Healthy choices will pay off
Published 12:10 pm Friday, January 22, 2010
It’s astonishing that nearly a month has passed since we bid farewell to 2009 and raised our glasses to toast the arrival of a new year. Remember those resolutions to lose weight, exercise more and gain control of your health? How’s that working out for you? Are you still on track to adopt a wholesome way of living or was your commitment to a healthy lifestyle just a short-term fling?
If you’re like most people, you’ve already fallen back into some pretty unhealthy habits and foregone those resolutions in favor of fast food and fast living. It’s really no surprise. It’s hard to make significant lifestyle changes with nothing more than a “wish it so” attitude and a swig of champagne at midnight.
The dark days of January make it tough to roll out of bed and face the scale, much less the treadmill or those perky pony-tailed waifs down at the gym. Far too many of us have forsaken exercise in favor of giving the snooze buttom on the alarm click a workout.
Sadly, many battling the scale have also discovered that the first place they seem to lose weight is their pocketbook. Healthy eating isn’t always cheap, especially this time of year when an abundance of fresh local produce simply isn’t available.
A commitment to eat more items from the recently published list of “super-foods” can also prove to be a pricey proposition. Take, for example, the No. 1 food on the list: wild Alaska Salmon. If you aim for the suggested target of 2-3 servings a week, a budget-conscious family of four could spend nearly all of its grocery money on a few skimpy portions of the precious omega-3 loaded fish.
Same goes for blueberries. The small, wild (and difficult to find) ones are the healthiest — and, of course, the most expensive.
Fortunately, the list continues with items that are typically more budget friendly: broccoli, avocados, red beans and the ever-popular bowl of oatmeal. Dark chocolate also makes the list thanks to high levels of antioxidants, although we wonder if they threw this one in there just to make life on a diet worth living.
Of course, making positive and significant changes to your health doesn’t require expensive foods, fancy workout attire, or even a new year. Resolving to make healthy changes, regardless of the calendar, is a choice that will pay off year after year.
