Exercising more. Eating nutritious foods. Stopping a smoking habit. With health-conscious actions topping our New Year’s resolutions every year, why do we always seem to not meet our goals, going back to old habits?
Some experts believe the failure to succeed with a resolution may be because we don’t have a game plan. But the following tips will help you jump start the new year with a strategy to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Before we go into the tips on how to keep you on the game plan, just a quick thought with you. This year is 2011 and tell you what, the game plan need a milestone of your plan to make sure it work for you. In the year of 2011, it happens that it will have 4 x 1111 on the following dates, 1.Jan.2011 (1.1.11) ,11.Jan.2011 (11.1.11), 1.Nov.2011 (1.11.11) and 11.Nov.2011 (11.11.11), so why not set your date on the ones you like and make it a realistic milestone to your promise to make yourself stay healthy and free from toxins everyday.
1. Be committed, yet realistic. Dedication is an important driving force in keeping you on track of your resolution. However, unrealistic goals, such as being able to run a marathon after two weeks of training, can easily burst your spirit. Make sure your resolution is reasonable.
2. Eat protein at every meal, including breakfast.
3. Eliminate wheat- and flour-based products for the time being. And yes, that definitely includes bread and pasta.
4. Eat unprocessed foods. Ninety percent of what you eat should be a combination of (in this order of importance) raw vegetables, steamed vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and maybe a few fruits if necessary.
5. Reduce starch to one portion a day, and don’t eat that portion during your evening meal. Best choices are beans, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal.
6. Don’t overdo fruit: one a day maximum, and only the low-sugar, high-fiber variety. Apples, pears, plums and berries all are good choices. For now, fruit should be eaten alone or with something light, like low fat nuts. Lose the fruit juice completely.
7. Reduce or eliminate dairy for the time being, especially cow’s milk. Exceptions: reasonable amounts of low sugar, fat free yogurt.
8. Lose the booze. Despite what the “studies” say, you lose no health benefits by giving up alcohol (including wine). There is nothing essential in alcohol that you can’t get in fruits and vegetables without all the bad side effects that go along with it.
9. Stop using vegetable oils such as sunflower, safflower and corn. The supermarket kind is highly refined, and it oxidizes easily when heated, contributing to arterial plaque. Use olive oil instead, and apply it to food after the food is cooked when possible.
10. Watch which types of fat you’re eating. The amount of fat you eat is probably less important than the kind of fat you eat. The worst are fried foods, margarine and foods that contain hydrogenized or partially hydrogenized oils. The best is omega-3, found in fish and flaxseed oil.
11. Obsessively drink water: At least 8 ounces for every 20 pounds of bodyweight you’re now carrying around, each day. Every day. No excuses.
