According to the Huffington Post “Each January, roughly one in three Americans resolve to better themselves in some way.”
If you hired a personal trainer or Wellness coach to come to your home on January 1st what do you think he would tell you? Maybe cut back on the sweets? The salty snacks? The wine? Or maybe in my case to just get off the sofa and take the dog for a walk. Many of the large employers and insurance companies are now offering personal wellness coaching online. It benefits you; it benefits the insurer and your employer. There is no question that healthier employees make better employees. I wish every employer could offer a free gym membership or access to their own gym for free. Here is my first person plan of attack for making and keeping a healthy New Year’s Resolution.
#1 Take my vitamins on a regular basis. I was religiously taking my vitamins. My skin looked great. I staved off some bad PMS symptoms and everything was going smoothly and then a researcher published an article recently about people who take a ton of supplements die earlier than those who don’t. So after years of taking my vitamins, I just stopped. I plan to resume my scheduled vitamin taking on January 1st. It may all be psychological but I just feel better when taking my vitamins. And besides who wants to live to be 100 years old anyway.
#2 Exercise regularly This one will be tough for me. I have a gym in my house. I have never used it. I have access to a gym membership that I never use. I can run outside, walk the dog, dance, play organized sports but I just don’t. Ok so I hate exercise. I resolve to find ways to make exercise fun. It may be a dance class at a local spot. A kickboxing class, running, Pilates, yoga with my friends but I am a social exerciser like most people. If I am expected to meet someone at kickboxing I am probably going to be there. If I have to walk to my own gym in my home, I just get bored.
#3 Use fresh home grown organic herbs in my food, add spices like turmeric, curcumin to my dishes for health. My friend and I were talking about how fun it would be to grow an indoor herb garden and add fresh herbs to our foods. Then we began research on the medicinal purposes of fresh herbs as well. Last year I did research for an article on how in India they have very low cases of Alzheimer’s and other common western illnesses. One of the main reasons is the abundance of fresh spices that they use in their foods. Cur cumin and Turmeric are known to help with blood flow to the brain and thus can aid in slowing or delaying the early onset of Alzheimer’s.
#4 Eat more fruits and vegetables
I like fruits and vegetables, excluding broccoli. I have to force myself to eat broccoli. This one may be my easiest of all the New Year’s resolutions. I plan to just start eating the veggies on my plate first before I allow myself meat, carbohydrates or sweets.
#5 Lose weight
I am over forty and have struggled with the “W” word my entire life. I have never really ever been thin. I have been an acceptable good looking size but never thin. It is getting harder and harder to lose weight as I age and I plan an attack now before it gets anymore out of hand. Everyone that is older than I am has told me do it now. It just keeps getting more and more difficult the longer you wait. I just need to keep telling myself that it is 70% diet and 30% exercise. The exercise helps push your metabolism into overdrive, burns more calories and builds muscle which we also start to lose as we age. Losing weight as we all know is the top New Year’s resolution for all American’s. Maybe we should try to make this one our summer resolution, winter resolution and work on it each day.
Happy New Year!