Live a Healthier Lifestyle: My 2010 New Year's Resolution

New Year's Eve is here again and with it comes the ever increasingly thought about our intended New Year's Resolutions. Similar to last year, it is anticipated the #1 resolution in 2010 will continue to be "Lose Weight" in America and around the world.

The United States Government has posted the top New Year's Resolutions which includes:

* Lose Weight

* Manage Debt

* Save Money

* Get a Better Job

* Get Fit

* Get a Better Education

* Drink Less Alcohol

* Quit Smoking Now

* Reduce Stress Overall

* Reduce Stress at Work

* Take a Trip

* Volunteer to Help Others

Whether or not your New Year's Resolution is one of the twelve listed above, a New Year's Resolution can be fun and beneficial to improve one's life and well-being on earth. Last year my personal New Year's Resolution revolved around "Becoming Healthy". Despite the fact that I am incredibly happy with my results of sticking to my N.Y.R (New Year's Resolution) in 2009, I intent to extend my resolution well through 2010 to increase my life potential.

Here are 5 Ways I intend to keep my N.Y.R. throughout the entire 2010:

Method #1: Become a Runner: As the leaves started to fall outside, I came across the realization that there was a better exercise program that I had not endured just yet but should jump on the bandwagon early on in my life. My inspiration is a gentleman whom I have never met but continue to see daily running in all temperatures above and below water's freezing point. Although I am unsure of his accurate age, my husband and I have averaged his age around 70-80 years old. He is an inspiration for running at a nice healthy pace for miles daily with a smile on his face. As he passes our townhouse twice daily, he is heard engaging in polite conversation with anyone that comes along his path. Anyone that sees him instantly notices that he loves running and he will continue to do so until he is told not to by the "Big Guy in the sky". The first week in November my husband and I started up a running program for ourselves and we fell in love with the sport. My husband ran during his school days however since graduating college he has not gotten my road time. We ran our first 5K Thanksgiving Trot and were astonished that we were in the top 50% or more that day. It is our intention on starting a more routine running program to continue our adventure, being inspired by our "hero" daily. For those of you that have never run before in your life (such as me about one month ago), I have heard many great reviews of the about the Couch to 5K free online program. Our goal is to run a 10K this spring!

Method #2: Sparkpeople.com: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states on their website "About two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight, and almost one-third are obese, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001 to 2004." This is an alarming weight problem that has been seen increasing throughout the last ten years or so due to lifestyle changes around the world. According to Forbes.com, in 2008 Australia became the #1 obese country in the world overcoming the United States of America by 1%. (Statistic results compiled from major economic countries only.) Hence obesity is not only seen in on American soil any longer, it is a common issue for many around the world. There is help though for people looking to lose weight, even through the economic strain, by not spending an extra penny. My greatest find this last year was Sparkpeople.com. See a full review at:

Free Online Diet Software Program and Full Community for more information on the 100% free site. As of January, I will be a one-year "sparkie". I plan to continue working hard at spark people and work through my bad habits to become a better model of myself in 2010.

Method #3: Blackberry Apps: My newest addiction is blackberry apps that are supported by my Blackberry Storm. There are some wonderful free blackberry applications that can be downloaded for free at the Blackberry App World. My intention is to learn how to use some calorie counting applications and also running applications to keep on my N.Y.R. goals. Exercise is easier when you are in the comfort of one's home but not so easy when away for business or vacation. In 2009 my family took a vacation down to the southern states in America and we found ourselves cheating a lot with exercise and eating during our trip. Hence, I plan on learning how to use some new applications and take advantage of my vacation time to get further ahead on my goal.

Method #4: Learn Healthy Cooking Tricks: So many healthy cooking and health education sites are online today, even here at Associated Content. No excuses for cooking unhealthy foods at home anymore please, at least not in my household. If you have something that is a special dish in your household, why not try to find a healthier method of cooking your favorite dish? In my household we love all sorts of ethnic foods from Korean to Cuban dishes. Rarely do we ever made or eat "traditional American" dishes such as hamburgers or spaghetti. These dishes are not missed. This year I intend on finding a few more websites that have popped up online encouraging a healthy lifestyle which enrich our family diet. My newest find is a magazine called Chatelaine that contains wonderful articles, recipes and even some menu plans created by dieticians.

Method #5: Picking Only Healthy Food Selections: This year I am choosing to steer clear of unhealthy food choices. Eating out is a pain for dieters, hence I am choosing to only support healthy food options. Sounds difficult when pizza and hamburger restaurants are plastered around the entire nation but consumers can change this just by choosing not to support unhealthy franchises that are supporting obesity around the globe. If we as a whole only purchase the healthy selections as fast-food restaurants, the major ones will change their menus. It has been done before so why not believe it happening once again. In addition to only purchasing healthy foods at restaurants I will purchase organic and less processed foods when possible at grocery stores. It is important to support only healthy selections to tell our grocery stores that we are not going to stand for the highly processed foods that are not natural and could cause future bodily damage such as cancer or diabetes. Again, if we do not purchase it, stores will not sell it.