Healthy Improvements for 2014

Last year, various bloggers posted lists of some of the strangest New Year’s Resolutions that revolved around personal health. While they aren’t the traditional “lose weight” or “eat more fruits and vegetables” types of resolutions, they are truly exceptional goals – all revolving around healthy improvements to your life. Here are six that I encourage you to put on your list for 2014:

1. Learning how to live in an aging body. As we age, our bodies seems to fail us in areas we never expected. A body at age 80 is far different than the same body at age 60. Likewise, a 40-year-old body is truly not an 18-year-old one. The resolution is “learn about how your body changes as you age and adjust your health requirements as needed.”

2. Schedule your prostate or breast cancer screening. Both are not very pleasant, yet they can really help improve your chances of early detection and prevention. Most health insurances will fully cover such preventative care, so there is no need to keep putting it off. The resolution: “Call your doctor and schedule your exam.”

3. Be pesticide-free. Along with the expansion of genetically modified foods and the ever-increasing use of chemicals on our nation’s food supply comes an increase in cancers and other health issues associated with such harmful substances. Resolve to remove or reduce them from your home and your life. The resolution: “eat more organic foods, wash your fruits and vegetables and take care to eliminate exposure to chemicals.”

4. Achieve the perfect smile. Dental health has been associated with a variety of other health issues such as blood disorders and heart disease along with various mental health concerns such as depression. You can start this resolution with little effort: brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss, and maintain routine dental appointments. For some, tooth extractions, braces or even dentures may help you with this goal. The resolution: “Improve your smile with good dental hygiene.”

5. Learn something you never learned as a child. Can you jump rope? How about playing hopscotch? What about riding a bike or swim? Most of us learned how to do these things as children, yet some never did. Find that one thing that you should have learned when you were young but never did. Put in on your list. Some of these can boost not only your mental health but also your physical health. Resolution: “learn how to _______ (you fill in the blank).”

6. Listen to more music. Studies have shown that listening to music – almost anything you like, actually – can help reduce stress. Some say that playing music at work aids in increased productions while others prefer to use music to relax them after a long day. Regardless, music is soothing and is a good resolution to have. Resolution: “Play more music.”

New Year’s resolutions have long been intended to focus on self-improvement. That means that you exit the New Year as a better person than you came into it. It began back in the Babylonian era when the custom of setting such resolutions had moral intentions: be good to others. Early Christians prepared for the coming year through prayer and self-resolutions all based on the concept to improve the self. Resolutions have come quite a long way since their original intent, and today, they are often superficial and more attention-getting than ever before.

Let’s get back to the New Year’s resolutions as they were meant to be: a positive, moral improvement of yourself and others. So, whatever you do as a resolution, do it for you, do it for your health and well-being. Be a better person next December than you are today!

References

Alexander, J. (2013). A history of New Year’s resolutions. The Newsline, Oklahoma State University. Retrieved from http://reslife.okstate.edu/January2013.pdf.

Hughes, A. (2012). Here’s to health: unique and unusual New Year’s Resolutions. Retrieved from http://health.yahoo.net/articles/alternative-medicine/heres-health-unique-and-unusual-new-years-resolutions

The Real Buzz Group Ltd. (2013). 10 unusual New Year’s resolutions. Retrieved from http://www.realbuzz.com/articles/10-unusual-new-year-s-resolutions/#pagination-top.

Rose, V. (2011). My five unusual/funny New Year’s resolutions. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/my-five-unusual-funny-years-resolutions-7517518.html?cat=74.

De-Stress Your Holiday OR Just Skip It Altogether!

Does this sound like you: Go shopping, visit the family, go shopping again, bake holiday cookies, shop some more, decorate the house, shop again, visit in-laws, pick up stocking stuffers, prepare holiday feast, shop for Secret Santa gift for work, mail Christmas cards, wrap presents, head to church services….and the list goes on and on.

Talk about being stressed out, not to mention maxing out your credit cards on gifts most people don’t need or even want (maybe)! There’s no doubt about it, this time of year can be stressful. And, as I get older, it seems to get worse every year.

I think John Grisham had it right when he wrote the book Skipping Christmas in 2001. Most of you might be more familiar with the 2004 movie based off of the Grisham story, Christmas with the Kranks, but the premise is the same: No shopping, no baking, no holiday parties…no Christmas. It really points to a “no stress” holiday. That was the point. Did you get it? I sure did.

When I read the book in 2002, I posed the idea to my husband to “skip” Christmas that year so we weren’t pulled in so many directions on Christmas day: visiting multiple families, exchanging gifts, cooking a feast and then cleaning mounds of dishes afterward, decorating to the hilt. Although we weren’t as elaborate in our Christmas skip day as Grisham’s character’s The Kranks, who planned a peaceful Caribbean cruise in place of Christmas, my husband and I took off for the ski slopes and enjoyed each other’s company from dawn to dusk. No stress. Seriously, we didn’t overeat, didn’t over buy, and we didn’t feel pulled in all directions.

With a successful first Christmas skip day under our belt, we realized that the world didn’t end because we skipped out on a stress-filled day. Of course, we still celebrated some of the traditional holiday stuff and visited family between Christmas and New Year’s Day…but at our leisure over several days. The best part of it all was that our health didn’t suffer: We had a stress-free holiday!

Your health is a vital part of being able to enjoy the holiday season – regardless if you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or just New Year’s Eve/Day. Staying stress-free can not only reduce health hazards such as heart problems, high blood pressure, and headaches, it can actually benefit your overall health. In fact, a study published in the journal Health Psychology discovered something even beyond actual stress and poor health. Researchers found that high amounts of stress coupled with the perception that stress will impact health were associated with poor health and mental health outcomes. In addition, they concluded that “individuals who perceived that stress affects their health and reported a large amount of stress had an increased risk of premature death.” 

Is this really a death-laden holiday? It doesn’t have to be.

While some people simply don’t feel they can “skip” the holiday, health and psychology professionals do offer several tips to help you reduce your stress (which will improve your overall holiday enjoyment):

1. Practice being calm and quiet. Taking several deep breaths or practicing meditation will help you relax, especially if you do this before you start your day.

2. Stay positive. People can be harsh and terse during the holidays, especially at the mall. Do not let their bad mood affect you. Smile or say a kind word instead. You do not know their specific situation, so don’t react negatively.

3. Get moving. Exercising regularly is probably one of the best ways to overcome stress. Getting your blood flowing reduces tension and fatigue and improves your ability to think clearly. While you may want to, don’t skip your workout. It’s critical for your health.

4. Limit the holiday “comfort” foods. Besides cakes, cookies, and candies, this also includes alcoholic beverages. When offered such treats, be kind and take polite bites or sips, but avoid over-indulgence. Sugar, alcohol, and caffeine can increase stress.

5. Be generous. This doesn’t mean cleaning out your retirement account for the holidays. What it does mean is to give compliments and heart-felt sentiments. Giving makes you feel good about yourself, regardless of the gift itself.

6. Make a concrete Christmas shopping list. This will allow you to stay within budget and not overspend on whim or inspirational purchases.

7. Sleep well. Holiday parties that last into the wee hours of the morning rob you of much needed sleep. Make sure you keep as normal a sleep schedule as possible, limiting those late night rendezvous.

Be well and have a wonderful holiday season!

References

Bennett, C. (2009). 7 tips to relieve holiday stress. Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/smart-habits-highly-successful-people/200912/7-tips-relieve-holiday-stress. 

The Better Health Channel. (2013). Christmas – tips to reduce the stress. Retrieved from http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Christmas_tips_to_reduce_the_stress?open&utm_term=Christmas_tips_to_reduce_the_stress&utm_source=&utm_campaign=newsletter.

Keller, A., Litzelman, K., Wish, L., E., Maddox, T., Cheng, E. R., Cresswell, P. D. and Witt, W. P. (2012). Does the perception that stress affects health matter? The association with health and mortality. Health Psychology, 31(5), p. 677-684.