How Your Friends Make It Easy To Stick With Your Goals
Fruits & Vegetables, Wines & Beers
This is a diary of the healthy lifestyle goals that my son, Chris, and I are making together each month.
Since it takes 21-30 days to develop a new habit, making a new goal each month is an effective way to improve your health.
In December, my goal was to make half of each plate fruits and vegetables. Chris’ goal was to enjoy trying the wines and beers of his European tour. 😉
Chris’ Experience
I don’t even have to tell you that Chris had wonderful meals and drinks as he traveled through London, Barcelona and Paris. He was in the habit of choosing healthy foods after a year of diet and exercise goals as chronicled in this ongoing monthly blog journal. (See the amazing salad above.) He took a jump rope with him as a packable tool to keep up his exercise. Unfortunately, he also had a little more sugar and carbs and less green foods.
Despite the setbacks, a year of working on health goals with me and working out with a gym buddy made a real difference! Take a look at his first gym selfie, taken on the last day of the year:
When he posted this photo, he said:
I’ve never done the “gym selfie” thing before. But one of my biggest goals this last year was to live a healthier and more active life. I started running, improving my diet, and going to the gym regularly. This is just a start, and even though I’ve slipped up on my diet or exercise from time to time, I’m proud that being healthy is becoming more of a habit.
Chris and I want to continue to make new goals for better health. So for January 2017 he has decided to eat more lean protein: chicken, fish, steak, eggs, protein shakes, spinach and greens.
When I googled spinach in regards to protein, I found:
Looking at it from a calorie perspective, 100 calories of ground beef has 10 grams of protein while 100 calories of fresh baby spinach has 12 grams. Per calorie, spinach does have more protein than ground beef. Percentage-wise, spinach is 30% protein while ground beef is 40% protein (and 60% fat).
My Experience
As for me, I never did consciously fill half my plate with fruits and vegetables. That didn’t work for me. But after my goal of eating at least five fruits and veggies a day, and having a better idea of serving sizes, I just naturally end up with five or more fruits and vegetables a day now. I’ve gained a new awareness, and it has made a difference in how I choose foods.
Another good thing for my diet is Hello Fresh! I just started getting the weekly shipment of vegetarian ingredients with menus. It’s got me cooking again, but at least I don’t have to do the menu planning and the shopping. And it’s totally delicious every time! I figure they must have master chefs creating these dishes. They do give plenty of cooking tips. Here’s the quinoa meal I just made:
The holidays have been a problem for me this year and last, though, because I let my will power go out the window and had whatever I wanted. A couple glasses of wine and/or champagne, desserts and candies, chips and even (gasp!) cheese curls. I hope I remember next year to keep it somewhat under control! Yikes!
So my New Year’s resolution is to create a new exercise program for myself. I made exercise a daily habit over the past few years, but now I want to tweak it.
Instead of just aerobics, stretching and weights, I want to add yoga into my weekly exercise plan. Recently, when being measured at the doctor’s office, I discovered that I am not as tall as I used to be. The medical assistant said yoga can help with that. Chris also mentioned chiropractic and massages. I already get periodic massages, but I knew I needed to see my chiropractor after a few falls I took in the past year or two. So that’s another thing to put on my list of resolutions — see a chiropractor.
Over the summer, I always love to go swimming outdoors, so that’s a time of year when it’s easy for me to get my exercise.
In the spring and fall, when the weather is just right, I love to go hiking. I love to get under the trees and see the animals living on the land and water. It’s very meditative as well.
In the winter, I like to ski but seldom do because of the expense, the distance to go, and the lack of ski buddies. This winter, as in the past, I plan to go to the gym. Although I had a personal exercise program, I plan on seeing a personal trainer to get me started on something more targeted — as in, target my waist. Lol!
What are your diet and exercise goals? Have we inspired you? Do you have a buddy to share goals with? Please leave your comment below. Hope to hear from you. Thanks!
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