Many Americans include health improvement in their New Year's Resolutions. But real life intrudes, and we find ourselves facing the fact that our plans for reshaping our lives and health were a bit too much to manage in the face of the rest of our busy lives. However, small changes can be as effective as large ones - much less intimidating - and result in long-term improvements in your health.
Here are two week's worth of small changes and activities that can improve your health. While these are written with people in an office in mind, they can be adapted to outdoor work or full-time parenting.
Day 1: Identify your Junk-Food-Hour. Put an index card in wallet or purse. Keep track of times at which you're most likely to hit the candy machine or potato chip stash, that one thing that frustrates your good eating habits. For many of us, it's mid-afternoon, though it may be at 1 a.m.! Track yourself for a week.
Day 2: Have a Green Day. Whether you buy lunch out or make it, see if you can include a green veggie each day. If you've got kids, they can have fun picking out new green food (nope, green gelatin doesn't count!)
Day 3: Exercise Nibble. Take five minutes of your lunch break to walk. Walk two and a half minutes towards any place (up the street? up the stairs?) and then take the other two and a half minutes getting back. Got kids? Make it a small family ritual and start their good habits early!
Day 4: Sneaky Exercise. Sneak in exercise while you watch TV! Every time there's a commercial, stand up and march in place until the commercial's over. If you only watch public TV? Pick a word that characters or announcers are likely to say and march in place for two minutes.
Day 5: Start the Smoke-Out. If you smoke, pick up your phone, today, and make an appointment with your healthcare provider to set up a quitting plan. Alternatively, call the National Quitline at 1-800-784-8669, or check out the webpage put out by the Surgeon General (http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/conspack.html) for the booklet "You can quit smoking" in both English and Spanish.
Day 6: De-stress the Drive. At each red light or stop sign, take a slow deep breath, counting to five as you inhale, count to five as you exhale. This simple habit makes sure you've really stopped at a "STOP" sign , and reducing your stress can keep you focused to prevent an accident.
Day 7: Junk Food Begone! Use your index-card record to figure out when you're most vulnerable to a junk-food attack. Put some healthy alternatives (depending on your nutritional needs, this may be whole wheat crackers, dried fruit, nuts) in a bag at your desk or in your purse. Five minutes before your tough time, check to make sure that you're hungry. If you're just bored, take a short walk (even up the stairs, wash your face, or reapply lipstick). If you're hungry and losing energy, make use of the stash of healthy food you've created.
Day 8: Check the Pressure. Stop at the drug store and use the automated blood pressure machine. High? Time to see your healthcare provider. Low? Check back each month.
Day 9: Life-Saving Self-Exam. For women of all ages: Pick a date and circle it on your calendar in pink. Repeat for the rest of the year. If you menstruate, make sure the dates are unlikely to coincide with PMS. Each "pink" day, do a self-breast exam. Don't know how? Go to www.bigbam.org to download a "how-to" card.
Day 10: Medication Weed-Out. Set a timer for 30 minutes and tackle the bathroom cupboards. Medication that are expired? Vitamins that have been sitting there for years? Get rid of them. Make sure that you don't flush these medications; your pharmacy or sanitation company can help you discard these items safely. If it takes more than 30 minutes, repeat on Day 11.
Day 12:. "Sleep hygiene." Cleaning up your sleep habits to reduce interrupted or difficult sleep. Things that can help you sleep well: cutting down alcohol or caffeine before bed, not watching TV or looking at the computer for a half hour before bed (the bright light in your eyes can trigger wakefulness)
Day 13: Measure Me! If you're engaged in weight loss, put a tape measure by the scale. Waist measurements are a good indicator that exercise and diet are improving your health (below 35 inches is associated with lower heart-disease risk).
Day 14: Housework Works. Pick one physical chore that you pay someone to do - mowing the lawn, raking the yard, vacuuming. Do it yourself, and stash the cash. Reward yourself with a healthy, stress-reducing, or "don't I look great!" treat.
They seem like small steps, but small steps can add up to a marathon of good health!
Gaesser, G.A. Multiple Short-Bouts of Exercise: Fitness Alternative for Those Who "Don't Have Time For Exercise." (Continuing Professional Education article) SCAN's Pulse (Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutritionists),Volume 20, issue 3-4, 2001.
Proper, K.I. Effect of individual counseling on physical activity fitness and health: a randomized controlled trial in a workplace setting. Am J Prev Med - 01-APR-2003; 24(3): 218-26
USDA, 2005 Dietary Guidelines "Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Nutrition and your Health"
Ian Mason, owner of Shoppe.MD, your source for Online Prescription Medications and health news.
Ian studies health, weight loss, exercise, and several martial arts; maintaining several websites in an effort to help provide up-to-date and helpful information for other who share his interests in health of body and mind.
Contact Ian Mason by e-mail at ian@shoppe.md.
Finally - you are alone. No one else is around.... Read More
Diet is one of the most controversial subjects around. Bring... Read More
Make sure you check out the meaning of many common... Read More
How do we know what we know? Often, our knowledge... Read More
"I've put on 40 pounds in one year!" "It doesn't... Read More
More and more people are turning to hypnosis or hypnotherapy... Read More
America is getting more obese every year. Even our children... Read More
Most men and women put on weight differently. But on... Read More
There's one thing that most people forget about when it... Read More
Do you want to lose weight? Of course you do,... Read More
Here are a few free tips on losing weight that... Read More
Chant the following each day, several times. They are mantras... Read More
As a part of a children's diet and health study,... Read More
Most people are unsure about how to begin a fat... Read More
Are there any foods that burn body fat? If yes,... Read More
If I Want to Lose Weight, What Can I Do... Read More
Research from Harvard, recently published in the highly respected peer-reviewed... Read More
The words I read made me furious. There it was,... Read More
The Atkins Diet Seems To Never Go AwayFad diets come... Read More
Diet drop out, a significant problem for all types of... Read More
Some of you will not like what I have to... Read More
It is a fact that about 70% Americans are overweight.... Read More
The holidays are now officially over and it's time to... Read More
Are you one of the many who may be tempted... Read More
Have you ever experienced this scenario before?"I have successfully lost... Read More
Just the facts on bodybuilding weightloss strategies that work. No... Read More
Gaining up to 20 pounds over four years can significantly... Read More
Some Say I'm Strange. I Prefer to Think of Myself... Read More
"Polyols" or sugar alcohols are a number of different carbohydrates... Read More
If you are into herbs and natural cures, you've undoubtedly... Read More
Do you know this year Florida will go through a... Read More
Diet advice ? a million "experts", hundreds of snake-oil miracle... Read More
Are you sick of the hype? Wondering what diet products... Read More
As much as many of us who are over-weight do... Read More
Fat burning exercise is not merely one that will burn... Read More
As a Master swimmer I am made painfully aware, each... Read More
Students today are faced with the serious reality of unwanted... Read More
It has been 15 years since I was diagnosed with... Read More
According to Veronica Atkins, the widow of Dr. Robert Atkins,... Read More
Doctors prescribe Walking as the best medicine for weight loss.We... Read More
Women on diets need more calcium than normal to avoid... Read More
Like many people I've been on dozens of diet plans... Read More
You have finally decided to tackle weight management and lose... Read More
I just came back from three days in Las Vegas.... Read More
In recent years, carbohydrates have been labeled as the nutrition... Read More
Are you concerned about the lack of exercise your child... Read More
Cellulite is not a medical condition or an aesthetic mutiny... Read More
How many calories do you need? Well, that depends on... Read More
Chances are if you've stepped foot in a gym or... Read More
How to Estimate How Many Calories You Can Have and... Read More
Let me tell you something - if you are doing... Read More
It's common to respond to stress by distracting yourself with... Read More
If I Want to Lose Weight, What Can I Do... Read More
New gastric bypass patients say they miss food, they grieve... Read More
Negative Calorie Effect in FoodsWhatever food we... Read More
On a little island half way in between Guam and... Read More
Weight loss specialists will tell you that attitude has a... Read More
Many women want to be slim. Maybe you're one of... Read More
Are you committed to losing weight and keeping it off?... Read More
Cellulite is probably one of the most embarrassing of all... Read More
Yes, there is more to the Mediterranean than sun, beach... Read More
Losing weight quickly is not advisable as most of the... Read More
Motivation is a factor often overlooked when it comes to... Read More
Taming the See Food Eat Food ResponseWhat happens when you're... Read More
Is Zone Diet a Fad?How do you recognize a fad... Read More
"THE SECRET REMEDY OF THE ANCIENT WARRIORS"Since what would seem... Read More
Weight Loss |