Simple Wellness Goals for 2006 -- Terra Wellington's Balanced Living

Ring in the New Year with goals that bring
you better health and well-being.
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Originally Published December 30, 2005 -- Your Wellness Guide

Simple Wellness Goals for 2006
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More tips on creating a wellness lifestyle for the New Year:
Get More Rest, Sleep Your Way to Health
Simple Living -- New Tools and Trends
Unpack Your Life, Enjoy Life's Simple Luxuries and Less Stress

Roughly 115 million Americans make vows to improve themselves each year. But only one-third keep the resolution alive. Experts tend to agree on one reason -- Americans tend to choose tough resolutions with no plan of how to carry them out. People want to improve their lives, and most want an overall healthier lifestyle but few know how to actually do it.

So, to help you live a more healthy 2006, here are some simple wellness goals for the New Year.

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT HAVING A HEALTHY HEART. And another way to do that is by reducing your cholesterol because nearly 38 million Americans have high cholesterol. And the National Cholesterol Education Panel found that nearly 75 percent of people do not understand the relationship between good and bad cholesterol.

So, to help you, you might check out a FREE website. It’s called GoalStandard.com. It has been put together by WomenHeart, the Association of Black Cardiologists and Astrazeneca. And it helps you know the importance of setting a cholesterol goal.

Another wellness goal is to ADD MORE FIBER INTO YOUR DIET because it helps you with a variety of health concerns, like keeping the digestive system running smoothly, managing diabetes and your weight, and reducing your risk of coronary heart disease by lowering cholesterol.

Now let me give you an interesting statistic. The average American consumes 10-15 grams of fiber per day, which would be like a serving of oatmeal, a banana, and a turkey sandwich on whole wheat. But, the National Fiber Council wants you to eat 32 grams, which would be like adding on more whole wheat bread, grapes, spinach, apples, broccoli, and corn.

Now if this seems like a lot, you’ll want to slowly change your eating habits and you can always supplement your diet with a natural psyllium-based fiber like Metamucil. The modern way to go with a fiber supplement is with a cookie-like wafer or a capsule and a glass of water.

And with weight loss is always a top resolution, a simple tip for the New Year is to, interestingly enough, EAT MORE SOUP. And that is because there are studies, including one from Pennsylvania State University, that say that soup is a weight loss tool. And this is because it is a low-calorie-dense food, which means soup gives you MORE food for LESS calories.

Now, one way to add a variety of soups into your daily diet is thru a FREE program called the Campbell's Soup for Life Plan. It’s flexible and has great-tasting menu options. So, it’s easy to stick with for the long-term.

And resolutions don't mean you have to say goodbye to your favorite foods. There are lots of great options for GETTING YOUR FAMILY TOGETHER MORE OFTEN FOR DINNER and eating right.

A great example is DiGiorno's new Harvest Wheat Crust Pizza. I’ve tried it and it tastes great. It has lean meats, vegetables, reduced-fat cheeses, and a whole grain crust. And it has 25 percent less fat than regular frozen pizza.

As you move into the New Year, whatever your goals, make them simple. A little success each month will bolster your appetite for completing your goals throughout the entire year.

Terra Wellington is a national authority on creating a wellness lifestyle.
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