Curator's Healthiest Year Yet
At the start of a new year, making healthy resolutions can be overwhelming. You’re being pressured to join a new gym or jump on the newest fad diet while your calendar already looks like it has no room for you breathe. Your health goes beyond just what you accomplish at the gym or what goes into your fridge, so within our diverse group we have identified multiple ways to stay motivated and look forward to our healthiest year yet.
Get on the Jawbone UP train. Seriously, setting attainable goals and tracking against them on a daily basis is truly motivating! It's the extra push I'd always been missing. Our whole office has 'em. –Megan
Make your workout social! In the last year, I became slightly obsessed with Flybarre at Flywheel and had to share it with everyone I know. With your first class free it wasn’t too hard to get a few friends on the mats next to me. Now we will even occasionally supplement happy hour for a barre class when we need to catch up. Friends who sweat together… –Brooke
Mental health always sounds so serious, but I think it's just as important to find ways to rest your mind as it is to exercise. Highly recommend trying out a floatation tank if you've never been. Pro tip: watch out for awesome Groupon or Living Social deals! http://floatseattle.com/ -Chelsey
Drink light beer. –Shawn
I can't take credit for this because I read it in The New York Times recently, but: "Bundle your temptations." Prior to the New Year, I was watching a hell of a lot of Fringe on Netflix, which resulted in a couple binge/marathon sessions that superseded my running workout. For 2014, I've instituted a simple rule: Run for Fringe. Every time I go for a run (or a hike, because sometimes that's just how my day works), I'm allowed to watch one episode of Fringe. This has a twofold effect of stretching the series out for me and giving me a reason to want to exercise more. (I'm up to three episodes in about a week, by the way.) –Paul
Choose happiness. –Jennifer
This year, my goal is to go on a long walk each day. Even if I can't make it out to the gym, walks are a great way to clear my mind, and get some exercise doing it. And they especially help with racking up the steps to track with our Jawbone UP bands! –Noelle
My health tip for 2014 is to kick the “desk all day” habit. I pack a lunch almost everyday, which means most of my lunch breaks are spent working at my desk – one hand on a sandwich and the other on my mouse. With the kitchen and coffee pot no more than a few steps away, it’s easy to spend my 8-9 hours at the office never more than a dozen steps from my desk. This year, I’m planning (and would encourage others) to get out in the air and walk in the middle of the day to get the blood moving and the head clear. Good for the lungs, good for the legs and it will keep you sane! - Matthew
Do one thing every day that tests your strength. This could be anything from something simple like walking that extra flight of stairs when you felt too tired to something more trying like lifting that 200lb weight when you thought you could only lift 180lbs. Not only will this help to build you up physically, but it's a great exercise for your mental health as well since there's nothing better than realizing you can do something you never thought possible. –Annie
Sleep is your friend. –Ann Marie
I've always been someone for whom attempting to eat right and exercise has been a part of my life. Attempting being the key word. But last year I added two new components to my routine that made a significant difference. I tracked what I ate through the My Fitness Pal app and I started wearing a Jawbone UP to track my activity and sleep. The two sync together and I'm able to see at all times how many calories I've consumed (and their quality) and the correlation of activity and sleep to my overall health. What I do with that information is the trick — but having the information has been eye opening. –Scott