3 easy ways for a fresh start this year

It’s a new year, and once again those resolutions come to mind. Despite your best intentions, do you find it difficult to make them stick?

Here are three easy ways to get a fresh start this year!

Get a workout the fun way:
The usual suspect in many New Year resolutions - getting fit and working out! “Working out” invokes a feeling of intense determination and hours sweating at the gym, patiently awaiting the end of your scheduled program. If the thought of watching time tick away at a gym makes you groan, why not try more fun ways to work up a sweat and lose those calories without feeling like you’re working out?
- Dancing! It’s true…ballroom dancing is not just for celebrities. Learn the spirited salsa or tango your way to that tight body. Dancing teaches balance, relieves stress, improves flexibility and tones muscles. A recent study in the New England Journal of medicine indicated that dancing could even boost memory and prevent dementia. Dancing modulates breathing and improves heart health. So waltz those calories away.
- Start a fun sport with a friend – How about a game of tennis or squash after work? A Forbes magazine survey rated squash as the healthiest sport in the world with extensive cardio respiratory workout, increase in flexibility, muscle strength and endurance. Try golf to enjoy the serenity of the outdoors while working out. Did you know what walking 18-holes of a golf course is the same as a 3.5 mile run?
Try new, exciting activities and feel those calories slip away to a healthier you.
Make your snacks both delicious and nutritive:
Quick and easy to blend, smoothies make healthy meal substitutes. With many delicious recipes that are sure to tantalize your taste-buds, feed your body all the nutrients it needs without nasty ingredients that expand your waist line.
- Fresh vitamins – Swap those OTC vitamin pills for fresh vitamins in fruit and vegetables for healthier skin and hair. With so many fruits, veggies, superfoods, herbs and spices to choose from, you can customize your daily dose of vitamins by choosing different ingredients every day!
- Detox – Feeling that you overindulged this holiday season? What better way to detox and purify your digestive tract than making a cleansing smoothie to rid your body of foul toxins.
- Improve athletic performance – your body can process a smoothie faster than a full meal to recover and rebuild muscle after a workout.
- Smoothies even help reduce cravings so you snack less.
Make smoothies and drink your way to great health.
Make time for wellness:

And finally, take a moment to breathe and focus on you. Stress maybe unavoidable in your hectic world. Stress releases hormones that trigger your appetite, weight gain, diabetes or heart disease. Find ways to manage stress.
- Yoga or meditation: Aside from body tone, flexibility and stamina, yoga does wonders for the mind and spirit. Yoga grows inner strength and brings soulful harmony. Working through difficult postures, helps you breathe your way through tough times. Yoga helps you live in the moment, bring back a wondrous joy while managing stress. Deal with your fatigue, bring peace to your anxious mind and restore balance to mind and body by trying out some yoga.
- Alone time: No matter what is happening around you, make time for yourself. Let your kids fend for themselves for one evening and take the time to read a book, watch a movie or just soak in your tub.
Whatever you choose to do, take time to make wellness a priority and your body will thank you.