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Home › Articles › Holiday: Winter › Healthy Habits

Healthy Habits

Resolutions for the New Year

By Suzy Feine

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As the clock strikes midnight on December 31 of each and every year, millions of people make New Year's resolutions: eat less, exercise more, cut back on sweets and many others. Few, if any, of these resolutions are still in place by the end of January.

This year, resolve not to resolve. Instead, make generalized lifestyle changes, not specific health resolutions. Dr. Allen S. Josephs, a practicing, board-certified neurologist and physician of internal medicine and president of Vitacost.com, offers his recommendations for a healthy new year. Below are Dr. Josephs' new twists on the old resolutions, along with a few new ideas to boost one's health and well being this year.

Resolve to Eat More Fat
Good fat, that is. It's true that high-fat diets (more than 35 percent calories from fat or those containing high levels of saturated or trans-fatty acids) can lead to obesity, heart disease and other serious health dangers. However, it's also becoming increasingly apparent that a diet too low in fat can actually increase the likelihood of a heart attack by reducing the levels of "good cholesterol" in the bloodstream.

Recent research has shown that certain, specific kinds of fats are essential to human health and well-being. The monounsaturated fats found in olive and canola oils and the omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) found in fish oils are important for promoting cardiovascular, neurological and psychological health. Salmon and tuna are good dietary sources of EFAs, as are high-quality, ultra-distilled fish oil supplements.

Don't Resolve to Lose Weight – Manage It Instead
Fad diets and miracle diet pills come and go, but there are really just a few basic concepts behind reaching an ideal, healthy weight. Adopting a healthy mental attitude and setting realistic goals, incorporating both aerobic and resistance exercise into a daily routine and taking in adequate but not excessive calories are important steps toward better health.


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