Happy New Year 2012!

The New Year is usually synonymous with resolutions…and the resolutions are often linked to health…eating a more healthy diet, exercising more often, losing weight, etc. This may have something to do with the guilt following the hedonistic excesses of the Christmas period! Ask any gym manager, January and February are probably their busiest months of the year. People abounding with good intentions flock into gyms and ardently throw themselves into strenuous exercise routines…only to run out of steam 4 to 6 weeks later upon which they mysteriously disappear…never to be seen again…until the following year of course!

So if you happen to have set yourself some goals this year make sure they’re SMART.

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Rewarding

Timed

Specific

If you don’t know where you want to go, you’re unlikely to ever get there.

Clearly define what you want to achieve

Eg. “I want to run 30 mins twice a week”.

Measurable

If you can’t measure it, how will you know how close you are to it or even if you’ve reached it?

Use an objective unit of measurement

Eg. “I can time how long I have run”.

Achievable

Setting unattainable goals will decrease your confidence and motivation and setting goals that are too easy will not give any sense of accomplishment.

Set challenging but realistic goals

Eg. “I know I can run 30 mins twice a week if I work hard at it”.

Rewarding

Letting others set your goals or setting yourself uninteresting goals will sap your motivation and enthusiasm.

Set goals that will enhance your life and about which you are passionate

Eg. “Running 30 mins twice a week will help me lose weight and decrease stress”.

Timed

Not setting a deadline is the best way to fall prey to procrastination.

Set a definite starting and ending point

Eg. “I will start today and aim to reach my goal in 3 months time”.

Sometimes, your desires can only be accomplished after a long time. These long-term goals are best broken down into medium and short-term goals. You’ll experience a frequent sense of achievement as you reach your short-term targets and this will be instrumental in elevating your self-confidence and bolstering your motivation. Keep in mind that life is about the journey not just the destination and that health is not a transient goal but a way of life. Good luck!

May 2012 bring you health, vitality and happiness!

Acupuncture Helps Reduce Stress

An article in today’s Mail Online reviews research carried out on the effects of acupuncture on stressed rats. The results show that acupuncture can reduce the levels of a protein linked to stress. Apparently this is the first study to show molecular proof of the benefit of acupuncture on stress.

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”

Jim Rohn

Half Full Or Half Empty?

Have you ever had a spell where nothing is going the way you want it to…in fact everything seems to be going wrong in the worst possible way? Of course you have, we all get those spells…but did you know that the way we think influences the extent to which we’re affected by those periods of bad fortune. More specifically it’s our thinking in relation to the 3 Ps…personal, pervasive and permanent that make the real difference. Pessimists will tend to view problems as being personal (“It’s my fault”), pervasive (“I can’t do anything correctly”) and permanent (“It will never change”) whereas optimists view problems as situational, specific and transient. Martin Seligman’s work demonstrated that a pessimistic explanatory style can cause learned helplessness (inaction and passivity) and depression. Further research has shown that it can also lead to a weakened immune system and an increased vulnerability to minor ailments and major illnesses.

Probability ensures that life brings us a bit of everything: the good, the bad and the in between. Our challenge during the bad times is to keep our resolve and focus, and perhaps even learn from the experience. Our task during the good times is to take full advantage of the opportunities, celebrate and really relish the moment.

So if you happen to be going through a rough patch…it’s not your fault, it happens to us all…notice how it doesn’t affect every aspect of you life…and rejoice in the knowledge that good times are just around the corner!

“The ingredients of health and long life,

are great temperance,

open air,

easy labour,

and little care”.

Sir Philip Sidney

Exercise Improves Brain Function

Researchers Art Kramer and Laura Chaddock, from the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois, have found that children that are aerobically fitter perform better at memory tests than their less fit peers. The improvement in brain function is linked to an increased hippocampal volume. The hippocampus is a structure deep within the brain that is involved with learning and memory. This would suggest that exercise plays a crucial role in the brain development of children.

As we age, there is a natural decline in our mental function. However, studies have shown that this process can be slowed or even reversed! Dr Kirk Erickson conducted a 9 year follow-up study that demonstrated that increased exercise, in the form of walking, was associated with greater grey matter volume and less cognitive impairment. This can have dramatic effects on our ability to lead normal independent lives well into our old age.

The reason for the beneficial influence of exercise on brain growth and function may be due to a protein called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). It supports the survival of existing nerve cells and promotes the growth of new ones and increases the levels of circulating BDNF.

These findings support the promotion of life-long exercise. I guess this sheds new light on the old Roman adage: “a healthy mind in a healthy body”!

Exercise Encourages Healthy Eating

Researchers have recently postulated that exercise may help encourage healthy eating! How? By changing the structure and function of the brain! The result of which is an enhanced inhibitory control. What this means in layman’s terms is that we no longer have to succumb to the temptation or lack of restraint that causes our over indulgence in food.

So, in addition to increasing our metabolism and burning more calories, exercise also improves our diet. What are you waiting for?

Feeling Sad?

Have you been experiencing any of the following symptoms:

• Feeling down or depressed
• Less interested in doing things or procrastinating
• Loss of libido
• Over eating
• Waking up in the night
• Waking up too early
• More tired than usual, heavy limbs, aching muscles or headaches
• Stomach problems, sweating, cramps, having to urinate frequently, dry mouth, sighing, heart palpitations, hyperventilating
• Feeling tense, irritable, worrying too much about little things
• Slow thoughts or speech
• Fidgety, restless, difficulty concentrating
• Paranoid and suspicious

If you have, you’re not alone. About 25% of the population is affected each year, particularly during the months of December, January and February. For 7% of people the symptoms can actually become debilitating. It’s like a form of winter depression called SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). A reduction in daylight hours and a lack of sunlight disrupt our body clocks and may lead to an imbalance in the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin.

Winter is characterised by a relative scarcity of food and some animals take the opportunity to hibernate. Their metabolism decreases in order to conserve energy. Although we’ve never hibernated, before the advent of electricity and in particular the light bulb in the 1800s, our activity and sleep was dictated by sunlight. As the number of sunlight hours decreased during the winter months, so did our activity. Our body clocks followed a marked seasonal rhythm.

The artificial light produced by electricity has allowed us to become more productive by helping us keep the same working hours throughout the year. Even though artificial lighting is strong enough to allow us to work and live, it’s much weaker than natural sunlight. As a result, it lacks the strength to regulate our body clocks in the same way that natural sunlight does. We’re now forcing our bodies to awaken when they would naturally be asleep. This burden hasn’t been tolerated well.

Read my next post for some useful tips to help you beat the winter blues.

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

Siddhartha Guatama Buddha

“The first wealth is health”

Ralph Waldo Emerson