Weekly
Healthy Advice From VÄXA
Don't Give Up!
You can Achieve your New Years Weight-Loss Resolution
Even if you didn't
say it out loud to your friends and family, it's likely that
you resolved to lose weight in '08. Everyone wants to lose
a few pounds. Some want to lose more.
If your intentions of hitting the gym five times a week and
giving up all desserts may have already fallen by the wayside,
you're not alone. Statistics show that a gigantic portion
of New Years resolutions don't survive the first weekend of
the New Year. It's still not too late to commit to a reasonable
weight-loss goal.
Start now!
Making small changes to your diet and lifestyle can net big
weight-loss rewards. Try following some of these tips for
a few days and see if you can make them healthy, life-long
changes:
- Banish all negative self talk. Just
because you had a bad day, week, month, year, or decade
doesn't mean you are a bad person, and it certainly doesn't
mean you will never be able to lose weight.
- Avoid processed meats. Instead of high-fat,
high-sodium deli slices, use leftover chicken breast or
fish from your dinner as a topping to a huge veggie salad
(and skip the cheese - it's not worth the calories and
fat!).
- Load up on colorful veggies. Deep green
veggies offer the best nutrition. They're filling, high
in fiber, and low in calories.
- Snack on fresh or dried fruits to satisfy
your sweet tooth.
- Pile on the fiber! Eating more fiber
will help you stay fuller longer.
- Exercise. Taking a leisurely stroll
around the block isn't going to give you abs of steel,
but it's more productive than sitting on the couch, watching
reruns on TV. In order to lose weight, you need to do
a minimum of one hour of exercise every day. If that's
not realistic right now, do what you can. Work your way
up to more.
- Drink only pure water and herbal teas.
Don't fall into the diet soda trap. Studies have shown
that diet soda drinkers not only have trouble losing weight,
they usually gain weight steadily.
- Don't deprive yourself! Completely
swearing off your favorite foods is unrealistic. Allow
yourself to eat a few bites of your favorite dessert at
least once a week.
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