The New Year means new resolutions and for many Americans those resolutions include efforts to get healthy, lose weight, and hit the gym. According to a study by The University of Scranton, almost half of all New Year's resolutions will be broken by the end of January. Why is it that we can't make the changes we hope to?
For many people looking to get healthy in 2010, it's not a lack of motivation that deters success - but a lack of time.
"One of the most difficult tasks for most people to master is time management," says Dr. Caroline Cederquist, bariatric physician and creator of diet delivery company Bistro MD. "There are those rare few characters that have both a talent for prioritizing and an ability to realistically estimate how much time it takes to do things."
For many of us, Dr. Cederquist explains, resolving to lose weight requires a time commitment we don't take into account. Exercise and proper eating habits are forgotten when our lives become a scramble from one task to another, and our weight and health slip out of control.
Dr. Cederquist advises making small changes in your daily routine to better manage your time. "Get on your feet during commercial breaks and by the end of your favorite show, you will have squeezed in 20-25 minutes of exercise."
Sometimes, however, bigger life changes must be made to reach a healthy, stable weight.
Dr. Cederquist states, "In finding that so many of patients just didn't have time to cook and eat healthy, I set out to create a convenient diet delivery program. The result is Bistro MD. Chef-prepared, nutritious meals are now offered nationwide for those dieters that want the ease of a delivery plan to reach their weight loss goals."
Kathy Fairbanks, a Bistro MD customer who lost a total of 115 pounds on the program, points out that diet delivery affords additional time for fitness. "The food was great, the preparation was easy. I saved so much time with grocery shopping and cooking that I had time to start an exercise program."
In 13 months, Fairbanks went from 49.7% to 15.1% body fat, prompting her pulmonary specialist, whom she no longer sees, to call her the "incredible shrinking woman."
"We're so proud of Kathy and how she has taken charge of her health and changed her life," Dr. Cederquist says. "She is just one great example of how diet delivery is finally giving dieters a real chance at reaching weight loss goals."
"The minutes seem to drain away when you're not mindful of how you spend them, and you can end up feeling like there's just no time to eat well, exercise, or even enjoy healthy ways to relax," Dr. Cederquist explains.
"But the reverse is also true. If you are attentive to the ways your minutes get away from you, you can devise techniques for recapturing that time, and devoting it to the healthier habits you value."
Extra hour of weekly exercise reduces risk of atrial fibrillation