February is nearly over. Do your New Year’s Resolutions seem like a far off dream, a hazy memory of an agreement you made with yourself a few months ago? It’s not too late to reignite your goals and get back on track. February is the month for Heart Health awareness and a good time to review where you are at, and where you want to go. Also, habits that are good for the heart are good for the rest of the body too. Here are a few tips to get started.
- Set Realistic Goals for weight loss, exercise and diet:
- Weight Loss – Did you plan to lose 15 pounds in 8 weeks (by the end of February) and you realized you have only lost 2 pounds thus far? Lofty plans can easily get sabotaged and lead us to giving up entirely. Reset your goal for a 4 pound loss in 8 weeks,which is one half (1/2) pound per week. This is much easier to achieve and better reflection of reality.
- Exercise – Did you aim for daily exercise and found it was too much and have now stopped exercising all together? Reset your goal for exercising to 3 days per week for one month. Once you have worked that into your schedule and get use to it, you can add a 4th day per week for the 2nd month, a 5th day the 3rd month etc.; adding another day per month until you reached your goal of 6 or 7 days per week of exercise.
- Diet – You wanted to eat healthier and know that one of the best ways to do that is packing a healthy lunch for work or school every day containing fresh produce, whole grains and lean proteins. If daily brown bagging is too much for you, start off with 2 days per week. Just as with the “exercise” plan above, add another day per week each month, until it becomes 2nd nature for you to plan healthy meals and pack your lunch. You will save money too.
- Medical and Dental Checkups – Have you scheduled your annual physical/preventative care visit with your doctor? How about your next dental cleaning and check up? These are important for everyone; both males and females at every age for health maintenance, to obtain preventative care and also important to catch any problems that may be developing that require testing and, or, treatment.
- Sleep – Are your getting 7 hours of sleep per night? Chronic Sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain, depression, hypertension and predispose you to Type II Diabetes. It also decreases your cognitive function during the day. Adults should try to get 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night for optimum health. Infants, children and teenagers need more than that.
Make this year the best yet, by reaching the goals you have set for yourself and your health! *Contact your doctor for any questions or concerns you have about your health.
