New Year, New Your part 5

Top 10 Healthy Resolutions
5. Get a good night's sleep.

Restful sleep is essential for a fully functioning mind and body. Recent studies have also shown that cutting back on sleep reduces the benefits of dieting and specifically, their fat loss. When dieters get a full night's sleep, they lose the same amount of weight as when they slept less. However, when dieters get adequate sleep, more than half of the weight they lose is fat.

People that do not get enough sleep also feel hungrier. When sleep is restricted, dieters produce higher levels of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger and reduces energy expenditure.

New year, New You, part 4

Top 10 Healthy Resolutions
#4 Limit your intake of sugar.

Focus on homemade "from scratch" meals and avoid most processed foods as sugar is often hidden in the ingredients. In addition to the obvious sources like cane sugar, beet sugar, corn syrup, honey, maple syrup and agave, be aware of other glucose spiking ingredients like dates, raisins and most dried fruits. You can substitute for natural low glycemic sweeteners like stevia, xylitol and erythritol.

Favorite lower glycemic fruits include: grapefruit, cherries, apples, pears and plums.

New year, New You, part 3

Top Ten Healthy Resolutions
#3 Exercise regularly. Move more, sit less.

They say it takes about 3 weeks for new habits to form, how are you doing with this one? We are so lucky on Maui to be able to be outside comfortably 95% of the time.
Here on the North Shore of Maui, we are lucky to have so many options: Yoga, surfing, walking on the beach, stand up paddle boarding, swimming, hike in the jungle, skating around the park, dance classes, and a awesome gym, Upcountry Fitness.
You can get exercise during your regular daily activities by walking at lunch, taking the stairs instead of the elevator and parking far away from your destination.

New year, New You, part 2

Top 10 Health resolution #2
Moderating your caffeine intake

Although there are benefits to drinking coffee and tea, it is wise to limit your caffeine intake, because too much of a good thing is bad. Caffeine can raise your blood pressure, contribute to panic attacks, dehydration, PMS and emotional fatigue.

The estimated amount of water you require is half of your body weight in ounces. So, if you weigh 140 pounds, you should aim for 70 ounces of water per day. Having plain or lemon/lime water, unsweetened juice, skim milk, or herbal tea, such as chamomile, peppermint, and fruit tea will help your hydration.

New year, New You

About this time every year, the fire that we had at the beginning of the month to implement healthy habits and changes can wane. So here is a reminder, in the form of a top ten Healthy Resolutions list.

1. Eat at least the minimum recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables. This is easy, fun and affordable at Mana Foods. A half cup of cooked vegetables, one cup of raw, leafy vegetables, or one small whole fruit counts as one serving.
Some of my favorite ways to introduce more fruits & vegetables into my diet include: snacking on Baby Carrots and ranch dressing, chopped up apple in oatmeal, extra celery & red onion in my tuna salad, apple & peanut butter as a snack, having one vegetarian meal a day (like a curry, stir fry or spinach quiche) and kale chips.