New Year, New Me?

From losing weight to eating better, many common New Year’s Resolutions are health focused. With the start of 2020 (and the new decade) just around the corner, new year, new me is a common mantra. Dr. Nicole Giambrone– a primary care physician with Ochsner Health Center – Lake Terrace – has a few tips for setting up and keeping your healthy New Year’s Resolutions all year long!

Giambrone says “Making conscious, smart food and fitness choices every day is not easy. It’s important to remember that beginning and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint.”

When considering what you’d like your New Year’s resolution to be, follow these three steps:

1. Start small! Make manageable and achievable personal goals for yourself so you don’t get overwhelmed and give up on them.
2. Be specific. Make detailed resolutions that will help you to achieve them and give you a visible goal you can plan toward.
3. Reward yourself! Celebrate your successes in achieving your resolutions and steps along the way.
   

Remember – what you put into your body is vital to your overall health and wellbeing. If you decide 2020 is the year you want to focus on eating healthier, here’s a three-step recipe for success:

1. Go on a sugar strike! Sugar contains a lot of calories with no essential nutrients. Consuming too much sugar or sweets can lead to diabetes, heart disease, liver problems and premature aging. Make a habit of checking food product labels and try to opt for products with less sugar.
2. Drink more water. Hydration has a big impact on your energy level and alertness. It’s recommended that adults drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Next time, instead of reaching for a carbonated beverage or another cup of coffee, pause and select a water instead. Need help keeping track? There are many great apps that can help you log your daily water fluid intake.
3. Remove temptation. Clear off those countertops of any unhealthy snacks that may tempt you. Put fruit out, instead! If you see it, you may want to eat it. If hiding unhealthy snacks away doesn’t stop the munching, throw them out and don’t replace them the next time you go to the grocery store.

Dr. Giambrone says, “There will be times when you fail, but that’s okay! Give yourself a little grace to make a better health-focused decision the next time and go from there.”

About Ochsner Health System

Ochsner Health is Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, healthcare system. Driven by a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate, coordinated clinical and hospital patient care is provided across the region by Ochsner's 40 owned, managed and affiliated hospitals and specialty hospitals, and more than 100 health centers and urgent care centers. Ochsner is the #1 ranked hospital in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report and is recognized as a “Best Hospital” across two specialty categories caring for patients from all 50 states and more than 70 countries worldwide each year. Ochsner Hospital for Children is the only facility in Louisiana to be recognized as a top 50 children’s hospital by U.S. News & World Report for three consecutive years. Ochsner employs nearly 25,000 employees and over 4,500 employed and affiliated physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties and conducts more than 700 clinical research studies. Ochsner Health is proud to be a tobacco-free environment. For more information, please visit ochsner.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.