Welcome  to  Public  Health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. How  do  you  keep  that  resolution to  lose  weight  in  the  new  year? Start  by  making  realistic  goals. That's  according  to  Melissa  Nelson, a  University  of  Minnesota  epidemiologist. Remember  that  a  small  calorie  difference  can  have a  really  big  impact  over  time  if  it's  sustained. So  a  very  small  decrease  in  caloric  intake, if  you  can  maintain  that  every  day  or  every  week, can  really  have  a  big  impact  on  your  weight  loss  goals. You  also  want  to  operationalize  those  goals. So  your  goal  needs  to  be, not  just  I  want  to  lose  ten  pounds, but  how  exactly  am  I  going  to  do  that? I'm  going  to  cut  out the  soda  that  I  drink  every  day  at  lunchtime. I'm  going  to  choose X  option  instead  of  Y  at  a  fast  food  restaurant. Nelson  adds  that  you  should  keep  track  of how  you're  doing  weighing  yourself  daily, for  example,  and  writing  down  what  you  eat  each  day. Finally,  Nelson  says  it's  important  to  include regular  physical  activity  when people  set  New  Year's  goals, oftentimes  they  focus  on  diet. But  we  know  that  physical  activity is  incredibly  important. So  increasing  your  physical  activity  by just  20  or  30  min  a  day  on  most  days of  the  week  could  make an  incredible  difference  in  terms  of whether  or  not  you  achieve your  goal  with  another  public  health  moment. I'm  John  Finnegan.