News Article

For: January Issue

To: Gulf Coast Womens News

By: Linda K. Bowman, Ext. Agt. IV - Family & Consumer Sciences

Santa Rosa County Extension Service

Telephone: 850-623-3868

Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick

You might want to celebrate the New Year with a visit to www.hiaspire.com. This site has an e-mail update service to keep you on track for your New Year’s resolutions all year long. They even have a list of resolutions you can choose from along with links to webmd.com for health topics. The two most popular resolutions on this site, according to their subscribers, are to exercise more and eat a better diet.

These are two great ideas for your health. However, you should have specific goals written to achieve each one. Here are a few suggestions:

3 ways to a better diet.

v Resolve to eat more lowfat soups and salads during the week. It is even

better if you can eat them before a meal!

v Learn about the DASH diet and adopt this as your eating plan. You are already on your way from eating more soups and salads. This diet has more fruits and vegetables along with low-fat dairy products. Go to www.nhlbi.nih.gov and search on DASH diet.

v Eat more meals made at home. Clean out your refrigerator and you kitchen and make them more efficient so you enjoy cooking at home more often.

3 fun ways for more exercise

v Trade TV hours for cleaning hours. Did you know that you can burn between 176 and 317 calories per hour by doing light to heavy cleaning? By comparison, if you are watching TV or sitting at the computer you will only burn around 70 calories per hour. (These calculations are for a person who weighs around 160 pounds).

v Join a fun class that meets several times a week at a convenient time and place. Group workouts are an effective way to stay motivated and have fun.

v Sign up for a 5K run or fun walk. By committing to an athletic event, you will have the pressure of getting and staying in shape. This is even more fun if you can find some friends to join you. Search on active.com for events in your area.

For recipes and health links, visit www.foodandhealth.com.

Fun Quiz:

1. To lose one pound, you have to create a deficit of how many calories?

a) 500

b) 2,500

c) 3,500

2. One way to eat fewer calories is to increase your consumption of:

a) cookies and candies

b) fruits and vegetables

c) fat and meat

3. Which one is higher in calories density: white flour or granulated sugar?

a) white flour

b) granulated sugar

c) they are about the same

4. Will you burn more calories by walking a mile or running a mile?

a) running a mile

b) walking a mile

c) they are about the same

Answers: 1. c - it is best to do this with about 500 calories per day through careful eating and exercise.

2. b

3. c - they are about the same although sugar is slightly higher

4. c

For further information contact: Linda Bowman, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, The University of Florida--Santa Rosa County Cooperative Extension Service--IFAS, at 850-623-3868, between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:30 pm weekdays. Hearing-impaired individuals may call Santa Rosa County Emergency Management Service at 983-5373 (TDD).

Extension Service programs are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap or national origin. The use of trade names in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information. It is not a guarantee, warranty, or endorsement of the product name(s) and does not signify that they are approved to the exclusion of others.