52 Healthy Habits

1. Think 9 per day - 5 servings of vegetables and 4 servings of fruit
2. Think is 3s - 3 servings of fruit/veggies breakfast, lunch, dinner
3. Make snacks count - add one fruit/veggies to each meal and one to each snack mid-morning, mid-day, mid eve.
4. Take Juice Plus+
5. Measure your food into serving sizes before putting on your plate.
6. Read food labels - check for serving size
7. Avoid cereal for kids - more sugar, less fiber and more salt than adult cereal
8. Look for cereal more than 3 gms of fiber, less than 6 grams of sugar, less than 120 mg of salt
9. Read food labels - check for salt - current recommendation 2 grams
10. Avoid Trans Fats (hydrogenated oils) - recommendation "0"
11. Be skeptical of "Qualified Health Claims" - not based in scientific research
12. Eat more omega 3 fats
13. Eat less foods with cholesterol - all foods made from animals and Hawaiian oils
14. Read food labels - look for hidden sugars - current recommendation 125gms/day
15. Sweeten with honey, maple syrup, molasses, agave nectar, stevia
16. Avoid foods sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup
17. Avoid sulfates - used as a preservative
18. Food label - the shorter the ingredient list the healthier the food
19. The easier the food is to prepare the less healthy it is ie. freezer ect.
20. Be weary of "Smart Choices" program used on front of packaging - science is not objective.
21. Take Vitamin D3 - buy organic
22. Avoid poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) in your food - health risk: cancer
23. Reduce your food intake by 100 calories per day and lose 1 lb. per month (3500 cal = 1 lb of body weight)
24. Drink enough water cal body weight divided in 1/2 = ounces.
    
25. When exercising drink 2 cup of water for every 20 minutes of exercise
26. Eat one vegetarian meal per week
27. Eat at home
28. Limit eating at restaurants to 2 times per week or less.
29. Have ready to eat healthy snacks in and out of the refrigerator
30. Travel with healthy snacks and water in your car - just in case
31. Schedule meeting over a beverage - not food
32. Take omega 3 supplement - organic and mercury free
33. Investigate supplements before you take them www.consumerlab.com
34. Add soy it is heart healthy and cancer protective
35. If you drink bottled water, buy a water filter
36. Avoid MSG
37. If you use artificial sweeteners ...stop.
38. Reduce beef, milk, cheese in your diet ... health risk: linked to cancer
39. Reduce sugar ... health risk: linked to cancer

Healthy Habit # 8 Junk In - Junk Out

Junk in? Eating "junk foods" has a predictable bad effect on your health.

Junk out! You may experience mood swings, low energy, decreased enthusiasm, weight gain and constipation problems. A diet largely of junk food increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

What is a Junk Food?

Any food that has poor nutritional value is considered unhealthy and may be called a junk food. A food that is high in fat, sodium, and/or sugar is known as a junk food. Junk food is easy to carry, purchase and consume. Generally, a junk food is given a very attractive appearance by adding food additives and colors to enhance flavor, texture, appearance, and increasing long self life.

Remember, junk foods are empty calories. An empty calorie lacks in micro-nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, or amino acids, and fiber but has high energy (calories). This energy fuels your body and is utilized to maintain health.

Healthy Habit # 7 Don't Drink Diet Drinks

It’s not the soda that's bad for you so much as the negative effects of the artificial sweeteners it contains.

For starters, because of your body chemistry, drinking the artificial sweeteners may actually cause you to gain weight – perhaps even more so than having regular old sugar.

In addition to its potential to actually bring about weight gain, studies have linked artificial sweeteners to other ill health effects. Aspartme, which Nutrasweet and Equal are made of, for example, contains toxic methanol. The sweetener was also once listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent, and has been linked to leukemia and lymphoma.

The sugar in soda is high fructose corn syrup which is 100 times sweeter than regular old sugar (sucrose). So your body uses 100 times the insulin. Some experts think soda is the #1 cause of the epidemic of diabetes.

Source Link: http://www.sustainlane.com/reviews/q-is-diet-soda-bad-for-you/ICZCTZCODAWQ9HTVA4KX93FCRTOI

Healthy Habit # 6 Prevent Diabetes? Stop Sipping Soda

Researchers link soft drinks, sugar drinks to diabetes

Drinking a sugar drink a day led to weight gain in medical school study of 90,000 women

1. One or more sugary drinks a day had an 83 percent greater chance of developing
type 2 diabetes.

2. Weight gain was highest among women who increased their soda consumption from one or fewer drinks a week to one or more a day.

3. An average 12-ounce can of soda contains 150 calories from 10 teaspoons of sugar.

You wouldn't eat candy all day, why would you drink soft drinks, energy drinks, gourmet coffee's or juice?

Study: Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School conducted the study, which is based on the decadelong Nurses Health Study II.

Read more: San Francisco Chronicle August 26, 2004
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/08/26/MNG088EJSU1.DTL#ixzz0Od1ivYQe

Healthy Habit # 5 Depressed? Avoid fat, sugar, caffeine, processed foods.

Depression is sometimes related to the foods we eat.

Have you ever noticed after eating turkey (triptophan) you feel sleepy or when eating potatoes (serotonin) you feel better? Everything you eat is either good for your or bad for you. There is no middle of the road when it comes maintaining a healthy body.

So the next time you are feeling depressed you might want to consider avoiding these foods:

1. high fat
2. sugar
3. caffeine
4. processed foods
   

Get Started on the Road to Better Health Today with Health Habits

52 HEALTHY HABITS
one for each week of the year
yours FREE!
As your guide to assist you to create the life you desire and deserve.

When you are ready to receive your healthy habit ... request your FREE HABIT to be sent by email or text messaging directly to your phone by contacting CindyCohenRN@yahoo.com

Healthy Habit # 4 Add Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet

The American Heart Association (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.

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.

Source: www.webmd.com

Health Habit #3 Variety is the Key

Eat one new fruit, veggie or whole grain per week. The key is variety. You will be adding 52 new foods per year!

You may be eating plenty of food, but your body may not be getting the nutrients it needs to be healthy. Nutrient-rich foods have vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients but are lower in calories. To get the nutrients you need, choose foods like vegetables, fruits, whole-grain products and fat-free or low-fat dairy products most often.

1. Vegetables and fruits are high in vitamins, minerals and fiber — and they’re low in calories. Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables may help you control your weight and your blood pressure.

2. Unrefined whole-grain foods contain fiber that can help lower your blood cholesterol and help you feel full, which may help you manage your weight. - www.americanheart.org

Healthy Habit # 2 Sleep...Get Plenty of It More Than 7 Hours

1. The ability to think, remember, concentrate, and problem solve deteriorates as we become sleep deprived. Dr. James Walsh, M.D, Director of St. Johns Mercy Sleep Medicine at Research Center in St. Louis

2. Research shows chronic loss of sleep increases anxiety, depression, blood sugar (diabetes risk), cardiovascular disease (stroke and heart attacks), appetite (obesity). Texas Tech University Reasearchers

Sleep Tips:
1. Establish a regular bedtime, set a routine and follow it.
2. Make your bedroom quiet, dark and comfortable. No TV, radio or other distractions.
3. Limit caffeine, alcohol and nicotine especially around bedtime.
4. Exercise regularly - but not close to bedtime.

Source: "Medzines Healthy Living" Sept. 2009.

Healthy Habit #1 Start the Day With Breakfast

1. Eating breakfast keeps you thin. (National Weight Control Registry)

2. Children who eat breakfast perform better on standardized achievement tests and have fewer behavior problems in school. (Pediatrics, January, 1998; Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, February, 1998)

3. Breakfast has an advantageous effect on late-morning mood, satiety and cognitive performance. (University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical School)

4. Breakfast is delicious.

Resource: http://www.mrbreakfast.com/

The Road to Better Health is Paved with Healthy Habits

Once I ran a 1/2 marathon.
How did I get started?
With the desire then one step at a time, baby steps.
How can you? The same way.

Running a marathon begins with the thought "Yes, a marathon sounds like fun! I have the time for training, I want to and I can do it once I learn how." Next by talking with someone with experience, knowledge ( gathering the information needed), creating a plan, developing habits then becoming committed ... now you are on your way to reaching your goal. After weeks, months or perhaps years you are ready for the race enjoying all the benefits and rewards that accompany accomplishing your goal.

Was it hard? Yes. Was it challenging? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes.

How did it happen? You want it to happen for you?

At first you will develop a plan to walk a specific amount of time and/or distance. When walking becomes easy you will add a walk - run routine, next run, increasing distance and duration as you continue to train. Developing habits to improve eating foods (improving performance) , sleep (rest/relaxation/recovery), your thinking (stress, motivation) all are part of the training. Over time you will develop the habits to complete the marathon. You will feel great, like a winner.

Your life is much the same. A marathon of sorts. A life marathon. The question is what experience would you like to have on your life marathon? What is your goal for quantity (how long), quality (how healthy), and longevity (how you age)? Unlike a marathon you run, your life marathon is not optional. You are traveling along this road, there is no turning back, you can not change the past. However there are many paths you can take which stand before you. Each path is created by a group of habits. Habits that promote sickness or health, longevity or aging.

Healthy habits help you to feel better, look better, be well. Unhealthy habits, interrupt your sleep, thinking and leave you sluggish, low energy, sick and tired. There is no middle ground with your lifestyle habits. The choices you make are good for you or bad for you. Your habits will determine how your feel, look, live and even die.

As with any goal it begins with the first step.
One foot in front of the other.
Small at first.
Each building on the other.
Moving forward to reach your goal.

52 HEALTHY HABITS
one for each week of the year.
As your guide to assist you to create the life you desire and deserve.

When you are ready to receive your healthy habit ... request your habit to be sent by email or text messaging directly to your phone by contacting CindyCohenRN@yahoo.com

Your health is your true wealth,

Your partner,

Cindy Cohen RN
Health Coach