(WSFB – 12/28/09) According to CNN Health, approximately 100 million people make New Year Resolutions every year. Unfortunately, most people don’t succeed because they haven’t made their resolutions attainable or specific enough. Losing weight and getting in shape is one of the most common New Year Resolutions.
What can people do to make good on their New Year resolutions and turn them into lifestyle changes? Set realistic New Year Resolutions and be specific about what you want to accomplish. Below are some tips to help you achieve and maintain good health and stick to those New Year Resolutions.
TIPS
- Eat a well-balanced diet
We all know that this is important to achieve our goal of weight loss but HOW do we do it?
Your best chance of success is to develop an eating plan that you can follow. Building a healthy diet is not about restriction. If you take away all of the things you love you’re doomed to fail.
When developing a healthy diet create an individualized diet plan that works for you around foods you like to eat.
If you can, seek out a Registered dietitian to help you develop a diet based on your body type, metabolism and the foods you like to eat you’ll have the highest rate of success.
The Mediterranean style diet has proven to be successful. It is made up of 40-50 percent carbohydrates from veggies, fruits and whole grains, 20-30 percent healthy fats and 30 percent protein.
A 2007 study found that both men and women who consumed a Mediterranean diet lowered their risk of death from heart disease and cancer.
There is a myth that healthy food doesn’t taste good. Today, we’ve brought in two healthy meals from Tambourine Catering to demonstrate how healthy food can taste good and be good for you.
- Get active
This is where we lose a lot of people. They buy their gym memberships to force themselves to exercise but they don’t like the gym.
We can be active every day doing things that we like. Whether it’s walking, ice skating, playing tennis, joining a soccer league. There are so many different options.
Resistance training is critical to building muscle mass which will help us burn fat, maintain a healthy body composition and live independently longer as we age.
People who do progressive interval training are healthier individuals. Think about the marathon winners. How do they look compared to sprinters? Sprinters are healthier looking. Marathoners burn muscle and fat during exercise while interval trainers burn fat in between exercise bouts.
The core is one of the most important parts of our bodies to strengthen but a lot of people don’t know how. Michelle is going to show us one great core exercise and all you need is a ball.
- Sleep
We all know we’re supposed to sleep 7-9 hours a night but as we age we are susceptible to sleep disturbances starting in our early to mid 30s.
Sleep hygiene is critical in achieving good sleep. It is important to sleep in a cool dark room.
Just like you do with your children it’s important to have a bedtime ritual that calms you down like meditation, a bath, reading or prayer.
It’s also important to stay away from stimulants like coffee and coke
- Participate in activities that release endorphins
Endorphins make you feel healthier, happier and they can last up to 12 hours.
They have been associated with controlling persistent pain, feelings of stress and frustration, regulating the production of growth and sex hormones and reducing symptoms associated with eating disorders. Growth hormones increase muscle mass, decrease body fat and increase exercise capacity.
Exercise releases endorphins into your system as does dark chocolate, hot chili peppers, meditation and orgasms.
It’s also very important to take vitamins – specifically a multi-vitamin, vitamin d and fish oil and anti-oxidants.
