10 New Year's resolutions you can really keep

What's the new year for if not a time to line up your personal aspirations for the coming year and hopefully not find yourself elbow deep in a Club Pack of cookies by Jan. 24. Why not make this the year your goals actually materialize? We'll show you how with 10 terrific wellness resolutions you can keep, plus 10 tips for sticking to them all year long.

Dr. Jeffrey Lipsitz, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Centre of Metropolitan Toronto, suggests analysing your sleep environment. Ideally, it's a dark, quiet place kept at a comfortable temperature with minimal distractions. If noise or light are issues you can't sidestep, invest in earplugs or a sleep mask. 

And so you don't do the 3 a.m. alarm-clock stare, put it on the floor, next to your bed and out of your sight line. Skip presleep stimulation such as watching TV (especially in bed) or phone calls; do these things away from your bedroom. And if you're prone to reading an hour in bed before sleep, it's likely keeping you awake, so get your fiction fix earlier in the evening. "Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol in the evening, and be careful about using sleeping pills as well," adds Lipsitz.

4. Get your back up
A strong core -- your pelvic, abdominal and back muscles -- can help you overcome slips and falls, says Rod Macdonald, executive director of Can-Fit-Pro in Toronto. Strengthening your core back muscles also improves your posture, says Craig. Bonus: Great posture makes you look taller, leaner and younger.

Try standing on one foot while washing the dishes, suggests Macdonald. Even easier, buy a Swiss Ball and sit on it while watching your favourite TV show once a week. Soon you'll be using it whenever the TV is on. During commercial breaks, slightly lift your legs alternately. This balance challenge will also boost your core strength. You can also replace an office chair with it one day a week.

 

Time alone to savour simple pleasures is one great way to beat stress. Book at least one, but better two, "you nights" or dates with yourself each week. Relax in a candlelit bath or head out to a local coffee shop and curl up with Maeve Binchy's latest bestseller from Ireland. Don't worry about the dishes or the staff meeting the next day. Miles' four-step plan is also worth a try.

First, find your stress source and see if there's a way to look at it positively. For example, if you have reentered the workforce and receive a less-than-glowing performance appraisal from your boss, don't despair, but see what you can learn from it.

Second, "change the situation," she says. Is bumper-to-bumper traffic making you constantly late for work and irritable? Try alternatives, such as taking transit or changing your work hours so you are not commuting at peak times. Third, make yourself more resilient to stress through self-care practices such as surrounding yourself with loved ones and eating healthfully. The final step is relaxation. Find a relaxing outlet such as deep-breathing exercises or a calming hobby.

6. Water yourself
Sipping eight glasses a day does more than just fill you up: it regulates your body temperature, lubricates your joints, boosts your energy, eliminates waste and provides fluoride for your teeth. "Sometimes dehydration leads to tiredness and that slump you may experience in the latter part of the day," says Chen. Water also cleanses your systems, adds Quinn.

Fill up a jug or bottle with your eight glasses each morning and resolve to drink it by day's end. Splurge on a pretty pitcher and matching glass that will inspire you. Tired of plain water? Mix it up with bubbly club soda or mineral water, or splash some juice in for flavour. 

If you're drinking coffee, caffeinated sodas or teas (diuretics that dehydrate you), sip an extra glass for every mug you drink. Other fluids, such as milk, juice and decaffeinated herbal teas, can also tally up. One glass of each counts for one glass of water.

 

Start talking -- to yourself, that is. And make it positive. "What we tell ourselves about events, situations and ourselves in our ongoing internal dialogue determines how we feel," says Miles. "Ask yourself, ‘Do I put myself down all the time? Do I criticize myself?'

Positive self-talk radiates into all aspects of our lives including stress-management and relieving depression and anxiety." Develop some feel-good statements that you repeat on a regular basis, such as "I can do this."

8. Move 30 minutes a day
There are more than just physical benefits to exercise. "Psychologically, it has been proven that exercising reduces stress levels and improves your psychological state, so you feel better about yourself," says Craig. And regular exercise gives menopausal women continual energy and strength, reports a 2004 study from the Taipei Medical University in Taiwan.

"Any way you can get active is helpful," says Macdonald. "But the best exercise is one you enjoy doing." Forget the gym if that's not your scene and look for something fun that keeps you moving. 

Remember those tap classes you took as a child? Try an adult class. Make a regular walking date with your neighbour to keep you both accountable. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada suggests forming a family health club in which you participate in activities such as hiking or throwing a Frisbee or ball around.

"The key is to do a routine you can stick with for at least a month," says Macdonald. "That's as long as it takes for you to make it a habit." And don't forget that little bursts of activity add up: walk to the store to get milk, do some light shovelling or raking and skip the elevator and walk up those two flights of stairs to your office.

 

"The need to disconnect is one of the most important steps to take to focus on you," says Nora Spinks, president of Work-Life Harmony Enterprises in Toronto. "We check e-mail and return calls at 11 p.m. and then jump into bed and wonder why we can't sleep. Evidence is showing that all that go-go-go is impacting our immune systems. We are exhausted because we have less capacity to relax and rejuvenate."

 

"Think, out of sight, out of mind," says Spinks, who suggests placing computers and televisions into lesser-used rooms, such as a separate den, rather than in a living room or bedroom. If they are in a principal rooms, don't make them a focal point. "Put them in an armoire or behind a screen -- whatever it takes to get them out of sight," she says. 

Limit your need to be on the computer: don't feel you have to screen incoming e-mail and reply right away, get off e-mail lists and stop forwarding jokes and frivolous e-mails to others. "Then people will stop sending them to you," she says. 

Better still, set some boundaries. Pick a set number of hours to watch television each week and stick to it and a certain number of times a week to check your personal e-mail account and home voice-mail messages. You might even resort to setting an oven timer to remind you that when time's up, it's time to pull the plug and reconnect with the rest of your life.

10. Ditch the diet
Been bouncing from Atkins to South Beach? Women whose weight fluctuated significantly were more likely to gain weight and binge, reports a study from Children's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School. Replacing your bad eating habits with a sensible guide to great eating will not only boost your health, but more than likely also help you drop those pounds.

Forget about whatever fad diet you are on. Focus on healthy eating with Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating as your foundation. Start with the smaller range of servings if you're not that active. Too overwhelmed to follow it all at once? Make weekly changes and start with overhauling one food group at a time, says Rosie Schwartz, a registered dietitian in Toronto. 

For example, Week 1, commit to eating breakfast on a daily basis because it will decrease your cravings and start you off on the right track. Focus on fruits and veggies and see how many you can eat in the morning.

 

During Week 2, go for more whole grains by switching to whole grain bread instead of a plain bagel and sprinkle whole grain cereal on your mid-afternoon yogurt. Week 3, put dairy on your agenda and work on meeting your servings quota. "Instead of a large coffee, have a non-fat latte instead," suggests Schwartz. "Because variety is key to eating well, resolve that each week you'll make a new recipe." 

Writing a three-day food journal will show you where you're falling short nutrient-wise (or thickening up fat-wise). Plan meals ahead to avoid the 6 p.m. raid-the-fridge-for-dinner search. This will also help you follow the guide.

 

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

-Top New Year's resolutions 

-5 reasons fitness New Year's resolutions fail

-10 anti-resolution resolutions