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saturdcy w 19 economist sun stouffville tribune living i resolution no 1 be good to yourself byfranchodak correspondent often our new years resolutions relate to health matters such as losing weight quitting smoking or getting to the gym more often sadly most of us fail to fulfill our own promises and lapse back into old habits even though we know they are detrimental to our health and wellbeing it requires a great deal of commitment motivation and support to change lifestyle habits it also takes patience forgiveness and selflove i believe it is the lack of these latter attributes that makes us fail to meet our goals patience reminds us that success does not happen overnight weight loss for example takes weeks and even months success is often one step forward and two steps back forgiveness is important because we will have days when we slip back into old patterns if we can forgive ourselves for eating a tub of icecream sneaking a ciga rette or missing a workout and say to ourselves that we will do better and try harder tomorrow maybe we will be less likely to give up arid accept failure selflove is probably the most important factor for success because it is the greatest motivation for improving our health with this in mind these sug gestions can help you rheet your health goals for the millennium formulate your goal it should be simple realistic achiev able and include a time frame for instance i will lose 15 pounds by the end of march by following a healthy whole foods diet write your goal on several post it notes and put these where you will see them sever al times a day frame your goal in a positive selfaffirming way for example you could write i believe in myself arid i love myself i am going to lose 15 pounds by march and feel great use your support system tell your fami ly frierids and coworkers what you are plan ning and ask for their support for example if your goal is to lose weight you need your family members to help you by limiting the junk food brought into the house add one of these health building prac tices into your life each week drink six to eight glasses of spring water a day to make this achievable i suggest adding one glass a day until you reach the optimum amount make water accessible by keeping a bottle in the car pack a couple of bottles iri your briefcase knapsack or purse and take some bottles to your workplace add some raw vegetables to at least one meal a day replace a junk food snack with a healthy nutrientdense snack such as raw nuts and seeds dried fruit unsul- phured unsweetened rice crackers with tahini apple butter or nut butter vegetable sticks with salsa fruit pret zels whole grain naturally sweetened muffins or airpopped popcorn replace a white flour product such as white bread macaroni or jg spaghetti with its whole wheat coun terpart or try one of these grains in place of your usual standbys millet spelt kasha brown rice or quinoa choose healthy fats olive oil or canola oil for cooking and frying butter for baking and everyday use flaxseed oil for salad dressings cut down and then cut out coffee drink green tea herbal tea or a coffee substitute made from chicory buy one organic product choose your favourite fruit or veg etable and buy the organic variety once you teste the difference i youll want to buy organic more often there are many other positive lifestyle practices you can incorpo rate into your daily life these are only some examples of simple steps you can take toward building and maintaining health for the mil lennium r- fran chodak is a registered holistic nutritionist she is available for private con sultation seminars and workshops for more information call 9057313359 or email prismbaxternet make a resolution to include eye health as part of your familys new year general health plan our optometry practice supports a public awareness campaign promoting healthy eyes and vision safety 1 children should have a thorough optometric eye health examination by the age of four 2 have your eyes examined without delay if you experience any visual changes pain flashes of light or injuries diabetics should have moire frequent examinations africancanadians are at a higher risk for glaucoma and also require closer monitoring 3 always wear protective eye wear during sports and when working with mechanical tools ninety percent of such injuries are preventable if only protective eye wear is used 4 toys blind children everyday take sufficient care with toy guns and fireworks they are the worst for eye injuries in children 5 encourage every member of the family to have their eye health examination often those who need it most are the ones who are deprived the most dr hafiz h walji wowbscoafios optometrist 905 471eyes 3937 6633 highway 7 markham f avava w i a a a