Year 2.0.2.0 – Let It Be A SMART Year For You

By: Melody Rabor-Dizon

 

Do you still make New Year’s resolution? Has it worked for you before? You often hear, I promise after New Year’s, I will never eat again. This makes me laugh because as hard and as decided we are in fi nally making our commitment of healthy living, we have already broken the cardinal rule. What am I talking about? The “bukas na attitude” or the I’ll start next year mindset. I, however, want to encourage you. I want to create awareness fi rst. Making unrealistic goals, unreasonable workout schedules, shorter time span- all are perfect recipes why New Year’s resolution never works. Most of the time it reflects other people’s expectation of us instead of making it our own goals, maybe feeling obligated to make one. Healthcare professionals are encouraging to use SMART planning for lasting lifestyle changes.

S: set specific goals and make it detail oriented

M: make it measurable so it can be monitored and check your progress

A: ascertain that it is attainable and reasonable

R: remember to be relevant so it sticks and tie it to something memorable to create more meaning

T: time to time it – meaning deadline. Impose a timeline to these goals otherwise, it will just be a dream.

TIPS AND GUIDE TO HEALTHIER EATING:

1. Log your meals including drinks. Liquids have calories in them too like juice, soda and milk and your brain does not pick the food be it solid or liquid. All it knows is how much calories you’ve had. Logging when your last meal was will be an eye opener how often you reached out for those chips or your snacking habits. Often times, we only focus on the big meals that we tend to forget the snacking in between is as important in tracking your calories.

2. Intermittent fasting has been known to mankind. During the cave-man age, the scarcity of a meal comes often, as chickens or boars does not come much around which means none to hunt. Plants and fruits have a season to flourish and how food preservation was still very Neanderthal. So the idea of fasting is not new to our body. Now the mindless eating is rampant. We eat when we are bored, stressed, depressed sending our health to the edge of obesity, hence the advent of eating disorders. Intermittent fasting has lots to offer like improved psyche. Do you notice you are a lot sharper when you are not too full? Apparently, intermittent fasting (IF) helps prevent disease, gives a boost to anti-aging properties and gives you more athletic stamina on top effortless weight loss.

3. Truth be told you have already fasted. The times where you were running to leave the house to make to the 8a meeting. That’s without breakfast. Or when you too pooped to eat dinner you went straight to bed. You’ve gone through these cycles of eating and non eating. Guess what, even sleeping at night- you fasted. This time however we want you to be intentional about it.

4. Befriend your hunger because it helps you lose extra weight, burn fat, helps with indigestion, heartburn and skin allergies. They say hunger is the best appetite. Real physical hunger is an actual, physiological need for food. It has a gradual onset and does not cause psychological stress and usually does not have a preference on what food. It takes whatever kind of food. Emotional hunger usually feeds on stress, cravings and habits. So be aware of your hunger- is it actually physiological hunger or emotional cravings. Feed the former.

5. Bright side of hunger- abstaining from food redirects your energy to rejuvenate cells. There will be lesser incidence of insulin spikes because you are always sated. The ghrelin hormone normalizes, meaning short and long term memory improves. Hunger changes pathways n the brain giving you a creativity boost, makes you more likely to take risks and helps with perception of danger involved.

6. Take at least 20 minutes to eat and eat slowly as it helps your mental state to attain satiety when you are actually full. It makes your food taste so much better and makes you a believer of healthy food choices. It also helps beat indigestion as it gives your brain enough digestion hormones to process food at its natural pace.

They say, January 1 is a popular day to start changing your lifestyle, but the other 364 days are just as good. Use SMART goals to start living a healthier life. Forgive yourself. Move on. If you fail, get up, there is still tomorrow. You can do this. Happy Happy New Year to all!