8 Ways I Plan on Staying Healthy and Fit in 2014

Happy New Year to everyone! This has been a year of change for me. I moved into a new apartment after over 20 years in the same place(yes, scary!).  Then last summer, I moved my office from CPS to the upper east side on 72^nd Street (and love it). In addition to these major changes, I’ve been working much longer hours. The result?  Several of  my previous healthy habits have taken a back seat to my increasingly hectic life. I’m finding it more difficult to always practice what I preach!

As many of you can attest to, eating healthy and staying fit can seem daunting when you are working crazy hours and feeling stressed. It’s even more difficult when you don’t always get adequate  sleep.  So rather than set ONE New Year’s Resolution, I decided to pick 8 areas that I want to work on. I bet many of you have the same problem areas I do!  Each week for the next 2 months, I’ll focus on one area and give tips and tricks on how to you (and me!) problem solve and get back on track with healthy habits.

Here are the 8 areas I want to work on:

1. Get more sleep. I’ve had a personal battle with sleep issues and even work with a “sleep doctor”. Somehow every night at 11 pm I get a huge burst of energy. Not a good thing.  In addition to making me feel sluggish physically and mentally, inadequate sleep has been linked to obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

2. Eat more vegetables. Sounds “boring” but I have a hard time with this one.  I know the importance of eating them and actually love vegetables, but often don’t take the time to go to the store. Too many late night dinners are just eggs without any vegetables.

3. Cook at home more. My name is Martha … but I’m not Martha Stewart. Enough said on that one. I’m always on the lookout for quick cooking meals to avoid “dialing for dinner”.

4. More movement during the day. Now that my office is much closer to my home, I miss out on almost of 3 miles of walking several times a week. Working long hours means more time sitting. Spending too much time in the chair is linked to numerous diseases … and possibly a flatter butt!

5. Increase intake of anti-inflammatory foods. Many diseases are linked to inflammation. As we age, it becomes increasing important that we consume more anti-inflammatory foods.

6. Booze control. While I drink a lot less than I did when I was younger, I find even a glass of wine or two can make me feel poorly the next day … let alone what it does to my sleep, sugar cravings and appetite in general.

7. Weight train and/or find new fun workouts. While I do weight train on a fairly regular basis, I find I tend to neglect this area when my schedule gets really busy. I’m always on the lookout for new workouts. I’ll be sharing what I find.

8. Plan healthy afternoon snack. This is one of the goals I set with almost all of my clients … yet it’s one I frequently neglect. I go on chocolate seeking missions too many afternoons due to my poor snack planning skills.

Stay tuned for my weekly blog posts for the next 8 weeks. I’ll break each problem area down and give tips on how to solve them.

I’d love to hear about some of your problem areas and how you plan on addressing them. I’ll give you some advice if needed!