Healthy and Nutritious Resolutions: From A to Z

By Michelle Ferchoff

The arrival of every New Year prompts many of us to make resolutions to live a healthier lifestyle. These healthy lifestyle guidelines can help you feel great, perform well, and invest in your well-being for many new years to come.

Aging is the accumulation of a lifetime of poor nutrition and inactivity. People who exercise and incorporate a whole foods diet tend to be healthier and live longer.

Breakfast is the most important meal. Active people who eat breakfast not only gain fuel for a high-energy day, but also tend to be wiser in their food choices the rest of the day. Eating a high protein breakfast will provide you with the energy to get up and go.

Carbohydrates are the cause of many diseases including hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Avoiding simple carbohydrates found in processed foods, pasta, bread, etc. will lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of a heart attack, and reduce body fat.

Diet and lifestyle are the most important factors contributing to health and disease. Learn to live by the slogan, “we are what we eat”.

Exercise should be part of your daily regimen. Exercise and physical activity can help you reduce the risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, colon cancer, breast cancer, and diabetes; reduce or maintain body weight or body fat; build and maintain healthy muscles, bones, and joints; reduce depression and anxiety; improve psychological well-being; and enhance work, recreation, and sport performance.

Fat-free foods are fattening because they contain an abundance of carbohydrates.

Good nutrition starts at the supermarket. Make health conscious decisions about everything that goes into the cart.

Honor your hunger and stop eating when you’re satiated.

Immune system strength is reduced by poor diet, polluted environment, stress, and drugs. Strengthening the immune system is not only vital for recovering from illness, but also for maintaining good health.

Juicing is not a healthy alternative to eating whole fruits. Eating whole fruits instead of drinking juices has a lower glycemic effect on the body.

Keep to an eating schedule determined by your body. Active people tend to get hungry often, so snacking on vegetables, nuts, and seeds throughout the day will keep you satiated.

Laughter stimulates the immune system. It lowers serum cortisol levels and increases the number of T cells, the amount of activated T lymphocytes, and the number and activity of natural killer cells.

Mental states influence the body’s susceptibility to and its ability to recover from disease. Studies have shown that one is more likely to develop a disease after any stressful event. Stress is a growing plague but there is an antidote: "joy, fun, and humor".

Nibble on your favorite foods — you don’t need to eliminate them completely. Excluding foods from your diet leads to binge eating.

Omega 3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids found primarily in cold-water fish such as tuna, salmon, and mackerel. Studies have shown that Omega 3 fatty acids have protective roles in arthritis, hypertension, cancer, and heart disease. Incorporate fish into your dietary regime at least twice a week.

Process. Achieving overall health is a process that involves a series of defined steps.

Quick meals should include wholesome foods from a protein and vegetable source.

Regular checkups by your health care professional will aid in disease prevention.

Supplements are meant to supplement healthy eating, not compensate for poor eating habits. Whole food supplements made from organic foods contain vitamins in their natural state. Research indicates that synthetic vitamins may actually cause nutritional deficiencies.

Target Heart Rate refers to the number of times your heart should beat per minute during a cardiovascular training session. Determine your goals and monitor your heart rate to improve your cardiovascular endurance. For health benefits, a minimum of 20 minutes per session is recommended 3 times per week.

Use it or lose it — that’s the rule for muscle strength. Muscles boost your metabolism, making it possible to lose fat.

Vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes are full of Vitamin A, C, niacin, Pantothenic acid, folate and folic acid. The deeper and darker the color, the richer the nutritional value.

Water encompasses 70% of our body’s composition. The human body needs approximately 2.5 liters of water daily (10.5 glasses), but we only need to drink approximately 6 - 8 glasses a day, because we get some from food and about 25% from metabolism.

Xtra vitamins may protect against heart disease and cancer.

Yoga increases the efficiency of the heart, slows the respiratory rate, improves fitness, lowers blood pressure, promotes relaxation, and reduces stress and anxiety. It also improves coordination, posture, flexibility, range of motion, concentration, sleep, and digestion. Incorporating yoga into your cardiovascular program is a holistic approach to exercise.

Zeal is needed to fulfill your AZ resolutions. Extreme eagerness and dedication to becoming healthier includes a willingness to go to any length to see that resolution come to fulfillment.