We got great advice to help you with your resolutions

By Tim Goodwin - Jan 3, 2017 | 0 comments

Adding fruits and veggies to your diet is a good way to better your eating habits.

You don’t have to go out and run a 5K in your first week or exercising, but setting a goal to run one is a good long-term goal to set.

Right about now, you’re either going full throttle with your new year’s resolution or still trying to figure out the best way to go about it. You could also be dragging your feet at the idea of making a drastic change, but that’s never a good thing this early in the process.

It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing, life altering moment. A new year’s resolution is supposed to just represent a new beginning – no matter how big or small you want to make it. But since it is officially 2017 and you were supposed to get going on this thing a few days ago, we figured some of you might need a little push in the right direction.

That’s why we decided to check in with some local folks to see what kinds of tips and advice they might have. Every new year’s resolution is unique, so we can only imagine what kinds of promises were made at last Saturday’s ball drop, but there’s only so much time in the day so we decided to center our focus around the big ones: eat better, start exercising, quit a bad habit or help those in need.

Exercise

Thanks to cellphones, Amazon Prime and gas station hot dogs, people expect instant gratification these days. But we’re here to tell you that it won’t happen when it comes to dropping a few pounds and turning your body into a sculpted piece of human art.

It can and will happen if you put in the work, but it’s going to take time and determination – two things we’re confident you can bring to the table.

And it all starts with the goal setting side of things, according to Jeremy Woodward, owner of Jeremy’s Bootcamp on Manchester Street, who also happens to compete marathons and triathlons.

Sure, it’s great to set a big goal of losing a bunch of weight – that is unless you want to do it in a week.

“A lot of times, people make unrealistic goals,” Woodward said. “Still set the big goal you want, but set realistic expectations on a smaller scale along the way.”

In terms of exercise, start off slow. Go for a walk, spend 10 to 15 minutes on the treadmill or set up a personal training session.

“It will give you a good starting point,” Woodward said.

You can also get a friend to make the commitment with you.

“If you know you’ve got someone waiting for you that’s a huge motivating factor for a lot of people,” Woodward said.

You don’t want to go run 10 miles and follow it up by lifting weights for an hour. You’ll be so sore the next few days that you won’t go back.

“A lot of it is how you feel, how your body is responding,” Woodward said. “If you do it too fast, you’ll burn out.”

To start, exercise for a shorter amount of time three or four days a week. From there, slowly increase the time and number of days. Then just watch the results pile up.

Nutrition

We’ve all been known to eat couple cookies or a candy bar, munch on a bag of chips or grab an extra value meal at lunch.

But as you know, those choices aren’t exactly the best when it comes to the old waist line and overall health of our bodies.

Michelle Smith, a nutrition counselor and wellness educator at the Concord Hospital Center for Health Promotion, believes the best way to start is by identifying barriers when it comes to eating habits.

Do you eat too fast? Do you snack late at night? Do you have a sweet tooth?

From there, make a list of how you want to change your diet or the way you eat and start by tackling one at a time.

One thing you might want to do is start eating less processed foods.

“If you eat foods as close to the earth as possible you’re better off,” Smith said.

You can also find better substitutes, like trading in that Milky Way for some fruit or a smoothie. Cutting back on sodium is also a great way to lose a few pounds.

“You don’t want to just focus on weight loss, but also feeling better,” Smith said.

Volunteering

Maybe, just maybe, you’re already in great shape and eat all your fruits and veggies. But one thing you’d like to do more of this year is help others.

Well, if you happened to catch our annual guide to gifts and giving, a collaboration with the Granite United Way, you know there’s lots of organizations out there that need help. And while a lot of people volunteer during the holiday season, which is great, there is also a need the other 11 months out of the year.

So we checked in with Val Guy, area director for the Granite United Way, to see what she suggests for people looking to get involved.

Guy said the first thing to think about is how much time can you give and what volunteering you’re interested in. You could help by using your skills as an accountant or carpenter.

There’s a great website, volunteernh.org, where agencies post about volunteer opportunities and you can search based on location as well as type or agency. Or just reach out to a specific organization you’re passionate about to see what they need help with. Odds are they won’t turn you down.

You can also contact Guy at Val.Guy@graniteuw.org and she’ll help you.

Quitting

There are many bad habits out there. Biting your fingernails, picking your nose or drinking caffeine. But the one most synonymous one with new year’s resolutions is quitting smoking.

And the people over at the N.H. Division of Public Health Services are there to help.

“Seventy-five percent of people who smoke want to quit,” said Teresa Brown, program specialist IV with the Division of Public Health Services.

While it would be great to quit cold turkey, it’s not easy and the state recommends you actually do it with the help of medication and support.

And before you worry about how you’ll pay for it all, it’s actually offered free of charge. All you have to do is visit quitnownh.org or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW to get the ball rolling.

“There’s no perfect time to quit smoking,” Brown said. “So you just really need to set a quit date and stick to that date.”

You’ll get hooked up with a quit coach and provided with some combination of gum, lozenges or the patch.

“The more support you have, the more success you’ll have,” Brown said.

But some helpful tips we got from Brown included changing your routine that you associate with smoking, staying away from alcohol and finding something that will help substitute for the act of smoking.

Well, we sure hope this helps. It’s not easy making a change in your life, so take it slow and do what feels right. And hopefully, your resolution will make it past Feb. 1 this year.