A goal is defined as a, “written, specific, personally meaningful, and challenging statement of intent, which has a measurable outcome and a completion date”.  Your goals must give a distinct target or end-point to work towards that must also be easy to measure and specific.  Without these you’ll never know if you have achieved the goal.  You can’t just say lose weight or gain energy.

Make the target very clear and specific.  Sit down for 15 minutes and work through 3 short-term and three long-term goals’ minimum, but don’t be afraid to do more.   You must also be honest and realistic with a self-evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses so that you can set appropriate and challenging goals.

Also, you must be honest with your process as you move towards a goal.  If the goal is too hard or too easy, you can adjust it.  If it is easily accomplished, reset for a higher standard.  It is okay to adjust the goal based on your feedback and learning.  By having a deadline or time-line for your goal, you are able to examine your progress and re-visit the feasibility of the goal.

COMMIT your goals to paper

1. REVIEW YOUR GOALS on a regular basis.  Make your list of goals accessible, so that you can review it regularly.  Frequent reminders will help keep you on track.
2. BE SPECIFIC set the goal to exactly what you want to achieve.
3. BE REALISTIC begin by setting small, attainable goals in order that they will propel you into future success.  For example, set a simple goal that you will avoid excess food at a party this weekend.  Set another goal as simple as having a great workout tomorrow.
4. FOCUS ON THE SHORT-TERM GOALS as short-term changes in behavior will help you reach long-term goals.  Set small goals to get the ball rolling, and success will breed success.
5. AS YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL return to your list and update the entire set of goals.
   At this time, I want you to pledge your full commitment to the program.  To be successful, you must dedicate yourself to the following goals:

List 3 short-term goals:
1. __________________
2. __________________
3. __________________

List 3 long-term goals:
1. __________________
2. __________________
3. __________________

Also plan your turbulence training workouts so that you get it done in less than 45 minutes.  Your body’s metabolism will be so revved up that you will still be burning tons of fat and calories all day long.  Once you understand that everything you do each day takes you either closer to or farther from your goals, then and only then will you be on the fast track to success.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Creator, Turbulence Training

Article source: http://ezinearticles.com/5667408

Disregard them, and you may well be taking a big gamble with your mental and emotional well-being.

Instead of bringing misfortune, however, the 13 habits promise a life of vigor and vivacity. There are, of course, no guarantees, but many of the practices mentioned here have been published in scientific journals. Disregard them, and you may well be taking a big gamble with your mental and emotional well-being.

Healthy Habit No. 1: Eat Breakfast Every Morning

Breakfast eaters are champions of good health. Research shows people who have a morning meal tend to take in more vitamins and minerals, and less fat and cholesterol. The result is often a leaner body, lower cholesterol count, and less chance of overeating.

“That one act [of eating breakfast] seems to make a difference in people’s overall weight,” says Melinda Johnson, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). She says breakfast can hold off hunger pangs until lunchtime and make high-calorie vending machine options less enticing.

Not only that, researchers at the 2003 American Heart Association conference reported that breakfast eaters are significantly less likely to be obese and get diabetes compared with nonbreakfast eaters.

Another study in the International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition showed that people who consumed breakfast cereal every day reported feeling better both physically and mentally than those who rarely ate cereal in the morning.

For kids, breakfast appears to enhance alertness, attention, and performance on standardized achievement tests, reports the ADA.

To get the full benefits of breakfast, the Mayo Clinic recommends a meal with carbohydrates, protein, and a small amount of fat. They say that because no single food gives you all of the nutrients you need, eating a variety of foods is essential to good health.

Yet, even with so much scientific support that breakfast does the body good; many people still make excuses not to eat in the morning. They include not having enough time and not feeling hungry. For these people, Johnson suggests tailoring breakfast to the day.

“When I’m getting ready in the morning, I don’t really want to take the time to eat breakfast because that would mean sacrificing sleep,” says Johnson. “So I bring my breakfast with me, and I know I have an hour when I’m reading emails in the office when I can eat it. By that time, I’m hungry because I’ve been up for almost a couple of hours.”

Healthy Habit No. 2: Add Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet

The AHA recommends a serving of fish two times per week.

Besides being a good source of protein and a food relatively low in the bad type of dietary fat called saturated fat, fish has omega-3 fatty acids — which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Healthy Habit No. 2: Add Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet continued…

Fatty fish such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, and salmon, are rich in two kinds of omega-3 fatty acids: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Foods such as tofu, soybeans, canola, walnuts, flaxseed, and their oils contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which convert to omega-3 in the body. Even though the benefits of ALA are controversial, the AHA still recommends foods containing it as part of a healthy diet.

In addition to their heart-health benefits, there is some evidence that omega-3 fatty acids may also soothe an overactive immune system, says Johnson. Even though this benefit is still being studied, she says there appears to be a link between getting more omega-3s in your diet and reducing allergies, asthma, eczema, and autoimmune disorders.

Healthy Habit No. 3: Get Enough Sleep

“Your body has to have enough time to rest,” says Michael Fleming, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Otherwise, he says you may find yourself feeling cranky and tired.

This may sound like common sense, but according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), more than two-thirds of older adults suffer from sleep problems and many American adults don’t get the minimum amount of shuteye needed to stay alert.

Sleep is vital to good health and to mental and emotional well-being. The NSF reports that people who don’t get enough slumber are more likely than others to develop psychiatric problems and to use health care services. Plus, sleep deprivation can negatively affect memory, learning, and logical reasoning.

Not enough ZZZs can also be hazardous. More than one-half of adult drivers — some 100 million people — say they have driven drowsy in the past year, according to NSF polls. About one out of five of these drivers — 32 million people — say they’ve fallen asleep while driving.

Each year drowsy driving causes more than 100,000 car crashes, 1,500 deaths, and tens of thousands of injuries, reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NSF recommends taking a 15 to 20 minute nap. Because it takes about 30 minutes for the caffeine to work, taking a nap while you wait for the caffeine to kick in can help restore alertness.

To avoid the pitfalls of insufficient sleep, make sure to get at least seven to 10 hours of slumber each night. Kids need more sleep, depending on their age.

Healthy Habit No. 4: Make Social Connections

Volunteer. Go to church. Join a club. Whatever you do, do it with people. Communal activities are good for your physical and mental health, according to a study published in the March/April 2004 issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior.

It makes sense, says C. David Jenkins, PhD, author of Building Better Health: A Handbook of Behavioral Change. He says social ties have many benefits, including:

• Providing information. You may think for instance your frequent nosebleeds, coughing, and sneezing episodes are trivial, but when a close friend or relative hears of it, he or she may encourage you to go to a doctor. If the symptoms turn out to be a serious condition, the social tie could have saved your life.
• Instrumental help. Friends and family can provide physical support in time of need. They may help with cooking, cleaning, running errands, doing grocery shopping, and driving to the doctor’s office.
• Emotional support. Sharing a problem with a trusted person can help alleviate an internal burden. “It’s a load off your chest,” says Jenkins.
• Offering a sense of belonging. This feeling not only helps reinforce a person’s identity, it also assists in preventing and overcoming depression and anxiety.

Community ties also help improve mental functioning, says Fleming. Group activities can help keep the mind active and maintain desirable levels of serotonin — the brain chemical associated with mood. “Lack of social interaction will [decrease] serotonin levels,” says Fleming.

Healthy Habit No. 5: Exercise for Better Health

We already know that physical activity has a bounty of benefits, which makes it so puzzling why so many people just don’t do it. According to the CDC, more than 60% of Americans do not get regular exercise.

In case you needed an incentive, here is a review of the advantages of exercise, per the National Cancer Institute:

• Helps control weight
• Maintains healthy bones, muscles, and joints
• Reduces risk of developing high blood pressure and diabetes
• Promotes psychological well-being
• Reduces risk of death from heart disease
• Reduces risk of premature death

Studies have also shown a link between exercise and a reduced risk of certain cancers.

Besides its long-term effects, moving your body has immediate benefits, says Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise. The short-term results of exercise include helping people to think and move better, manage stress, improve mood, and get an energy boost.

The excuses that people often give to not exercise are the precise reasons to exercise, says Bryant. People who say they are too tired or don’t have time to workout don’t realize that exercise gives people more energy and allows them to be more productive with the rest of their time.

Healthy Habit No. 6: Practice Good Dental Hygiene

Flossing your teeth every day could add 6.4 years to your life, according to Michael Roizen, MD, author of RealAge. In his book, Roizen lists flossing as one of the most important daily activities — along with exercise and quitting smoking — that could extend life span.

Roizen’s calculation may raise some eyebrows, but the idea that oral health is connected to overall health isn’t far-fetched.

The mouth, after all, is an integral part of the body. “Teeth have a blood supply, and that blood supply comes from the heart,” says Richard Price, DMD, consumer advisor for the American Dental Association (ADA).

Researchers suspect that the bacteria that produce dental plaque enter the bloodstream. They say these bacteria are somehow associated with the inflammation that occurs with plaque that blocks blood vessels and causes heart disease.

Other researchers have found links between oral bacteria and stroke, diabetes, and the birth of preterm babies and those that have low birth weight.

In addition to preventing disease, flossing and brushing can help keep your pearly whites intact for more than just cosmetic reasons. Teeth help you chew food, speak properly, and smile — which, according to Price, can help you keep your dignity.

Healthy Habit No. 7: Take Up a Hobby

Look up the word “hobby” in the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, and you will find the definition as “a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation.”

Since they are relaxing activities, hobbies are usually enjoyable. Some people find joy in craftwork, bird watching, sports, going to flea markets, walking in the park, or playing cards.

The joy may help people live healthier and recover better from illness. For one thing, taking part in hobbies can burn calories, more so than just sitting in front of the TV.

In a study of people who had undergone surgery, Jenkins found that people who were involved in hobbies before their operation had better recovery six months later, compared with people who did not have hobbies.

The participants with hobbies tended to have more drive and interest in things and other people, says Jenkins. “It was a more active orientation to life.”

Healthy Habit No. 8: Protect Your Skin

Our skin starts to age as soon as we are born and, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), the best way to protect it and look younger is to stay out of the sun.

The sun has harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays that can cause wrinkles, dryness, and age spots. Overexposure can cause sunburn, skin texture changes, dilated blood vessels, and skin cancers.

Avoiding the sun, however, is not always ideal or practical. To reduce the risk of skin damage, the AAD offers the following tips:

• Always wear sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher.
• Don a hat with a brim and wear other protective clothing.
• Don’t deliberately sunbathe.
• Try to avoid sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Healthy Habit No. 9: Snack the Healthy Way

The ADA recommends five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day as part of a healthy diet. These plant foods can do many things to boost good health, including:

• Reduce the risk of some cancers
• Beat the signs of aging
• Improve memory
• Promote heart health
• Enhance the immune system

One way to incorporate fruits and veggies into your diet is to have them as snacks. “If you can do one thing [to improve your health], concentrate on getting fruits and veggies,” says Johnson. “They are low in calories and high in nutrients.”

She says baby carrots and cut-up produce make tasty, convenient munchies. Other healthful snacks include low-fat yogurt and nuts (in moderation).

The best time to snack is when you are hungry between meals, says Johnson. But beware: Cravings could easily be mistaken for hunger cues, especially for people who are dieting.

Healthy Habit No. 10: Drink Water and Eat Dairy

Water and milk are essential fluids for good health, but they can also help with shedding pounds.

Healthy Habit No. 10: Drink Water and Eat Dairy continued…

The body needs water to keep properly hydrated and individuals vary widely in how much water they need. Joints need it to stay in motion, and vital organs such as the heart, brain, kidney, and liver need it to work properly.

If you don’t get enough water, the body goes into emergency mode, and clings to every single water molecule it can find, reports the University of Minnesota Water Resources Center. The stored molecules appear as extra weight. The weight is only released once the body gets enough water.

The calcium in dairy, on the other hand, is known to be important for strong bones and teeth. Studies have also shown it can help prevent high blood pressure, kidney stones, heart disease, and colon cancer.

In the weight loss arena, three 8-ounce glasses of low-fat or fat-free milk appear to encourage body fat loss while maintaining muscle mass, according to the ADA. The dairy consumption must be part of a balanced reduced-calorie meal plan.

Healthy Habit No. 11: Drink Tea

“Decaffeinated tea is better,” says Fleming, noting that the caffeinated variety can be dehydrating, and sugary drinks can lead to weight gain.

There is some evidence that tea may help in improving memory, and preventing cavities, cancer, and heart disease. Fleming says, though, that the overall research is still inconclusive.

“There may well be some beneficial effects of tea, particularly the potential antioxidant effect, but we don’t have great data on that right now that is that specific.”

However, there’s no doubt that a cool iced tea can be a refreshing treat during hot days. Try flavoring your tea with juices, fruits, cinnamon sticks, ginger, and other condiments.

Healthy Habit No. 12: Take a Daily Walk

We already mentioned the merits of exercise in habit No. 5. Now, here’s a tip on how to incorporate physical activity into your daily life: WALK.

We’re not talking about taking the time out of your busy schedule to work out — that’s important, too — but infusing life- and limb-saving movement into your waking hours.

“Just move. Pace during phone calls, while you’re brushing your teeth, while watching your son’s soccer game,” says Bryant, noting that every 20 steps a person takes is 1 calorie burned.

An eight-year study of 13,000 people also showed that people who walked 30 minutes daily had a significantly reduced chance of premature death compared with those who rarely exercised, reports the American Council on Exercise.

And there are plenty of opportunities to move those legs:

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Walk to the store.
• Window shop at the mall.
• Leave your desk and visit your co-worker instead of sending him an email.
• Walk and talk with friends instead of meeting for a meal.

Healthy Habit No. 13: Plan

There is, perhaps, no better word in the English language to better illustrate how you can incorporate healthy habits into your everyday life.

“A little planning goes a long way,” says Johnson. “Eating healthy never happens by accident.”

For the most part, neither do good fitness, skin protection, healthy teeth, weight loss, and social ties. Many of these habits take effort that need to be scheduled into busy lives.

To eat healthy, for example, it would help to set aside time to draft a menu, make a grocery list, go to the store, prepare meals, and pack breakfast and lunch.

View Article Sources

Published June 14, 2004.
Medically reviewed Jan. 24, 2006.

SOURCES: Melinda Johnson, RD, spokeswoman, American Dietetic Association. Michael Fleming, MD, president, American Academy of Family Physicians. C. David Jenkins, PhD, author, Building Better Health: A Handbook of Behavioral Change. Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist, American Council on Exercise. Richard Price, DMD, consumer advisor, American Dental Association. American Heart Association web site. Mayo Clinic web site. American Dietetic Association web site. National Sleep Foundation web site. National Cancer Institute web site. American Academy of Periodontology web site. ABCNews.com: “Help or Hype: Consumer Products for Periodontal Care.” American Dental Association web site. 21st Century Dental web site. HarperCollins.com: “Michael F. Roizen.” WebMD Medical News: “Social Connections Build Healthier Lives.” American Academy of Dermatology web site. National Institute on Aging, AgePage: “Skin Care and Aging.” 5 A Day web site. American Council on Exercise web site. American Heart Association: “Why Should I Be Physically Active?” University of Minnesota Water Resources Center: “Water Will Help You Lose Weight!”

By Dulce Zamora
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

Reviewed on December 14, 2007

© 2004 WebMD, Inc. All rights Reserved.

For instance, caffeine addicts might find it very difficult to limit or eliminate the intake of caffeine from their daily lives. Remember, caffeine can not only make your feel nervous, but can also lead to lack of sleep. What happens when you sleep poorly? Poor sleep can result into early tiredness, headache and muscle pain.

Working individuals might also experience a hit in their productivity. As long as you curb the intake of caffeine to a cup of two, you will be fine. Also, make sure that you supply your body with at least 8 hours of sleep on daily basis. Your cells will be completely rejuvenated once you wake up, thereby making you feel energetic for the rest of the day.

Next on the elimination list are alcohol, sugar and carbohydrates. It’s imperative that you cut back on these ingredients as our body does not respond positively to these substances. For instance, intake of carbohydrate and sugar leads to the release of insulin, which causes tiredness. It’s in your best interest to have alcohol in moderation. Your best bet over here would be to ensure that you do not consume alcohol after 8pm as this can affect your sleep.

We all live with the general notion that overweight people are lazy in comparison to an average guy. There is some real truth in this notion. Imagine carrying 20 pounds of weight on your body all day long. Won’t you feel tired? To experience a boost in energy, one needs to get rid of the excess body flesh.

Not many individuals out there realize that there is a direct relationship between our mood and diet. The food that you eat on day to day basis determines your energy level to a great extent. It’s advisable that you resort to natural foods for optimum energy level. Also, do not commit the mistake of skipping meals, as your body will feel really drained out, especially if you skip breakfast.

Feeling of tiredness and annoyance will creep in, thus robbing your body off its energy. This situation might also result into overeating in the later part of the day, and when we overeat; our body tends to get lazy and laid-back. It’s advisable that one breaks his/her meal in small proportions, rather than having a big meal at a time. Spreading your meals evenly will ensure that you are loaded with energy throughout the day.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in fibers and they are known to boost our body metabolism. Boost in body metabolism implies more flow of energy. Besides this, drink lots of water. Individuals who do not drink adequate water can fall prey to dehydration. Lack of energy is an apparent feature associated with dehydration.

Stress can also kill your energy. While you might want to burry several emotions within your mind and body, it’s imperative that you find a solution to curb or eliminate stress. Prolonged stress will deprive your body off the much needed energy.

Exercise and yoga are found to be great stress relieving tools. Devote sometime from your daily routine towards one or combination of these activities to reduce stress and to experience a surge in your energy level. Also, avoid the regular office rush stress. Proper planning would be the key over here. Listening to your favorite music, reading motivational books and indulging in hobbies can also shoot up your energy level. Basically, doing things that you enjoy doing will boost your energy level.

Recent studies have revealed the fact that walking speeds up our body metabolism, thus making us feel more energetic. This energetic feeling prevails for several hours after your finish walking. Your best bet would be to act first, rather than waiting for the boost in energy. Feelings will follow suit!

Source: Health Guidance

These well-intentioned efforts to help us make wiser choices make sense, right? Unfortunately, research in behavioral economics shows that these measures often have the opposite intended effects. Paradoxically, people will eat less healthily, when they know what they’re eating. Ignorance seems to be bliss when it comes to indulging our taste buds as we step into a restaurant, whether it’s a local McDonald’s or New York’s posh Oyster Bar.

George Loewenstein, Professor of Economics and Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, has pioneered important and fascinating behavioral economics research on diet and health choices, including a NY Times Op-Ed. You can learn more about his work including a webcast and paper available online in which he discusses factors contributing to obesity, including the posting of calorie charts (these are lengthy but well worth your time if you want to explore the topic further).

Conventional economics assumes that our choices are made on the basis of rational consideration of alternatives. In behavioral economics, the foibles of human decision-making are brought to light. For example, we are easily led to buy products because they cost more, not less. Luxury marketers are already aware of this fact in practice, which is why some stores, even in hard economic times, never reduce their products (try finding Louis Vuitton purses on sale, for instance!).

The principles of behavioral economics are no more evident than when we are faced with menu choices in restaurants, causing us to throw rational decision-making to the winds. One of the big problems is that (surprise, surprise) when you go to a restaurant, you’re hungry. Your hypothalamus issues the demand “FEED ME!” Your hypothalamus is the part of the lower brain regions, structures not noted for their ability to perform complex mathematical calculations. All the hypothalamus cares about is getting nutrients of any kind into the bloodstream, and now.

So, there’s that lovely calorie chart posted on the wall, but our hypothalamus pays no attention. What about the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that does make wise decisions? Although some customers will give voice to their upper brain regions, these tend to be the people already motivated to watch their weight. If the calorie chart wasn’t posted, they would bring along one of their own, perhaps even one they downloaded ahead of time online (now that is the prefrontal cortex at work!).

Sometimes the prefrontal cortex thinks it is making a good decision through that wonderful defense mechanism of rationalization. “Hey,” it says, “that Big Mac has 704 calories, but the Caesar salad with dressing has 510.” Rationalization leads you to decide that it’s not even a 200 calorie difference, so what’s the big deal? Behavioral economists talk about the fact that these small decisions on one occasion don’t seem “that bad” (especially when your hypothalamus is jumping up and down screaming for sustenance). Over time, of course, these little 200 calorie decisions do add up. But at the moment, you’re not into the business of projecting far into the future. As Freud would say, the id trumps the super-ego.

Of course all this is based on the premise that people actually read calorie charts, and as we know, they don’t. You can bring a hungry person to a restaurant but you can’t make that person read past the menu. Now, here’s where there is some potential to change behavior.

Behavioral economics tells us that people will often revert to whatever the default choice is when given options. Big Macs automatically come with cheese and a mayo-based sauce. What if those calorie boosting add-ons required you to make an additional request? Going with the default principle would mean that your 704 calorie indulgence now has closer to what that Caesar salad would offer. In fact, what Loewenstein and like-minded behavioral economists are suggesting is a policy whose name might scare some people: paternalistically assymetry. Or, if you prefer, choices of convenience. Make the default option the healthy one, in other words.

There are many factors contributing to the obesity epidemic in the United States, but fast food meals with their low price tags and ubiquitous presence in the highways and byways of the land, loom large in the list of causes. We’ve learned recently from a University of Buffalo study that living near convenience stores and restaurants rather than grocery stores may also contribute to weight gain in women. We have to be careful here in that, as I’ve pointed out in previous blogs, correlation doesn’t equal causation. Your street address doesn’t cause your weight gain. Instead, a third factor, most likely economic status of the neighborhood, is the big culprit here. There are more convenience stores and fast-food restaurants in poorer neighborhoods. If people don’t have cars to drive out to the suburbs where the large supermarkets with healthier alternatives, hypothalamus or not, they’ll eat what’s close by. And many of these healthier food stores aren’t cheap.  Whole Foods isn’t nicknamed “Whole Wallet” for nothing.

Turns out that even these healthy-sounding bills of fare are not such great news for our bodies. When you stop to read the small print, you’ll wonder if “whole food” might not mean “whole lot of bad stuff.” Let’s say you’re going to browse around for a nutricious breakfast or morning snack. What could be better than the “Morning Glory Muffin”? You see visions of lovely little blue flowers as you wander around the meadow, pouring wonderful nutrients into your health-food craving prefrontal cortex. Clouds loom overhead once you read the fine print about what is actually in that mere 99g innocent-sounding delight: 310 calories (160 from fat), 18g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 4g protein, 36g total carbohydrate (1g dietary fiber, 13g sugar), 70mg cholesterol, 310mg sodium. Sure this stacks up better than some McDonald’s breakfast offerings, but it’s not much of an improvement over some options including a warm cinnamon bun (mmm…).

The principle of convenience or least effort in decision-making applies to many other health-related areas. Consider the default shoe options now being offered by retailers from Jimmy Choo to Target.  Teeteringly high platforms and stilettos are now the rule of the rack. The healthy (and fashionable) alternatives with their humdrum names (“Naturalizer” to name one), are either not advertised or available (or cheap, for that matter). Similarly, the elevators in many buildings gleam brightly and temptingly at front entrances with their polished steel and glass surfaces. Staircases are hidden behind imposing doors that appear to lead only to emergency exits (and could sound an alarm). Stairwells are ugly, dirty, and poorly lit.  In restaurants and bars throughout the world (less and less in developed countries), we have to ask to be seated in a non-smoking section. The list goes on and on.Consumers are constantly being tempted to slide into unhealthy default options that over time cause our health to deteriorate.

How can you avoid the trap of the easy but unhealthy default option? Here are five suggestions:

1. Make the commitment to engage your prefrontal cortex. No matter what sorts of unrealistic demands your hypothalamus makes for quick and easy decisions get started on effortful processing. Think about what you’re doing, project your decisions into the future, and imagine the outcomes.

2. Be a non-conformist. You’re out with your friends for a good time and those cheese-covered nachos that they order are sounding awfully good. Don’t be afraid to get a veggie plate instead (and I don’t mean a deep-friend veggie plate). Go ahead and have ONE or two nachos to go along with the gang. Chances are, though, that once you buck the nachos trend, your friends may also be mooching off your platter.

3. Read the fine print. It’s annoying how small the “nutrition facts” charts are on packaged foods. Never mind- read them and be sure to read the serving sizes as well. If you’re afraid of looking uncool because you need to whip out your reading glasses, so what? No one will care (revert to principle #2, above).

4. Support paternalistic assymetry. Start a campaign at work to beautify the stairwells. Suggest that retailers make healthy alternatives more prominent. When you cook meals for your family, don’t add the salt or butter ahead of time to those green beans but make them ask first. You can adopt the Bloomberg principle and gradually reduce the additives such as sugar so that over time they’re not missed as much.

5. Question what’s in a name. We are all so easily duped by euphemistic names that we rarely question what’s being offered to us. Make sure that the so-called healthy alternative you’ve selected isn’t loaded with sugar, sodium, and unhealthy fat substitutes. Here’s where healthy skepticism can really be “healthy.”

It’s not easy to resist the trends of society, our friends, and even our brains when it comes to making good lifestyle choices. But with some effort and a few simple steps, you can make that all important start toward healthy self-fulfillment.

But whatever you do, please don’t take this advice with a grain of salt!

You can access free interactive resources, personality quizzes, and articles at: www.searchforfulfillment.comSusan is a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the author of 21 books including her most recent book, “The Search for Fulfillment.”

Published on Psychology Today (http://www.psychologytoday.com)

By Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D.

Created Jul 20 2010 – 10:11am

Source URL: http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/45568

Links:
[1] http://www.consumerfedofca.org/article.php?id=977
[2] http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3420655&page=1
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/01/31/nyregion/2010criticb-chart.html
[4] http://sds.hss.cmu.edu/src/faculty/loewenstein.php
[5] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/opinion/15loewenstein.html
[6] https://admin.acrobat.com/_a934360949/p22312150/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal
[7] http://sds.hss.cmu.edu/media/pdfs/loewenstein/PromotingHealthierChoices.pdf
[8] http://www.answers.com/topic/hypothalamus
[9] http://neuro.psyc.memphis.edu/neuropsyc/np-l2-pref.htm
[10] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100702152403.htm
[11] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201003/the-sole-fulfillment-keeping-the-bounce-in-your-walk
[12] https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/personality
[13] http://www.searchforfulfillment.com/
[14] http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/teaser/2010/07/calorie.jpg

What would it mean to you if you could automatically just eat the right foods and automatically carry out your workouts every day, without straining… without even having to think about it?

How would your body and your health change if you just automatically did the right thing everyday… as effortlessly as you shower, brush your teeth or get dressed?

Would you agree that the most challenging part of losing weight and getting in shape is taking the right actions every day? (Not “talking”… but “DOING”?)

• It’s easy to say, “Eat smaller, more frequent meals.”
• It’s easy to say, “Eat natural foods, avoid refined food and sugar.”
• It’s easy to say, “Eat ample amounts of healthy, essential fats.”
• It’s easy to say, “Eat a lean protein with each of your meals.”
• It’s easy to say, “Get at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day”
• It’s easy to say, “Get at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day”

Yes, easy to say… easy to talk about… not always so easy to do.

Why is it such a challenge to DO the things that you know you must do every day to get results? Why do we say one thing, and then do another?

The answer lies in your subconscious mind and in the awesome force known as HABIT, which has enormous power to pull you in a certain direction… positive or negative.

Your subconscious manages and carries out autonomic functions of your body, including digestion, circulation and respiration, so you don’t have to think about them. If you’ve ever studied human anatomy and physiology, then you can appreciate the importance of this. The complexity and number of human bodily functions is staggering.

Can you imagine if you had to consciously think about or “will” your body to digest food, release hormones, beat your heart, circulate blood and all the other countless functions that are going on in your body at the same time?

It would be impossible. And that’s where your subconscious mind comes in. It handles all this stuff for you on an un-conscious level so you don’t have to be overwhelmed.

In the same way, your subconscious handles many ordinary behaviors every day so you don’t have to be overwhelmed.

A habit is simply an automatic behavior. The behavior has become automatic because it has been repeated frequently and thereby, turned over to subconscious control.

A habit, then, could be described as a behavior pattern fixed in your subconscious mind as a result of repetition.

Habits are a result of behaviors repeated… but they begin with a single act.

Orison Swett Marden, founder of Success magazine, once wrote,

“The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably.”

I often advise my clients to become very aware of the behaviors they repeat on a regular basis and never to do things daily that they don’t want to become habits.

Take the habit of drinking for example…

You often hear the advice that drinking in moderation is okay, and that moderation is defined as “one or two drinks a day.”

I’ve had many clients say that they enjoy one or two drinks every night. They defend their behavior by arguing that “research says it’s good for you” (especially red wine), and that they’re even getting good results from their workouts.

I tell them that this may be true, but I warn them to consider the long term consequences because any behavior you repeat every day is HABIT-FORMING.

We are all forming and reinforcing habits every day of our lives. Some are positive habits that move us towards our goals and some are negative habits that move us away from them. Some behaviors which appear relatively harmless as a single act are extremely negative in their cumulative effects, eventually causing much pain and anguish. Their opposites, if identified and cultivated, would bring us health, happiness and all else that is good.

Your subconscious mind is a machine. It functions exactly like a computer. In fact, your subconscious mind is the most magnificent and powerful computer ever created.

“Behold I set before you both a blessing and a curse” is not just a famous quote from the bible, it is a perfect description of the law that governs the function of your “subconscious computer.”

Your subconscious does not care what instructions you program into it or what habits you choose to develop. The subconscious is completely impartial and will carry out your “commands” – whether intentional or by default – to the letter, without question, 100% of the time.

Whatever thoughts you impress upon your subconscious repeatedly will eventually express themselves in your body or through your behaviors, and whatever behaviors you perform repeatedly, will eventually become habits.

Once a habit is established, it will require no conscious thought or effort to repeat in the future, and in fact, will take enormous strength to break… very much like swimming upstream against the current.

Knowing that your subconscious is your unquestioning servant, wouldn’t it be easier to harness the power of habit in your favor and be swept towards your goals by the current of positive habit?

I started working out at a very young age, and I’ve now been training non stop for over 20 years.

How have I become so consistent in my training? Pure habit force! There is never a “discussion” in my head about whether I should go to the gym… I just put on my gym clothes and go… automatically.

It’s HARD to miss a workout!

I guess you could say that me skipping a workout is like a drug addict skipping his fix. Odd analogy, perhaps, but isn’t it true that people become “addicted” to exercise?

What are you addicted to through force of habit? Are your habits positive or negative? Did you ever consider that you can harness the power of positive habits?

You can!

The question, of course, is HOW?

It seems so hard to form new positive habits, and maybe even harder to break bad ones.

Well, it takes a method… you need a strategy. People have written entire books on this, but let me offer you 4 quick and simple tips you can use right away to harness the power of positive habits in your life:

1. Cultivate Awareness

Ignorance is not bliss. Awareness is bliss. You are on auto pilot and probably don’t even realize it. 99% of the actions you take every day are habits. Some are positive, some are negative. All are carried out automatically without conscious thought required. You don’t have to think about how to tie your shoelaces anymore.

That “skill” has long since been filed away in your subconscious mind. You don’t have to think about how to drive your car… that function too, has long since been filed away in your subconscious (but do you remember the first time you tried to drive… especially if it was a stick shift?)

And so it is with dozens of other behaviors you carry out every day. And thank God that they’re automated… can you imagine if you had to think about them? (your brain would explode!)

The question is, do you have yourself programmed on auto pilot with negative habits or positive ones? If you don’t know the answer, you’d better take an inventory of your habits, and identify any limiting habits that you weren’t even conscious of until just now. As the old self help maxim says, “You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know you have one.”

2. Begin with your mind, and your body will follow

U.S. Anderson once wrote, “Success isn’t the result of hard work, it is the result of right thinking.”

At first, this may not appear to make sense, because obviously you must take action (work hard) in order to succeed. However, by examining this statement on a deeper level, you realize it is 100% accurate because actions are a result of our thinking and our mental programming. Therefore, the logical place to begin when you want success, is in your mind, by changing your thoughts and changing the programming that causes your habitual actions. Success begins in your own mind.

The thought always gives birth to the action. Too many people focus on “forcing” behaviors, but force negates and willpower fails you in the long term. The real power lies in your thoughts which create the habitual behaviors. To change the behavior, you DON’T USE WILLPOWER alone, you simply trace the behavior back to the thought patterns that created it and change the thoughts.

3. Replace negative habits with positive ones

Nature abhors a vacuum. If you manage to simply remove a negative habit, it leaves a vacuum begging to be filled. Often the bad habit returns to re-occupy its old space or another bad habit simply takes it’s place.

The way to get rid of a bad habit forever is to replace it with a positive one. This is especially easy and effective when it comes to food choices. If there is a particular food you habitually eat and know you shouldn’t, don’t just try to eliminate it. Instead find a better choice to replace it with. Each time you feel the urge for the old food, reach for the new one instead. It’s a simple process of substitution.

4. Never repeat a negative behavior if you don’t want it to become a habit; repeat, reinforce and reward positive behaviors you DO want to become habits

Suppose you’ve managed to haul your butt to the gym a few times a week, but you hate training legs. So you gleefully finish your upper body, then say to yourself, “Ah, I don’t need to do my legs today… I’ll do them next time.” Sure enough, next time rolls around and the same urge pops into your mind… “My legs are fine… It’s my chest and arms I really care about most.” So you blow off legs again.

Right there in the moment, you must become aware of what’s about to happen, and catch yourself. What’s “about to happen?”  A negative habit is about to begin forming.

Forming a brand new positive habit is not all that difficult – all it takes is about 21 days of conscious effort for the behavior to be turned over to subconscious control.

Getting rid of negative habits is more difficult, so the best way to avoid falling under their influence is to stop them from forming in the first place. If you do something once… no problem. But if you’re tempted to do it twice… kill it, before it grows roots.

We all have goals. What are yours? To lose 20 pounds? Get in shape? Buy a new house? Make more money? Having a goal is the easy part. Reaching it? Well, that’s something else entirely. If you’re frustrated because you feel like you keep coming up short when it comes to realizing your dreams, maybe it’s time to try a different approach.

When setting a goal, ask yourself first of all if your goals are realistic and if you are really ready to make the changes in your life necessary to reach those goals.

“Most people don’t take into consideration whether they’re ready to do what it takes to achieve their goals,” says Steven Rosenberg, PhD. Rosenberg is a behavior therapist, the team psychotherapist for the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team, and author of I Hope the Hell I WIN! Turning Hope into Reality…How Winners Win! If you’re going through a stressful time at work, for example, this may not be the best time to start a weight loss program; maybe you’d do better to wait a few months and start on, say, your birthday.

Be realistic as well, says Rosenberg. You can’t lose 40 pounds in two weeks, or even a month. Set an achievable objective, such as 1 to 2 pounds a week; by the end of the year, you will have lost the 40 pounds.

Be Committed

“Goals that get reached are those that are firm, well-defined, and to which the individual is truly and completely committed,” says Susan Schachterle, director of the Denver-based Ahimsa Group, which provides consulting and coaching services to individuals and organizations worldwide. “Without that commitment, trying to reach goals is like grabbing Jell-O — you think maybe you have it, but there’s really nothing to hang on to.”

Schachterle suggests that you check your commitment. Ask yourself why you want to achieve that particular goal. What will that do for you? Why is it important? What will your life be like when you have reached it? How will achieving your goal change things for you?

“If you’re having trouble making a strong commitment,” says Schachterle, “make sure it’s the right goal and the right time for you.”

The Art of Saying ‘No’

Another reason many people don’t reach their goals is that they just can’t say no — to everyone else. “Many of us, especially women, put other things and people first,” says Susan Newman, PhD, a social psychologist at Rutgers University and author of The Book of NO: 250 Ways to Say It-and Mean It and Stop People-Pleasing Forever. We’re unable to refuse when asked for our time, our talent, our expertise, or merely our presence.

“Saying yes is a habit we’re not even aware of,” says Newman. “Think ‘no’ before you think ‘yes’ (not the other way around). By adding the word ‘no’ to your vocabulary, you open up vistas of time, not only to work toward a goal but also to think about how to reach it,” Newman says. “In short, you put boundaries in place and establish priorities in the correct order [for you].”

If you haven’t mastered the art of saying “no” and you think that’s derailing your efforts to reach your goals, Newman suggests taking these steps:

· Make a list of how many times a day you say ‘yes.’ “You’ll be startled,” says Newman.

· Pay attention to how you parcel out your time. “For most of us, it just disappears. … Who’s monopolizing the time you could otherwise spend on reaching your goals?”

· Set priorities. Who has first dibs on you and your time?

· Look at your limitations. When do you start to lose your stamina? “Don’t keep pushing until you run out of steam and collapse altogether,” Newman advises.

· Let go of control. You don’t have to do it all yourself. “If you’re doing everything else, there’s no time for you to get back to your goal.”

Be Specific

There are two tricks to properly setting your goals, says University of Alabama at Birmingham clinical psychologist Joshua Klapow, PhD. Klapow is co-author of Stop Telling Me What-Tell Me How: The Simple Answer to Better Health.

First, turn goals into specific behaviors, says Klapow. “To say that you are going to exercise doesn’t tell you which exercise to do, for how long and how frequently. If you don’t know what to do, you are less likely to do the behavior. Be specific. Saying that you plan to walk five minutes a day — and increase the time by one minute each week until you are walking 30 minutes per day — is better than just saying that you plan to exercise.”

Klapow’s second tip is to make sure you are successful at reaching your goals right from the start. “Resolutions need to be things you can actually do,” he says. “This is important because you are more likely to repeat the behaviors in which you are successful. Set short- and long-term target goals and make the short-term goals easy to reach.”

At this time of year, when many of us are making New Year’s resolutions, Klapow reminds us that resolutions are basically a set of new behaviors. Because the behaviors are new, and not learned habits, we have a tendency to slip back into our old behavior patterns.

“The best way to keep track of what you are doing every day,” says Klapow, “is to get a calendar and write down every time you perform your new habit. Don’t leave it up to your mind because your mind can play tricks on you. Three days without performing your new habit is your sign that you may be slipping.”

The Benefits of Intuition

Using your intuition can also help you reach your goals, says Lynn A. Robinson, MEd, author of Real Prosperity: Using the Power of Intuition to Create Financial and Spiritual Abundance. Robinson offers three tips for achieving a specific goal:

· Stay focused on the positive. Pay attention to what is working, not what isn’t. Perhaps a friend called to cheer you up, or your child got off to school this morning without a major tantrum, or you had a really nice lunch with a colleague. “Find those precious slivers of appreciation in each day.”

· Take small steps. There is a two-part trick of working toward a goal: No. 1, just begin, and No. 2, start small. Take a first step toward what you feel excited about and then take another one, and then another one. “Remain centered in the present.”

· Make your intuition your ally. Intuition is “quick and ready insight” and it’s one of the most helpful tools to use when faced with any kind of decision making. It’s also a skill that can be developed. The more you practice it the better you get at it. How does your intuition speak to you? Do you receive information in words, feelings, a flash of insight, a body sensation? Do you just know? “Intuition is the secret weapon of many successful people who describe it as knowing something directly without going through a long analytical process,” says Robinson.

Getting your friends and family involved can also help you reach your goals, says Sandra Beckwith, leader of “Finding the Courage to Change” workshops. “You need someone who will reject your usual excuses — ‘I can’t afford it,’ ‘I don’t know how,’ etc. — and help you see that there’s a way around every obstacle,” says Beckwith. “He or she can brainstorm with you. … This allows you to see a situation from a different perspective, through fresh eyes.”

Actually seeing your goal written down can also help you keep it in the forefront of your mind, adds Newman. “Tape reminders all over the house so your goal will always be in front of you — literally.”

Be Positive

Visualization and mindfulness (including approaches such as meditation and hypnosis) are also ways to help you achieve your goals. Mindfulness trainer Maya Talisman Frost explains that goal-setting is only one aspect of getting what you want. “It’s the intention that gets us where we want to go,” says Frost.

Goals tend to be arbitrary and number-oriented, says Frost, such as the number of pounds lost, amount of money earned, number of hours spent in the gym, and so on. Intentions, on the other hand, are “big-picture” statements about what fulfills you.

Yes, your goal is to lose 20 pounds in six months, but what’s your intention? How about, “I feel strong, healthy, fit, confident, attractive, and sexy,” says Frost. “The number on the scale isn’t what matters most — it’s how you feel each day.”

Positive thinking is often more effective than negative thinking when it comes to changing health behaviors. For example, people quit smoking more readily when the positive aspects of health are emphasized, rather than the negative side.

“Intentions allow us to picture ourselves — and how we’ll feel — when we are successful,” says Frost. “There’s no room for failure in the picture. We focus on the positive and powerful feelings we’ll have.”

Picturing Success

The most effective way to change our beliefs is to create a mental story of success, Frost says. We need to picture ourselves as we want to be, and we need to talk about it. Her basic formula: See it. Say it. Hear it.

· See yourself in the circumstances you desire. Picture it perfectly.

· Craft a one-sentence story that you would like to be true, and say it in the present tense, as though you are describing your life right now.

· Keep repeating yourself. Demand to hear that same story every night before you go to sleep.

“When it comes to achieving your goals, being positive is so important,” agrees Rosenberg. “When you see in your mind’s eye what you want to achieve, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

By Carol Sorgen

WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD