10 tips to make your New Year's resolution a success!

Many of us will make a healthy New Year's resolution – maybe to lose weight, quit smoking or drink less – but what's the best way to stick to it?

Psychologists have found we're more likely to succeed if we break our resolution into smaller goals that are specific, measurable and time-based.

Top 10 goal-setting tips:-

1. Make only one resolution. Your chances of success are greater when you channel energy into changing just one aspect of your behaviour.

2. Don't wait until New Year's Eve to choose your resolution. Take some time out a few days before and think about what you want to achieve.

3. Avoid previous resolutions. Deciding to revisit a past resolution sets you up for frustrationand disappointment.

4. Don't run with the crowd and go with the usual resolutions. Instead think about what you really want out of life.

5. Break your goal into a series of steps, focusing on creating sub-goals that are concrete, measurable and time-based.

6. Tell your friends and family about your goals. You're more likely to get support and want to avoid failure.

7. To stay motivated, make a checklist of how achieving your resolution will help you.

8. Give yourself a small reward whenever you achieve a sub-goal, which will help to motivate you and give you  a sense of progress.

9. Make your plans and progress concrete by keeping a handwritten journal, completing a computer spreadsheet or covering a notice board with graphs or pictures.

10. Expect to revertto your old habits from time to time. Treat any failure as a temporary setback rather than a reason to give up altogether.

Getting started

Below are some of the most common New Year health resolutions, with links to help you get started and achieve your goal.

1:-Lose weight:-

Get practical tips to lose excess weight, including getting started, healthy food swaps, and our 12-week weight loss plan.

2:-Quit smoking:-

We've got all you need to help you achieve your goal to stop smoking, including the free NHS Smokefree app.

3:-Get active:-

Boost your fitness with fun and practical ideas to help you get into shape, including Couch to 5K, Strength and Flex and the NHS Fitness Studio.

4:-Drink less alcohol:-

Calculate your units, get tips on cutting down, track your drinking and find out where to get help and support.

5:-Eat more fruit and veg:-

Whether you're cooking for a family or eating on the go, our tips and recipes can help you get your 5 A DAY.

Healing the Roots of Low Self-Esteem!

There is always a root to a problem, and there is a root to low self-esteem, but without identifying why or how it got there, we don’t have the tools to eradicate it for good. The struggle with developing unshakable self-esteem and confidence is like a battle with annoying ivy covering a beautiful home. Perhaps you have been used to the vines, even embracing them on occasion, but at the end of the day they are more problematic than positive, they destroy the foundation.

I used this analogy just today with a beautiful young woman who felt anything but attractive. “I am trying, and I practice the tools, it just seems like I am not getting far; I am always struggling with the way I look,” she said.

“So, its like you are cutting a small leaf or branch off, but still feel like your covered in vines. Some of the tricks and tools we have used work but they don’t seem to be fixing the root cause—the reason these toxic thoughts developed in the first place.”

Even if we have done deep work in the past, when we thought we had eradicated those lowself-esteem believes for good, the root can keep growing and the right circumstances can make it feel like the weeds are taking over your mind.

Get to the Root of Your Low Self-Esteem?

Think of the ways your self-image, confidence, and self-esteem developed. These could have been thoughts you have had since childhood, early experiences, or circumstances you encountered through life. The beliefs stemmed from somewhere.

1.Invalidating environments: an overly critical parent, lover, or friend. On the flip side, it could have been a person in your life behaved in a way that made you feel incapable of making your own decisions or trusting yourself. An overprotective parent or someone who made you feel fragile and that alone you couldn’t handle the demands of the world. 
2.Loss or trauma: feeling out of control, death of a loved one, divorce, feeling abandoned, abuse 
3.Rejection: this could have been from a loved one or a group of kids at school, not getting into a program or holding on to feelings of perceived inadequacy. 
4.Unspoken pressure: from peers, friends, even society, giving you standards you tried to live up to but always felt like you were coming up short. 
5.Mistaken beliefs: these come from our own experiences, attempting to make sense of the life circumstances and feelings we encounter. However, they hold us back and keep the roots from healing.

Common Mistaken Beliefs that Lead to Low Self-Esteem

Do any of these feel true for you? If so, get curious and look for the roots or experiences that made these come about.

1.I am powerless; I am a victim of circumstances greater than me.

2.Life is not easy; it’s always a struggle

3.If I try, I will fail.

4.I don’t matter.

5.I should always look good and put together for others to like me.

6.I need to be a certain size or weight to be worthy.

7.I need to have X, Y or Z to feel successful.

8.I can’t cope with the demands of the outside world.

9.I am not good enough and I never have been.

10.I will never be worthy of love or respect.

As hard as this may be to admit, there is power in recognizing where your mistaken beliefs come from. When you can identify, to the best of your ability, the ways the root may have formed, and the toxic thoughts of low self-esteem that keep it growing inyour mind, you have a much better grasp on how false they really are.

For my client, we examined that many of her mistaken beliefs came from her peers, the media, what she was told was “pretty” by television and the images she saw. She has supportive parents, but had highly critical grandparents who made confusing comments to her about weight, appearance, and the need to be attractive. She also had friends who placed a lot of emphasis on outer appearance.

When you are aware of how these thoughts became stuck in your mind, you are better able to attack them when they come up. The more and more you practice, it’s like treating the ivy with chemicals. Each time you spray, it may not go away, but it is slowly killing the root. Overtime, the real you, the empowered you, becomes more visible. When you catch a new bud or leaf starting to grow, you can stop it in its tracks. Knowing and understanding the root cause of your pain or mistaken beliefs is the best way to rid yourself of toxic thoughts and low self-esteem for good.

Gut Play in Mood healing Art for Relife Stress!

---

What Role Does Our Gut Play in Mood? 

Stress, for example, is intimately tied to our guts.Our bodies respond to stress with a “fight or flight system,” related to our cortisol levels and which is ruled by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. When something scary or worrying happens, like someone unexpectedly jumps in front of you or you see a mouse scurrying in front you, you have a physical reaction: your palms might get sweaty and you might feel your heartbeat quicken.

Typically, if you’re in a stressful situation that is then diffused, your body goes back to normal. But if you’re constantly stressed, your body is stuck in that fight or flight phase over an extended period of time. The critical part is that our bodies are unable to distinguish between physical and mental stress. So your body would respond the same way if a bear showed up in your home as it does when you realize you hate your job — it will try to combat the stress.
This constant state of stress causes chronic inflammation; the body reacts to the stress as a type of infection and tries to overcome it. Because inflammation is at the root of many diseases, this exposure to prolonged stress can have serious consequences for your health, ranging from high blood pressure to autoimmune disorders. The types of bacteria found in the gut — “good bacteria” — play a role in how our immune responses are regulated.
Additionally, the gut microbiome is believed to be linked to disorders like depression and autism. For years, scientists and doctors have noticed that people with autism often have GI issues like food allergies or gluten intolerance. That led researchers to believe that perhaps there was something different about the gut makeup of autistic people.
A 2013 study found that when a certain type of bacteria was given to mice that had similar behavioral characteristics as humans with autism, the gut microbiome of these mice changed, along with their behavior. They became less anxious and were more social with other mice.
Doctors are even changing the way they dispense medicine as a result of the connection between our gut brains and our mood. Some doctors may prescribe particular antidepressants to treat diseases like irritable bowel syndrome.
That doesn’t mean they believe that the digestive problems are all in someone’s head. Rather, it’s thought that these medications can improve the link between the gut and the brain, providing digestive relief in the process.

---

Natural Remedies for Your Gut-Brain Connection:-

While there’s still much to uncover about the mystery of the gut and all it affects, we are sure of a few things you should do to improve your gut-brain connection.
1. Avoid Processed Foods:-
For starters, a whole foods-based diet leads to a gut with a much different makeup than one that’s been fed mainly refined and processed foods. Even worse, ultra-processed foods like white bread, chips and snack cakes that make up nearly 60 percent of the average American’s diet. The added sugar found in these foods, often disguised as different types of artificial sweeteners, are responsible for a variety of health conditions, from obesity to type 2 diabetes to migraines.
2. Eat Probiotics:-
Eating probiotic-rich foods, like kefir and sauerkraut, can also cause your gut and mood to thrive. Probiotics are good bacteria that primarily line your gut and are responsible for nutrient absorption and supporting your immune system.
3. Swear Off Gluten:-
For many people, limiting gluten will also have positive effect on their gut microbiome. The traditional methods of soaking, sprouting and souring grains in order to make them digestible and nutritious has been abandoned for a fast and convenient method of mass producing food.
4. Eat Healthy Fats:-
Healthy fats are essential for brain development. Olive oil, for instance, includes a high amount of antioxidants that protect your cells from damage. It also helps improve memory and cognitive function, and works as an anti-inflammatory. Avocado benefits range from protecting your heart to helping with digestion, but it’s also a great pick for improving your mood.
5. Consume Mushrooms:-
The shiitake mushroom contains plenty of vitamin B6. Because vitamin B6 impacts the production of serotonin and neurotransmitters, healthy B6 levels are associated with a positive mood and reducing stress naturally. It’s also been proven to effectively treat mood disorders like depression.
6. Eat Nuts
Have a small handful of nuts like almonds, cashews, walnuts and Brazil nuts. Why? They’re full of serotonin, a feel-good chemical that’s in short supply when you’re depressed.
7. Have Sesame Seeds:-
Its benefits stem from tyrosine, an amino acid that boosts the brain’s dopamine levels. It kicks the feel-good hormone into high gear while balancing out the others.
We don’t have all the answers on the gut-mood link just yet, but one thing is certain: our bodies and minds are much more connected than you believe. Taking care of one part will reap benefits for the rest of you.