For most people, New Years marks a clear point for making a lifestyle change that is intended to last a lifetime. Lent on the other hand, for the religious, is a time of temporary self denial or restriction to increase focus. There are several reasons that a greater percentage of people are successful with Lenten fasts than New Years habit changes. Even if you do not celebrate Lent, these ideas may help you be more successful with your own behavior change.
The first reason many are more successful with habit change during Lent (even if it is temporary) is that they are striving to sacrifice for something that has personal meaning to him or her. Religion is one outlet for existential energy for many people. Existential energy is about those things that give your life meaning, becoming a better person, and those things about which you are passionate. When we strive after these things, we often feel more energized and more motivated to meet the goals we have set for ourselves.
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Tiffany Gust is a trainer at the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge.
Start a stress journal so that you can uncover the things that cause you stress.
Write down the following:
- Who is causing you stress?
- Did you feel physically and emotionally?
- When the stress happened, what was your response?
- What did you do to make yourself feel better?
This can help you determine how you currently cope with stress. Are your strategies healthy or unhealthy, productive or unproductive?
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2011 is finally here! If you are like most Americans, your resolution for the New Year is to lose weight. Well, what are you waiting for?
Below is a workout that targets the entire body while keeping the heart rate up. By keeping the heart rate elevated, your body will burn more calories and you will see results faster.
The goal of the exercise routine is to continually move from one exercise to the other without stopping. This style of exercise is a form of circuit training, but you will be doing multiple sets grouped together, which are called super sets. For example: the first exercises are a seated row and squat jumps grouped together. Preform 10-20 reps of rows, then 10-20 squat jumps and repeat, then move to the next group of two exercises: the prone leg curl and push-up combination. The goal is to perform two or three sets of ten to twenty repetitions without stopping, except for water, of course.
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After a December full of holidays, traditions and indulgences you might be drafting New Year’s resolutions and planning your healthy eating regimen for January.
While it isn’t necessarily an indulgence and won’t derail your diet plans, there is one tradition left that you won’t want to miss. Hoppin’ John is a Southern version of a traditional, West African rice and beans dish that consists of black-eyed peas and rice, with chopped onion and sliced bacon or ham hock, seasoned with a bit of salt and spices. If eaten on January 1, Hoppin’ John is said to bring luck for the forthcoming year.
The first known recipe for Hoppin’ John was penned by Sarah Rutledge, author of The Carolina Housewife in 1847 and a daughter of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The origin of the name remains in dispute, but according to Epicurious, some culinary pundits believe that the dish originated with African slaves, who numbered in the tens of thousands in the South in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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How many of you are thinking that you have one last day before your new diet starts with the New Year? Such thinking could be sabotaging your diet before you start.
When driving home for the holidays (or when you take any long familiar drive), you are likely to increase your speed as you pass familiar sites that let you know you are starting to approach your destination. In the same way, as you focus on the impending restriction, you are likely to allow yourself extra indulgences in this last week of the year.
These extra indulgences do have an impact on your weight, your health, and even your metabolism. You are also familiarizing your palate with sweet or rich foods, teaching your body to expect such things. This can increase the chances that you will experience cravings for such things in January when you intend to avoid them. Life change is hard work, and you may be making it more difficult by indulging prior to restriction. The cravings are not a need requested by your body, but your body expecting consistency.
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