Diet Resolutions For The New Year
The start of a new year is usually accompanied by many good resolutions, most of which will not be kept. By week two or three of 2010, you may find that you have already slipped up. This is perfectly human and you will not be alone.
When it comes to New Year's diet resolutions, you'll probably only succeed if you select one change to your habits and stick to it.
You can choose from a variety of dietary and lifestyle changes that will have a positive influence on your health and well-being. For example, you can decide to lose weight, get fit, or stop eating fatty junk food and drinking liters of cold drinks and/or alcohol.
Let's have a look at how you can achieve the benefits of the first two of these challenges:
Losing Weight
After the excesses of the festive season, most people resolve to lose weight and stick to a slimming diet.
Select your diet carefully. Don't fall into the trap of using a starvation (less than 1 000 cal or 4 200 kJ/day), or a fad diet (one that cuts out a whole food group like carbohydrates). Select a sensible, balanced diet that has a moderately reduced energy content.
Experts agree that reducing your daily energy intake by about 500 cal or 2 100 kJ will produce a steady, sustainable weight loss of 0,5 to 1 kg per week. Your slimming diet should also include all the food groups, i.e. carbohydrates, fats and protein. It should contain plenty of fruit and vegetables to provide protective nutrients like vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre and phytochemicals to keep you healthy while you lose weight.
Resist the temptation to use slimming pills and potions. They all cost a lot of money (which could be better spent on joining a good gym or Walk for Life), they contain harmful compounds like epinephrine, pseudo-epinephrine or synephrine that can cause a long list of negative side-effects (including addiction), and many of these products do not produce the desired results.
If you take a closer look, you will find that most slimming products are combined with very-low-energy diets and it is these diets that accomplish the weight loss, not the pills. So you could just as well save the money you spend on the slimming pills and products, and use a sensible eating plan instead.
Let 2010 be the year when you approach slimming in a sensible and balanced way. You will not only reap the benefits of weight loss, but also maintain your health and sanity, and for once be able to stick to your resolutions!
Doing Exercise
If you feel like a slob after the Christmas and New Year parties, you may have decided to start an exercise regimen.
Once again, be sensible. Don't select a type of exercise that you actually loathe, but feel you must do, because 'it's good for you'. This is a recipe for failure. Consider what you would like to do and what you can see yourself sticking to for the rest of the year.
Luckily, there are many different types of exercise to choose from:
* join a good gym if you like the social scene, need the supervision of a trainer, and most importantly, can afford it
* join Walk for Life if you are sociable, enjoy being outdoors and require guidance from the trainers who will monitor your progress on a weekly basis
* start a home workout programme or consult a biokineticist to work out a specific programme for your needs
* start doing water aerobics if there is a club near you and you like swimming (an excellent way of getting fit and using up energy)
* participate in your favourite sport (basket ball, rugby, netball, squash and so forth) as long as it ensures that you get three or more hours of activity per week
* take up cycling if you like the challenge of competing and are prepared to spend a lot of time on improving your performance
* go for brisk walks or jogs in your neighbourhood every day (walk the dog who will also enjoy getting out), slowly increasing how far and fast you walk or jog
* do anything that will get you active on a regular basis – take up modern dancing, Pilates, Kung Fu etc.
Be sensible and ease into your exercise programme. Don't start from being a couch potato and then try doing 500 situps or running for 10 km. You will only harm your body and fail to stick to your resolutions.
If you are over 40 and suffer from any illnesses, have a medical check-up before you start your exercise programme and discuss your intentions with your doctor, who may advise you to only do specific types of exercises at specific intensities. You don't want your New Year's resolutions to make you ill.
Whatever you decide on, make a choice that is sustainable for the rest of the year. Rome wasn't built in a day and it takes times to lose weight, get fit, firm up and build muscles. Give your body a chance to surprise you by being patient with it and making sensible changes in 2010.
