nbc's erica edwards has more. >> i want to be kind and considerate. >> my goal is to travel more. >> reporter: change can be hard, especially once life goes back to normal after the holidays. >> i have weight loss goals that i don't think i'm going to make it a resolution. >> reporter: resolutions going forward, sports psychologist recommends looking to the past with the acronym p.a.s.t., "p" stands for plan. >> being able to identify what our goal is and establishing steps to be able to get there is critical. >> reporter: "a," arrange your environment. up earlier in the morning. >> by setting my cell phone across the room or on the edge of my bed, it forces me to get up in the morning. >> reporter: "s," stick to one thing. >> if we try to chase too many rabbits, we get none. we focus on one goal and just go hard and obsessive at that particular type of goal. >> reporter: "t," make it too easy to fail. instead of committing to one hour of exercise every day, try something less altering. >> if we're talking exercise, one minute, then move up to five minutes and then move up to ten min

erica edwards, nbc news. >>> yes. >> and we're nog, to our screens.i don't know. >> what about you, what are you up to? what are you skag for for the holidays? >> we're not doing gifts, we're in the middle of building a house and it's like everything we've got is going into that. there may be a few little things to unwrap. but i don't dare reveal it. >> somebody might be listening. >> it's all about the spirit so what we're going to do is make sure that we have great meal so we can do that and have a special bottle of wine just in case. outside it's going to be a good couple of days for weather around here. temperaturewise, nothing too crazy, not too warm like last year. not too cold like a couple of years ago, just about right. a little warmer than average. we should in the upper 40s to near 50. right now still a fair amount of sunshine coming through, temperatures have made their way to the low to mid 40s across the area. if you're planning it out. about 46 to 50 degrees is about it notice today is more in the way of cloud cover coming in. doing any

erica edwards, nbc news. >>> you know, the christmas song "up on the house top." i don't. one local family can say their rooftop is their christmas gift. how the community came together to make it happen. >>> and between last-minute shopping, holiday travel, and some rain in our forecast, it's going to be an interesting next 24 hours if you plan to hit the roads. chopper 4 is live over a very busy tyson's corner center right now. we'll tl you the bestel t >>> all the holiday hustle and bustle is in full swing. and if you're not leaving town, you may be having rushing around to do. here's a live look at tyson's corner center from chopper 4. you can see those parking lots are still pretty full, and the road getting in, still some people coming in, trying to do last-minute shopping. also taking arthlo live traffic camera from the american legion bridge. things appear to be picking up again. earlier, we saw some big backups as cars were dodging a disabled car in the middle lane. >> aaa is predicting that the 2016 holiday season will be a record breaker. between now and the 2nd

nbc's erica edwards shares way we can maintain a healthy balance even during the holiday. >> reporter: kids will want to spend as much time as possible on their new tech toys. screen times will understandably increase, but pediatricians say maintaining a balance over holiday break important. one tip, before your kids even open their gifts, it may be a good idea to set ground rules so they don't overdo it. >> have a discussion with your children that these are the holidays, but this is not how it's always going to be when we get back into school. we'll get back to our usual routines. >> also, make sure children are a part of all holiday festivities and that they're also engaging with friends and family. setting up media-free zones like at the dinner table can be helpful. experts say parents should >> put our cell phones and tablets away, and just really look at each other and interact and have conversations, because nothing takes place of that important face-to-face interaction. >> for moms and dads still considering whether to purchase their child's first mobile device, experts say it

erica edwards, nbc news. >> and here's a little more to help kick start your new year's resolution. for the 24th year, nbc 4 is working for you in the community with a free health and fitness expo. takes place next month. there will be medical tests and screenings, wellness information and all kinds of demonstrations. plus we'll have a few detillo from "days of our lives" and meet charlie the "today" show service dog. the nbc 4 health and fitness expo takes place january 7 th and 8th at the washington convention center. >> i don't know about you, but i could take yesterday over today any day. it was so beautiful outside. >> it was. too bad we couldn't get a repeat, but in the meantime should we be grateful for what we got today, doug? >> i would be. average high temperature this time of year is 44. we're at 51 righting now. little bit above average. temperatures the next couple days though, starting to go down. by friday we're talking about frigid weather wuonce again. sunshine out there today. a lot of it as a matter of fact. plenty of sunshine. bright blue skies. not much in the w

erica edwards, nbc news. >>> well, if you you have trouble sleeping, we can help you. >> online sleep therapy. you fall asleep everywhere. ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? muriel bowser after her meeting with the president -- the president-elect, that is. take a listen to what she said. >> so we had -- while i won't talk about specific things that the president-elect and i discussed, i will say we had a wide-ranging conversation about things that are important to washingtonians. who we are, how we function as a city, county and a state, how 680,000 people, how our city's economy is booming and we have development projects and exciting opportunity. >> mark segraves is there in new york for us today. he'll have more on that this afternoon at 4:00 right here on news 4. >>> if you have trouble sleeping at night, there's a new treatment that might help you get some rest and actually fall asleep. >> kristen dahlgren tells us how can remember claire had trouble falling asleep. >> i tried warm baths, i tried warm milk, i tried antihistamines. >> reporter: the answer, it turns out, was right at her fingertips,

erica edwards, nbc news. >>> new year's eve will be a big night for local bartenders. coming up new at 6:00, the training some of them are getting to keep you safe. >>> and before we hit 2017, a lot of you are saying good riddance to 2016. >>> if 2016 left you feeling shredded, you're not alone. today people in times square returned the favor shredding paper to say so long to the year so many want to forget. good riddance day is a time to shred and sometimes smash unpleasant, embarrassing and unwanted memories from 2016 to make way for positive memories in the new year. good riddance day is inspired by a latin american tradition in which people stuff dolls with objects representing bad memories before setting those dolls on fire. >> i see toxic co-workers there, hmm. >>> we all know alcohol can escalate situation and the national institutes of health has said nearly half of sexual assaults involve alcohol. now just ahead of new year's eve, we're learning about a training program that lets bartenders act as the first line of defense. news 4's amy cho has more on safe ba