Realistic Goals for 2023-

Though I know it works well for some others, I actually don't make New Years Resolutions. It has worked better for me to act when the change seems ripe. (I wish I knew how to flip that switch in my brain, because I'd bottle and sell it to make millions. I envy people for whom the NYR idea works well.) I started losing weight on April 17, 2015 . . . that was when It Was Time, for me. I've been at a healthy weight since 2016, after previous decades of overweight/obesity.

As far as staying on track with weight loss and fitness, I think it's a big help to avoid the common trap of thinking extreme methods are better methods.

Even mild, enjoyable activity burns extra calories: Walk in the park, play with kids/grandkids, dance in the kitchen - whatever is achievable, ideally fun, but at least tolerable. Fun activity I do often will burn 100% more calories than theoretically "better" exercise that I procrastinate and avoid with the slightest excuse. If the activity mildly but manageably challenges current capabilities, it will also create fitness improvement. Extreme, intense, punitive exercise regimens aren't essential.

Same deal for eating: Your idea of breaking the goal into parts is excellent. In addition, consider how to make a new eating routine relatively enjoyable and easy, rather than extreme and fast. Unless you have doctor directives to use a special kind of diet for health conditions, you don't need to have a bunch of tricksy, arbitrary food restrictions. Any eating routine that's practical, nutritious, affordable, enjoyable, and calorie efficient can work. (What that is tends to be very individual - people here lose weight eating in many kinds of ways.)

I decided I wasn't going to do anything to lose weight that I wasn't willing to continue long term to stay at a healthy weight (other than a reasonable calorie deficit), so used weight loss as a time to experiment and dial in some new routines and habits. For me, that's worked pretty well.

Wishing you success: You can do this!