Hello everyone. This is a guest post from E-Lites.
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It’s the time of year you when hear so many people making grand resolutions and vowing to transform their lives when the New Year comes. Diets will be started, fitness regimes commenced with a new gym membership. Unhealthy habits like drinking and eating too much are going to be left behind them.
The trouble is that the sweeping commitments most people make on or around 31 December are difficult to follow through. The intention is there but it’s all too easy to run out of steam and find your New Year’s resolutions have gone out of the window by the beginning of February.
This is only logical, because if you’re unfit and you throw yourself into a fitness programme that is really quite demanding and tough, you’re likely to be demoralised easily. Far better to hold off on joining the gym until you’ve got your fitness up a bit first. Instead, start walking some of the way to work and back. Get off the bus or train a stop or two earlier and build it up gradually. Go swimming once a week, then make it twice when you have begun to increase your stamina. If you start a gym membership in April or May after building up your fitness from January it could mean that you are more ready for serious exercise and to get the most out of a membership.
Similarly, if you have bad habits it may not be the best policy to just try and go cold turkey. If you drink too much alcohol, limit your consumption by going out less often and buying less wine and beer at the supermarket. Keep an eye on alcohol units and consider drinks with a lower percentage of alcohol.
Another vice which many people find difficult to give up is smoking. Often people find themselves battling not only with the nicotine addiction itself but the pure habit of smoking. For many smokers, having a cigarette can be part of socialising, an antidote to stress or even an aid to concentration. The action of inhaling and exhaling can have a soothing effect which many find comforting. As a result, smokers can feel at a loss when they remove something which is so habitual to them. If you are aspiring to give up cigarettes this year but find your hands are restless, then you could try e-cigarettes instead. There are many different brands on the market, one example is E-lites electronic cigarettes. You can buy a starter kit online for around £25, and essentially they’re pretty similar to smoking traditional cigarettes but don’t have the harmful chemicals like tar and carbon monoxide, so they’re certainly not as bad for you.
Sometimes the small steps towards healthier living will get you further than the grand gestures and plans that don’t work out. By all means make resolutions, but make sure they are realistic. Don’t run before you can walk; make 2013 a year where you gradually change your ways!