Letting Go of Fear & Anxiety

 Our goal is to evaluate and embrace what is possible! How can you learn the skills you will need on often a daily basis to enhance your life? How do you make them second nature, replace bad habits with good? We want to create an emotional toolkit you can use immediately to enhance your well-being.

Setting goals should be about replacing bad habits with good ones. Don’t get discouraged if you fall off the wagon, instead, learn how to anticipate falling short and make a proactive plan to get back in the saddle. Remember, every step forward is a step of progress. Rejoice in it!

Are you familiar with making SMART goals? That’s an acronym coined in the journal Management Review in 1981 for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. It may work for management, but it can also work in helping you successfully meet your goals.

SPECIFIC:

Your resolution should be absolutely clear. “Making a concrete goal is really important rather than just vaguely saying ‘I want to lose weight.’ You want to have a goal: How much weight do you want to lose and at what time interval?” “Five pounds in the next two months — that’s going to be more effective.”

MEASURABLE:

This may seem obvious if your goal is a fitness or weight loss related one, but it’s also important if you’re trying to cut back on something, too. If, for example, you want to stop biting your nails, take pictures of your nails over time so you can track your progress in how those nails grow back out, Logging progress into a journal or making notes on your phone or in an app designed to help you track behaviors can reinforce the progress, no matter what your resolution may be.

ACHIEVABLE:

This doesn’t mean that you can’t have big stretch goals. But trying to take too big a step too fast can leave you frustrated or affect other areas of your life to the point that your resolution takes over your life So, for example, resolving to save enough money to retire in five years when you’re 30 years old is probably not realistic, but saving an extra $100 a month maybe. (And if that’s easy, you can slide that number up to an extra $200, $300 or $400 a month).

RELEVANT:

Is this a goal that really matters to you, and are you making it for the right reasons? “If you do it out of the sense of self-hate or remorse or a strong passion at that moment, it doesn’t usually last long,” “But if you build up a process where you’re thinking harder about what’s good for you, you’re changing the structure of your life, you’re bringing people into your life who will reinforce that resolution, then I think you have a fighting chance.”

TIME-BOUND:

Like “achievable,” the timeline toward reaching your goal should be realistic, too. That means giving yourself enough time to do it with lots of smaller intermediate goals set up along the way. “Focus on these small wins so you can make gradual progress,” “If you’re building a habit, you’re planning for the next decade, not the next couple of months.”

How to Stay Motivated

Goals fail because they’re not the right for YOU. For every goal, ask yourself:

- Is this a goal created based on what someone else (or society) is telling you to change?

- Is the goal too vague?

- What is your realistic plan for achieving your resolution?

- How will you handle setbacks?

We all know it can be hard to stay motivated when we fall short of our goals. Thankfully, studies show having a sense of purpose will keep you motivated as a sense of direction in life gives you meaning.

Unfortunately, stress can rob you of this sense. In terms of achieving your goals, stress causes you to regress. In fact, if you do not address stress right away, you cannot make the changes you want to make in your life and you will not feel your sense of purpose.

The changes you want to make will be more successful if you have a deeper sense of purpose. But first, you may need to tackle stress and your energy level. Let’s get you in the best shape possible to tackle your larger goals.

A very interesting study of successful women indicated they had failed more than they had succeeded in life. The point was that they tried AND had a plan for addressing failure.

For those who put happiness on an unattainable pedestal, it might be time to get back to the present.

Your emotions have a purpose, pay attention to them and learn what they are telling you about yourself. Granted, you cannot always change the things that happen in your life, but you can manage the way you respond emotionally.

Here are some tips of remaining resilient and determined:

CULTIVATE OPTIMISM:

Look at setbacks as being temporary. Not ‘she will never call me again, but she did not call me today’. Engage in affective forecasting, like imagine your feelings in the future.

SHIFT YOUR FOCUS FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE:

Step back and get the big picture. Looking at the negative is a functional survival skill. You can train your brain to look for the positive. Gratitude journals are a purposeful activity to teach you to actively look at the positive in your life. Write about things that went well for you (even the smallest things) for 21 days straight and you’ll begin to notice the good.

EXPRESS DIFFICULT EMOTIONS:

Don’t push them down. There was a study done at the University of Texas, took groups of college students and asked them to write about the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to them for 15 minutes, four days in a row. They were traumatized immediately after writing but felt better 60 to 90 minutes later.

When you journal, ask yourself what you learned from the trauma? Do you have a better sense of self? Are you stronger than you thought you were? Have you decided to make a change in your life?

CONNECT WITH SOCIAL SUPPORT:

Research shows that if you have just one person you can connect with, you are ten times more likely to be healthy as being isolated without connections has been shown to be the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. When we connect with others, the calming parasympathetic part of our nervous system is stimulated which lowers the level of cortisol, our stress hormone. Pets count!

BE PRESENT:

Do not overthink the past and present to the extent that we cannot live in the future.

If you are not in good shape mentally and physically, larger goals will be more difficult (if not impossible) to address. Put your mind and your body in the best condition to challenge your goals.

CONTROL STRESS:

Stress-induced emotions consume huge amounts of energy. Talking with a friend or relative, joining a support group, or seeing a psychotherapist can all help diffuse stress. Relaxation therapies like meditation, self-hypnosis, yoga, and tai chi are also effective tools for reducing stress.

LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD:

One of the main reasons for fatigue is overwork including professional, family, and social obligations. Try to streamline your list of "must-do" activities.

EXERCISE:

Exercise almost guarantees that you'll sleep more soundly. It also gives your cells more energy to burn and circulates oxygen. And exercising causes your body to release epinephrine and norepinephrine, stress hormones that in modest amounts can make you feel energized. Even a brisk walk is a good start.

AVOID SMOKING:

You know smoking threatens your health. But you may not know that smoking actually siphons off your energy by causing insomnia. The nicotine in tobacco is a stimulant, so it speeds the heart rate, raises blood pressure, and stimulates brain-wave activity associated with wakefulness, making it harder to fall asleep. And once you do fall asleep, its addictive power can kick in and awaken you with cravings.

RESTRICT YOUR SLEEP:

If you think you may be sleep-deprived, try getting less sleep. This advice may sound odd, but determining how much sleep you actually need can reduce the time you spend in bed not sleeping.

EAT FOR ENERGY:

It's better to eat small meals and snacks every few hours than three large meals a day. Eating foods with a low glycemic index (whose sugars are absorbed slowly) may help you avoid the lag in energy that typically occurs after eating quickly absorbed sugars or refined starches.

USE CAFFEINE TO YOUR ADVANTAGE:

To get the energizing effects of caffeine, you have to use it judiciously. It can cause insomnia, especially when consumed in large amounts or after 2 p.m.

LIMIT ALCOHOL:

One of the best hedges against the mid-afternoon slump is to avoid drinking alcohol at lunch. If you're going to drink, do so in moderation at a time when you don't mind having your energy wind down.

DRINK WATER:

What's the only nutrient that has been shown to enhance performance for all but the most demanding endurance activities? It's not some pricey sports drink. It's water. If your body is short of fluids, one of the first signs is a feeling of fatigue.

PRACTICE MINDFULNESS:

Spend ten minutes a day meditating to improve both your emotional and physical wellbeing.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development is one of the longest-running studies on happiness with lots of good data on being happy!

Aging Well focused on six factors which predicted healthy aging for the Harvard men: physical activity, absence of alcohol abuse and smoking, having mature mechanisms to cope with life’s ups and downs, and enjoying both a healthy weight and a stable marriage.

The study showed that the role of genetics and long-lived ancestors proved less important to longevity than the level of satisfaction with relationships in midlife, now recognized as a good predictor of healthy aging. The research also debunked the idea that people’s personalities “set like plaster” by age 30 and cannot be changed.

“Those who were clearly train wrecks when they were in their 20s or 25s turned out to be wonderful octogenarians,” the study Director said. “On the other hand, alcoholism and major depression could take people who started life as stars and leave them at the end of their lives as train wrecks.”

The project followed 724 men since they were teenagers in 1938. There are approximately 60 men, now in their 90s left. The group consisted of men from various economic and social backgrounds, from Boston’s poorest neighborhoods to Harvard undergrads. President John F. Kennedy was part of the original group.

Over the years, the researchers have collected a broad selection of health information, and every two years they ask members questions about their lives and their mental and emotional wellness. They also interview family members. They found that specific traits and behaviors were linked with increased levels of happiness across the entire group.

Researchers have studied the participants’ health trajectories and their broader lives, including their triumphs and failures in careers and marriage, and the finding have produced startling lessons, and not only for the researchers.

The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health,” said the director of the Harvard study, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care, too. That, I think, is the revelation.”

Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, the study revealed. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. That finding proved true across the board among both the Harvard men and the inner-city participants.

“When we gathered together everything we knew about them about at age 50, it wasn’t their middle-age cholesterol levels that predicted how they were going to grow old,” said the director in a popular TED Talk. “It was how satisfied they were in their relationships. The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80.”

Humans are social creatures, so our attachment to others is core to who we are as human beings. We are biologically hard-wired to attach to one another.”

How you nurture personal relationships depends on you. Does it mean you add a weekly lunch with a friend to your schedule? Join a local club or sports team? Plan a monthly date night with your partner? Eat meals at the dinner table with your family more often? Make Saturdays family days without distractions?

You decide, but don’t underestimate the importance of those activities to good health and well-being as the need for attachment starts in infancy and never goes away.

“It transitions from a parent or primary caregiver to our spouse, our children, our friends,” Dr. Blair said. “Fostering loving, connected attachment and close relationships is the single most important thing you can do for happiness.”

Your mood (whether positive or negative) impacts your mental health and affects every aspect of your life, from how you feel about yourself, to your relationships with others and your physical health. There's a strong link between good mental health and good physical health and vice versa. In the other direction, depression and other mental health issues can contribute to digestive disorders, trouble sleeping, lack of energy, heart disease, and other health issues.

There are many ways to keep your mind and mood in optimal shape which helps you manage stress. Exercise, healthy eating, and stress reduction techniques (like meditation or mindfulness) can keep your brain — and your body — in tip-top shape.

When mood and mental health slip, doing something about it as early as possible can keep the change from getting worse or becoming permanent.

When people get up and move, even a little, they tend to feel less stress than when they are still. A study that tracked the movement and moods of cellphone users found that people reported they felt better if they had been moving in the past 15 minutes than when they had been sitting or lying down.

Rigorous activity is not mandatory, as even gentle walking can relieve stress and enhance your mood. Any movement goes hand-in-hand with better health and greater happiness!

Create a plan, have faith in your plan, and implement when the inevitable stressful situation strikes.

All humans have a tendency to ruminate more on bad experiences than positive ones. It’s an evolutionary adaptation — over-learning from the dangerous or hurtful situations we encounter through life (bullying, trauma, betrayal) helps us avoid them in the future and react quickly in a crisis.

But that means you have to work a little harder to train your brain to conquer negative thoughts. Here’s how:

DON’T TRY TO STOP NEGATIVE THOUGHTS. Telling yourself “I have to stop thinking about this,” only makes you think about it more. Instead, own your worries. When you are in a negative cycle, acknowledge it. “I’m worried about money.” “I’m obsessing about problems at work.”

TREAT YOURSELF LIKE A FRIEND. When you are feeling negative about yourself, ask yourself what advice would you give a friend who was down on themselves. Now try to apply that advice to you.

CHALLENGE YOUR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS. Socratic questioning is the process of challenging and changing irrational thoughts. Studies show that this method can reduce depression symptoms. The goal is to get you from a negative mindset (“I’m a failure.”) to a more positive one (“I’ve had a lot of success in my career. This is just one setback that doesn’t reflect on me. I can learn from it and be better.”) Here are some examples of questions you can ask yourself to challenge negative thinking.

First, write down your negative thought, such as “I’m having problems at work and am questioning my abilities.”

- Then ask yourself: “What is the evidence for this thought?”

- “Am I basing this on facts? Or feelings?”

- “Could I be misinterpreting the situation?”

- “How might other people view the situation differently?

- “How might I view this situation if it happened to someone else?”

The bottom line: Negative thinking happens to all of us, but if we recognize it and challenge that thinking, we are taking a big step toward a happier life.

Studies consistently show that our own happiness is linked with the happiness of others. One of the ways we know this is from the Framingham Heart Study, a massive study started in 1948 that has tracked three generations of participants. The study was designed to identify risk factors for heart disease, resulting in reams of data on health, food, fitness habits, stress, family issues, and happiness.

To measure happiness, the Framingham study asked people how often they experienced certain feelings during the previous week.

- I felt hopeful about the future.

- I was happy.

I enjoyed life. - I felt that I was just as good as other people.

Yale scientists decided to mine the data to study happiness and social networks. The structure of the study allowed them to track changes in happiness over time. And because the scientists who designed the study wanted to keep track of people, they asked participants to identify their relatives, close friends, place of residence and place of work. The result was a complete picture of the participants’ social networks.

After parsing the data, the Yale researchers reached a number of conclusions about happiness:

- People’s happiness depends on the happiness of others with whom they are connected.

- Social networks have clusters of happy and unhappy people.

- A person's happiness extends to three degrees of separation — meaning that it can influence (and be influenced by) their friends, their friends’ friends, and the friends of people who are friends of their friends.

- People who are surrounded by many happy people are more likely to become happy in the future.

- Each additional happy friend increases your chance of happiness by about 9 percent.

- Geography matters. Our happiness increases when we live close to happy friends and family members.

Psychologists conducted a series of experiments to determine the role that pets play in our happiness. They found that pet owners were happier, healthier, and better adjusted than non-owners were. In fact, pet owners said they received as much support from their pets as they did family members. And people who were emotionally closer to the pets also tended to have deeper ties to the humans in their lives.

In one expressive writing exercise, writing about pets was just as effective as writing about a friend when it came to staving off feelings of rejection, according to the report published by the American Psychological Association.

Meditation & Breathwork: Science is just beginning to provide evidence that the benefits of this ancient practice are real. Studies have found, for example, that breathing practices can help reduce symptoms associated with anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and attention deficit disorder. For centuries, yogis have used breath control, or pranayama, to promote concentration and improve vitality.

Long story, it works!

Writing about oneself and personal experiences — and then rewriting your story — can lead to behavioral changes and improve happiness. Some research suggests that writing in a personal journal for 15 minutes a day can lead to a boost in overall happiness and well-being, in part because it allows us to express our emotions, be mindful of our circumstances, and resolve inner conflicts. Or you can take the next step and focus on one particular challenge you face, and write and rewrite that story.

We all have a personal narrative that shapes our view of the world and ourselves. But sometimes our inner voice doesn’t get it right. By writing and then editing our own stories, we can change our perceptions of ourselves and identify obstacles that stand in the way of our personal well-being. The process is similar to Socratic questioning (as we posted earlier). Here’s a writing exercise:

- Write a brief story about your struggle. ’I’m having money problems. I am having a hard time making friends in a new city. I’m never going to find love. I’m fighting with my spouse.’ Now write a new story from the viewpoint of a neutral observer, or with the kind of encouragement you’d give a friend.

- Money is a challenge but you can take steps to get yourself into financial shape.

- Everyone struggles in their first year in a new city. Give it some time. Join some groups.

- Don’t focus on finding love. Focus on meeting new people and having fun. The rest will follow.

Couples argue. Here’s what your situation looks like to a neutral observer.

Numerous studies show that writing and rewriting your story can move you out of your negative mindset and into a more positive view of life. “The idea here is getting people to come to terms with who they are, and where they want to go,” said James Pennebaker, a psychology professor at the University of Texas who has pioneered much of the research on expressive writing. “I think of expressive writing as a life course correction.”

Optimism is part genetic, part learned. Even if you were born into a family of gloom and imminent doom, you can still find your inner ray of sunshine.

Optimism doesn’t mean ignoring the reality of a dire situation. After a job loss, for instance, many people may feel defeated and think, “I’ll never recover from this.” An optimist would acknowledge the challenge in a more hopeful way, saying, “This is going to be difficult, but it’s a chance to rethink my life goals and find work that truly makes me happy.”

Thinking positive thoughts and surrounding yourself with positive people really does help. Optimism, like pessimism, can be infectious. So make a point to hang out with optimistic people.

Numerous studies support the notion that spending time in nature is good for you. We know that walking on quiet, tree-lined paths can result in meaningful improvements to mental health, and even physical changes to the brain. Nature walkers have “quieter” brains: scans show less blood flow to the part of the brain associated with rumination. (Some research shows that even looking at pictures of nature can improve your mood!)

Sunlight also makes a difference. Seasonal affective disorder is real. In fact, epidemiological studies estimate that its prevalence in the adult population ranges from 1.4 percent (Florida) to 9.7 percent (New Hampshire). In short, spending time outside or living in a space with natural light is good for your mood.

A walk in the park may soothe the mind and, in the process, change the workings of our brains in ways that improve our mental health, according to an interesting new study of the physical effects on the brain of visiting nature.

But just how a visit to a park or other green space might alter mood has been unclear. Does experiencing nature actually change our brains in some way that affects our emotional health?

A new study recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined what effects a walk might have on a person’s tendency to brood.

(Brooding, which is known among cognitive scientists as morbid rumination, is a mental state familiar to most of us, in which we can’t seem to stop chewing over the ways in which things are wrong with ourselves and our lives. This broken-record fretting is not healthy or helpful. It can be a precursor to depression and is disproportionately common among city dwellers compared with people living outside urban areas, studies show.)

As you might have been expected, walking along the highway had not soothed people’s minds. Blood flow to their subgenual prefrontal cortex was still high and their broodiness scores were unchanged.

But the volunteers who had strolled along the quiet, tree-lined paths showed slight (but meaningful) improvements in their mental health, according to their scores on the questionnaire. They were not dwelling on the negative aspects of their lives as much as they had been before the walk.

They also had less blood flow to the subgenual prefrontal cortex. That portion of their brains was quieter.

These results “strongly suggest that getting out into natural environments” could be an easy and almost immediate way to improve moods for city dwellers, the study’s director said.

Staying healthy in your 20s is strongly associated with a lower risk for heart disease in middle age, according to research from Northwestern University. That study showed that most people who adopted five healthy habits in their 20s (a lean body mass index, moderate alcohol consumption, no smoking, a healthy diet, and regular physical activity) stayed healthy well into middle age.

A disproportionate amount of the weight we gain in life is accumulated in our 20s, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average woman in the United States weighs about 150 when she’s 19, but by the time she’s 29, she weighs 162 pounds – that’s a gain of 12 pounds. An average 19-year-old man weighs 175 pounds, but by the time he hits 29, he is nine pounds heavier, weighing in at 184 pounds.

But it can be especially difficult for a young adult to focus on health as young people often spend long hours at work which can make it tough to exercise and eat well. They face job pressure, romantic challenges, money problems, and family stress. Who has time to think about long-term health in the midst of all this?

If you are in your twenties, recognize that this is a crucial time that often sets the pattern for the rest of your life. Do your best to adopt healthy habits. For others, it’s never too late!

Buy a bathroom scale or use one at the gym and weigh yourself regularly. There is nothing more harmful to long-term health than carrying excess pounds, and weight tends to creep up starting in the 20s. It is pretty easy for most people to get rid of three to five pounds and much harder to get rid of 20. Keep an eye on your weight and can catch weight gain quickly.

Your health goals should focus on specific behaviors, but be realistic about the outcome.

Exercise does make you healthier with cardiovascular benefits in addition to weight loss benefits. However, for weight loss, you will generally have to participate in 60 minutes of moderate cardio per day.

Activities like brisk walking, bicycling, dancing, gardening, swimming, jogging, and aerobics will all give you cardio benefits. Intensity is relevant but be prepared to devote 60 minutes a day in exercise to lose weight.

If your goal is to improve your health, only thirty minutes a day will suffice.

If you do not cook (or are intimidated by cooking), learn to cook! This may be the best way to meet your health goals as learning to cook will save you money and help you to eat healthily.

Learning to cook means planning, shopping, cooking, and clean up. It takes time, more time than swinging through the drive-through.

Cooking is the best way to follow a healthy diet and embrace whole grains, reduce salt and sodas, boost intake of veggies and fruits and other nutrient-rich ingredients, and use healthy oils and lean healthy protein.

As you experiment with herbs and spices and new cooking techniques, you will find that you can cut down on the unhealthy fats, sugar, and salt, as well as the excess calories found in many prepared convenience foods.

This supports your goal of developing a nutritious and enjoyable eating pattern that is sustainable and that will help you not only to be well but also to manage your weight.

Vegetables offer more benefits than fruits in terms of vitamins and minerals with fewer calories, but fruits are a great place to start if you don’t get much of either. The best way to get more fruits and veggies is to cook more meals at home with unprocessed foods. This also decreases sodium, sugar, and calorie intake. Cooking with fresh whole ingredients will lead to an increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Begin by cooking just one more meal a week than you do now. If time, finances, or other reasons make home cooking difficult, add an extra vegetable to dinner each night or replace a snack with an apple or orange. Frozen vegetables are time savers with the same benefits as fresh ones, and canned fruits are fine if they’re not packed in syrup. Check the salt content on canned vegetables and chose the lowest sodium selection. (Frozen veggies are also a big hit!)

Do not drink your fruit juices or rely on dried fruits as any concentrated form of fruit sugars pack a lot more calories and add up faster.

Cooking at home also saves you money and creates a nurturing supportive dinner time environment. It's also a skill and tradition to pass on to children and grandchildren.

Drink to water. Staying hydrated maintains your energy and prevents headaches and other dehydration effects. If you think you are hungry when you normally aren’t, there is a good chance you are simply thirsty.

Lemons and limes are a healthy source of vitamin C, and while the juice from a quarter of a lemon or lime only has 3.3 milligrams of vitamin C, making a habit of drinking water with lemon or lime juice can boost your daily intake of this important vitamin. Adults should get between 75 and 90 milligrams of vitamin C per day; several glasses of water with lime juice can provide a significant percentage of this guideline.

Coffee has been shown to have strong antioxidant properties and has been linked to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, liver diseases, Alzheimer's, and more. The reason for this may be the impressive amount of powerful antioxidants found in coffee. (In fact, studies show that coffee provides more antioxidants in the diet than any food group!) Just do not add cream or sugar.

Matcha tea is high in antioxidants, more so than wild blueberries or chocolate. Did you know that matcha is the most nutrient-rich green tea available?

Tulsi tea (also known as Holy Basil) has anti-inflammatory antioxidants that reduce the painful and dangerous inflammation associated with various forms of arthritis, cancer, and degenerative neurological disorders. It supports and strengthens many prominent areas of the body such as inoculating the immune system, providing lung and bronchial support, and fight free radicals.

Kombucha Tea is a potent detoxifier known for its anti-microbial and anti-cancer properties. It is a source of amino acids, antioxidants, polyphenols, probiotics, and vitamins and minerals. It also contains B12 and is a source of glucosamine which reduces pain and inflammation, particularly arthritis. It acts similarly to NSAIDs!

Ginger Tea works to reduce chronic inflammation and soothe the gut. Ginger is widely known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as well as its ability to alleviate symptoms of gastrointestinal distress by relaxing and soothing the intestinal tract.

With evidence mounting that sitting for long stretches of time is unhealthy, many of us naturally wonder how best to respond. Should we stand up, or is merely standing insufficient? Must we also stroll or jog or do jumping jacks?

A new study offers some helpful perspective, suggesting that even a few minutes per hour of moving instead of remaining in a chair might substantially reduce the harms of oversitting.

As most of us have heard by now, long bouts of sitting can increase someone’s risk for diabetes, heart disease, obesity, kidney problems, and premature death. These risks remain elevated even if someone exercises but then spends most of the rest of his or her waking hours in a chair.

The takeaway: Many aspects of lifestyle contribute to chronic inflammation, including stress, poor diet, being overweight, and not exercising. Addressing even one of these areas is a good start to better health.

The experts all agree physical activity and sleep are the two most important components of good health. Physical activity is almost magical in its ability to improve quality of life. It reduces the risk of nearly every physical and mental condition there is.

Being fit does not have to be fancy, long, or boring. In fact, ten-minute blocks of playing with your kids, dancing, or even taking the stairs make a difference.

Be reasonable in your goals and then work up. Start with doable activities. Do not be frustrated or sunk by not meeting high initial goals. What sinks a lot of people is taking on more than they can do. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Set yourself up for success! The best activity is the one you enjoy the most and can see yourself continuing the most and one that fits your lifestyle, schedule, and environment.

Don’t get discouraged if you fall off the wagon. Plan on failure and have a plan to regroup and restart. Every day is a new day. Make the most of it. Everything counts!