Narrow Down Your New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions often tend to be big and vague: Lose weight, eat healthier, be a better friend. According to Dr. Joseph R. Ferrari, professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago, big goals tend to be unrealistic – and set you up to fail. So, here’s how to break those biggies into solid, doable actions you can start immediately. We got these tips from Woman’s Day magazine.
- Goal #1: Resolve to sit down whenever you eat. This can help you lose several pounds without even trying. That’s the word from Dr. Judith Beck, author of The Beck Diet Solution. In one study, people ate 30% more when standing up. Beck says this is probably because we tend to eat more quickly when standing and miss our body’s “fullness” signals that tell us when we’ve had enough. However, if you sit, you’ll eat more slowly and be more focused on the meal – which’ll help you feel more satisfied.
- Goal #2: Snack on one-ingredient foods. According to registered dietician Kate Geagan, many of us get a quarter of our daily calories from snacks, most of which aren’t healthy. So, switch to those with only one-ingredient – like fruit or nuts. This’ll help boost your nutrition while decreasing calories. Geagan says the more ingredients in a food, the more processed it is, and processed foods tend to be higher in fat, salt, sugar and additives that we don’t need.
- Goal #3 : Have dinner with a friend the first Tuesday of every month, or whichever night works well for you. Otherwise, you’ll keep saying you WANT to get together, but it won’t happen. That advice comes from psychologist Suzanne Zoglio, author of Recharge in Minutes. She started doing this three years ago, and says it’s the first thing she writes in her day planner when she flips to a New Year. She says it’ll help you keep in touch with your loved ones without having to shuffle things around to do it. It makes “being a better friend” easy.
~Brought to you by our buddy John Tesh!!
http://www.tesh.com/