several times a week or month. Then, you qualify for a binge eating disorder.

Interviewer: What exactly causes someone mentally to think okay, I need to throw up? Because when I eat too much and I'm full I just wait for the food to settle down.

Dr. Jason Hunziker: Not everybody does throw up when they have the binge eating. What they'll do, though, is they use that food as some way to help comfort them for whatever's going on in their life. Often, as I said, it is associated with depression. When people are sad and they're down they...

Interviewer: They eat.

Dr. Jason Hunziker: ...feel like eating. And, the same with bipolar disorder - when you're sad and you're down, you eat. That somehow gives them some comfort, while at the same time it induces shame, and guilt, and other aspects of well, now I'm gaining weight, and now I'm not thin. It's a vicious cycle for them.

Interviewer: We obviously know that we classify binge eating as an eating disorder which is a mental illness. What other physical health conditions can it cause?

Dr. Jason Hunziker: It depends on how long this goes. Clearly, binge eating is going to increase your weight. As your weight increases we know that affects all aspects of your body including your lungs, and your heart, and then the cardiovascular system and other physiologic effects that it can bring on. Type-2 diabetes in this country now is really expanding because of the obesity problem, and this would be another way to contribute to that problem.

Interviewer: That's interesting. There are all these sorts of more severe diseases that can come from just binge eating.

Dr. Jason Hunziker: That's correct.

Interviewer: Obviously, you know that's going to happen. You want to treat it. Is it something that you physically and emotionally are maybe aware of, or do you need somebody to tell you I think there's a problem you need to go see a specialist?

Dr. Jason Hunziker: I think that some people are aware and some aren't. I think if it's associated with your mood disorder that would be a time to get into your doctor and get on some medication for your depression, which often will help take care of those binge eating episodes. Sometimes the medication itself will help take care of that compulsion or drive to eat which some people just have. They just feel compelled to do it and they can't feel good unless they do it. Then, they feel bad after they do it. It's a really vicious cycle. The medicine often will help with that.
There are good therapies that can help with eating disorder as well. It's really important to understand the underlying cause, and if it's caused by another illness to make sure that you treat that illness so that you can then treat the binge eating.

Interviewer: Any final thoughts on binge eating?

Dr. Jason Hunziker: I think that the important thing to do is for the patients and/or their families to recognize that the binge eating is a disruption to them, and that they get into talk to their doctor as soon as possible about what could be done to help them...

Interviewer: Because it can be treated.

Dr. Jason Hunziker: ...because it can be treated.

Announcer: We're your daily dose of science, conversation, medicine. This is The Scope. University of Utah Health Sciences Radio.