Out With The Old & In With The New: 5 Steps to a Healthier You in 2010
Each January millions of us set New Year resolutions to help us get a fresh start on setting goals for the year to come. Most of the time resolutions are simply declarations of intent rather than concrete, time-driven, results-oriented action items. Because they typically tend to be vague in nature (i.e. "I want to lose weight, get into shape, stop smoking, exercise more, drink less alcohol, or eat healthier") they rarely, if ever, stick.
So how can you come up with some resolutions that will make a real difference in your life so you'll be motivated to stick with them? And what can you do differently this time to ensure you take consistent and regular action towards realizing them? Seeing the bigger picture and how your resolution or resolutions fit into it can help you stay on track.
People who believe in the Law of Attraction will tell you to visualize the end result as though it were already happening --engage as many of your senses as you can to do this. The more you can visualize a specific outcome (i.e. "I have lost 25 pounds and 5 inches from my waistline" vs. "I have lost some weight") the more you train your brain and prepare it for the result. If your brain can "see" the outcome it can achieve it. You have to believe you can accomplish the goal or it will never happen.
But visualizing the outcome by itself is not enough to make it happen, you have to have an action plan with realistic, measurable goals, and check in with yourself at regular intervals (say once a week or at least once a month) to make sure you are still on track and make adjustments as needed.
If one or more of your resolutions revolve around getting healthy, here are 5 simple strategies for transforming broad resolutions into concrete actions you can take to make them stick:
1. OLD: Eat a healthy and balanced diet. NEW: Eliminate processed foods and beverages made with trans fats, corn syrup sweeteners (especially high fructose corn syrup), and simple starches and sugars (white sugar, rice, potatoes, and pasta). Add more vegetables, leafy greens and whole grains. Replace saturated fat found in animal products with mono-unsaturated fats like olive oil and avocados or plant-based saturated fats like coconut oil, which actually helps your body burn fat.
Having a weight loss goal is great but if you don't eat a balanced diet of healthy nutritious foods, it's unlikely you will meet your goal. So set the goal but focus on eating healthier by eliminating harmful foods and ingredients and replacing them with healthier alternatives.
2. OLD: Exercise vigorously for a couple of hours a day, 5-7 times a week. NEW: Find an exercise routine you enjoy and can consistently engage in on a regular basis.
This can take on many forms: walking, hiking, biking, swimming, running, yoga. Your body craves motion, so find something you enjoy and do it for 15-30 minutes a day, 3-5 times a week, rain or shine. Remember, if you really want to lose weight, you have to burn off more calories than you consume which requires a lot of regular activity.
3. OLD: Get between 8-9 hours a night of sleep. NEW: Stop eating at least 3-4 hours prior to going to bed.
We're all wired differently so the number of hours a night you sleep is not as critical as the quality of your sleep. Studies have shown that both stress and sleep deprivation can actually result in weight gain due to an increase in the presence of cortisol (the stress hormone) which in turn can interfere with proper digestion! Give your body a break from the work of digestion by allowing enough time to fully digest your evening meal or snack before going to bed.
4. OLD: Avoid stress or stressful situations. NEW: Manage your stress with the range of options available to help you relax.
These days avoiding stress isn't always feasible, but there are many things you can do to relieve and manage your stress (do some light yoga poses or stretches, take a hot bath with lavender bath salts, drink a cup of chamomile tea, get a massage) so you can sleep more restfully during the night. A regular exercise routine can help considerably with this. So can eliminating excess sugar, salt, and caffeine, which put a strain on your kidneys and raise your blood pressure.
5. OLD: Quit smoking. NEW: Eliminate your exposure to unnecessary toxins.
Smoking tobacco is one of the most destructive habits to your health and to those around you. So if you smoke, there's no question that quitting should be your top priority. However, tobacco and its smoke are not the only pollutants or toxins that you are routinely exposed to. Synthetic fragrances and chemicals in household cleaning products and air fresheners; soot from candles with leaded wicks and exposure to chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products can also be toxic and burdensome to your liver. Resolve to eliminate all unnecessary exposures by replacing them with alternative, natural solutions.
In addition to regularly weighing yourself on a reliable scale, be sure to get your vitals monitored and tested (blood pressure, blood glucose levels, cholesterol including HDL and LDL levels, liver enzymes) before you start and at regular intervals throughout the year (i.e. once a quarter or every 6 months) to measure your progress. Work on all 5 of these areas consistently, and you can realize significant improvements in your health and the way you feel.
Copyright 2010 Dropwise Essentials
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Donya Fahmy, is a green business owner and the creator of Dropwise Essentials' spa-quality aromatherapy body products that help you safely relieve stress, increase vitality, improve confidence, or simply manage your emotional state any time or place without popping a pill. For more free tips and valuable information visit www.dropwise.com and subscribe to the Dropwise Health & Beauty News Ezine or blog feed.
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Dropwise Essentials was founded by Donya Fahmy, a writer, producer, and consultant whose avid interest in the curative powers of aromatherapy and herbs ultimately led her to design and create the seven products and seventeen unique essential oil blends that make up the current Dropwise product line. She has studied aromatherapy with Carol Schiller - a successful author of several aromatherapy books - and with Dr. Daniel Penoel - a renowned expert in the field of medical aromatherapy.
