Setting goals that rely on lifestyle changes can be intimidating for many. While you may have wonderful intentions, making a change is difficult, especially when New Years Resolutions have a reputation for failing. It is possible to increase your chances of sticking with resolutions, or lifestyle changes at any point during the year, even difficult ones, by first proving to yourself that you can make a successful resolution. By undertaking a task at which you can succeed, you are reinforcing capability and encouraging yourself to take on bigger challenges in the future. What do you want to do in 2012 and beyond?

Here are eight changes you can work on now that will have a long reach in to other aspects of your life. Take your self improvement anywhere you can!

Read

I had a supervisor years ago who set aside 30 minutes per day to read and was thus always informed about new research and theories in the field. Whether you choose 15, 30, or 60 minutes every day, the pages and hours will quickly add up. Read technical writings to increase knowledge, fiction for relaxation, or even blogs. Listening to audio books instead of the top 40 is another way to increase what you are reading and will drastically change your commute.
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It’s 2am and all you’ve been doing is rolling from side to side like a rotisserie chicken, making a complete mess of the bed sheets and keeping the cat awake (who doesn’t care because she sleeps all day anyway). You try to read, count sheep and have a glass of warm milk, but nothing seems to make your eyelids heavy. If only that blazing red light from your digital alarm clock would just stop itself from sneaking so quickly to 6am, you could steal a few hours of quality snoozing before your big day ahead.

Whether the excitement of the proceeding day is keeping you awake, or you just can’t seem to get comfortable, these yoga poses will help mellow you out so you can fall gently into a happy, restful slumber.

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By Lise Turner for Care2.com

It has been a sleepless several nights for me, mainly because of troubling events. But it made me start thinking about food, and how it’s intimately connected to our patterns of sleep. If you can’t sleep, and life is calm and happy, maybe it’s something you ate–or didn’t. The foods we eat can dramatically affect how much, and how well, we snooze. Some foods calm and relax, some wake up the nervous system, and some just downright wire you for the night.

What you should eat for deeper sleep depends partly on your patterns. If you toss and turn before drifting off but then doze soundly for the rest of the night, you might benefit from adding slow-burning carbs (beans, sweet potatoes, berries) to your evening meal to prompt the production of serotonin, a brain chemical that promotes calm. If you zonk out quickly but wake up a few hours later, you might be suffering from blood sugar fluctuations. I’ve tried a high-protein snack before bed–a handful of walnuts, a spoonful of almond butter, a small cube of cheese–and these tend to keep blood sugar levels steady throughout the night.

Focus on foods with soothing nutrients, like magnesium, which help relax muscles and calm the body, and B vitamins, key in the production of serotonin and other brain chemicals necessary to sleep. Trytophan, an amino acid that’s needed to make sleep-inducing serotonin, is especially effective when it’s paired with complex, slow-burning carbs.

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You’ve been tossing and turning, staring at the clock. All the sudden it’s 1 am….2 am……..3 am…. You have to work tomorrow and that 7 am alarm is fast approaching. Sound familiar?

Insomnia is one of the most common medical complaints next to the common cold and headaches. The benefits of sleep are numerous and if you are looking to drop a few pounds it is essential.

The recommended amount of sleep is usually around 6 to 8 hours. We not only want to focus on the quantity of sleep but also the quality. You should wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on your day. If you feel your sleep cycle is getting out of wack, here are some supplements and hygiene tips you can try to help you go to la la land.

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Being overweight or obese can cause a number of negative health issues, including heart disease and diabetes. However, if you’re carrying a few extra pounds and having difficulty sleeping at night, it’s entirely possible that sleep apnea may be to blame.

Sleep apnea, a condition that causes interruption in breathing during sleep, can be difficult to overcome. However, according to a new study reported by FYI Living, obese men with sleep apnea who lost an average of 25 pounds over the course of a year experienced a dramatic improvement in their condition.

This study, which analyzed 63 obese men between 30 and 65 years of age, measured a number of factors, including the number of times a person’s breathing was interrupted per hour at the baseline, again after nine weeks and finally after 52 weeks.

Researchers have reported that after the diet, participants with severe problems showed more improvement than those with milder sleep apnea and that those who lost more weight showed a larger improvement after the diet.

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