- Stop being hard on yourself!
If you have a tendency to put yourself down or think you are just ‘not good enough’ then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Every time you hear that inner voice saying ‘I can’t do that’ or ‘I always make a mess of things’ – stop that thought and replace it with a positive one. Why on earth do you think that others are better than you anyway?!
- Reduce stress.
You get into your car to go to work, feeling fine – then five minutes into your journey someone cuts you up or takes the last seat on the bus that you were walking towards – you can become instantly stressed … if you let yourself!
Trouble is when you do allow yourself to become stressed by silly little things in life, your body produces cortisol.
Excessive cortisol can deplete immune functioning, resulting in our bodies having trouble fighting off disease. It can suppress thyroid function, decrease muscle tissue and increase abdominal fat. In fact, it can adversely affect pretty much every organ system in our body, including the digestive system, cardiovascular system, skin and cognitive health. So when something gets you irritated or angry, literally take a deep breath and ask yourself, “Am I really going to let this person get to me – what is going to happen if I just ignore it?” The answer, of course, is – nothing – but you will help your body by saying ‘So what’ more often.
- Get enough sleep
We often underestimate how much sleep we need and it is individual to each of us. We should work out how much sleep we naturally need and aim to achieve that as often as we can. If you don’t know how much sleep your body needs try the following experiment – go to bed and sleep until you wake up without an alarm clock or other interruption. Do this two or three days in a row, and you’ll have your ideal amount of sleep. You will probably be surprised!
- Drink when you are hungry
Your body often tells you that you need food when in fact it is water that it needs. If you are a habitual ‘grazer’ you may reach for something to eat automatically. If you are trying to lose weight – next time you feel hungry, try a (sugar free) non alcoholic drink instead and see if five minutes afterwards you are still hungry – chances are that you won’t be!
- Reduce red meat intake
A new study at the University of California, San Diego has discovered why red meat leads to higher instances of cancer in humans — and it all has to do with a sugar. Humans are the only animals that have a higher risk of cancer when it comes to eating red meat. Other carnivores eat red meat naturally with no ill side effects.
The study, which was published at the end of last year in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” discovered that a unique sugar called Neu5Gc, found in most mammals but not in humans, triggers an immune response that in turn causes inflammation.
Most other carnivores’ bodies are built to process this sugar — human bodies are not. The study says “This is the first time we have directly shown that mimicking the exact situation in humans — feeding non-human Neu5Gc and inducing anti-Neu5Gc antibodies — increases spontaneous cancers in mice.”
Have a great 2015 and don’t forget – it is often the little changes we make that we can sustain for longer and therefore do us the most good!