It’s that time of year again…time for (gasp!) the New Year’s Resolution.  But, before you go make some lofty goals that you abandon in a month, give yourself the best chance of success. 

Let us first review the characteristics of effective goals:

1.  Challenging. Your goals should be realistic and suited to your present capabilities. You’re not going to be able to run a marathon in a month if you are currently a couch potato. However, goals should also push you to extend yourself beyond where you are already. Create small, progressive steps to achieve your ultimate long-term goal.

2. Attainable. Make sure you have the skills, tools, and resources to achieve the goal and mini-goals.

3. Specific. Your goal must be specific, concrete, and measurable in real-life terms.  That means you should keep a diary, then analyze your behavior, and create some specific changes in your current behavior to reach your goal. Goals should contain establish what, where, and why.

4. Time-limited. Create deadlines, due dates, and payoff schedules for mini-goals as well as the ultimate goal.

5.  Positive. Frame it in positive terms, such as eating more healthy foods instead of avoiding junk food.

6.  Flexible. Have a contingency plan if you run into stumbling blocks, so you don’t just completely abandon your goal.

Now that we’ve covered goal-setting parameters…here are some suggested Health and Beauty Resolutions to get you looking (and feeling) your best.

1.  Drink more water. What is the attainable and specific goal? The trendy answer is half your body weight, in ounces, per day. So, if you weigh 100 lbs, you should be drinking 50 ounces of water per day…if you were a couch potato.  If you exercise, you should aim for closer to your body weight.  If you drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages, tack on two cups of water for every cup of caffeinated beverage. If you consume alcoholic beverages, add two cups of water for every cup of alcohol.

It seems like quite a lot, but humans are supposed to be ¾ WATER…not coke or lattes or wine.  Your cells function better when they are nice and plump and have room to move around and get their business done. That includes brain cells. 

So, next time you feel the urge to self-medicate with caffeine to make up for sluggish raisin-cell productivity, drink a tall glass of water instead. If you feel hungry, you’re more likely to be thirsty, as your body will often mistake hunger for thirst.

So drink up…even if you add one additional cup a day per week.  Your body will eventually get used to it, and decide to actually absorb the water, and you won’t feel the urge to do #1 all the time. You’ll get the added benefit of bright eyes, glowing skin and plump lips, and a slimmer body.

2.  Get proper sleep. You want to have good quality sleep, so aim to get to bed earlier in the evening and wake early in the morning. Your circadian rhythms work best that way.  This is bad news for shift workers who work the graveyard shift, but you can emulate night by creating a cave-like environment in your bedroom.

As for sleep hygiene, get in the habit of turning off electronics by a certain hour, to let your brain start the hibernation mode. Get your personal nighttime routine done, and retire to your bedroom, which, incidentally, should not contain a TV or computer…just a nice, welcoming bed.

For the beauty-sleep aspect, select a satin or silk pillowcase, as it does not grip your hair or skin, and does not create those vertical lines from face-folding during side-sleeping. All that pressure on your face also wears down those beautiful fat pads that keep you youthful. Try to sleep on your back…place a pillow under your knees if you have low back pain. Use a relatively flat pillow when on your back; a pillow tall enough to support your head when you sleep on your side, so you don’t get neck strain.

Sleep interrupters, such as using the restroom, can be minimized by avoiding water intake an hour prior to bedtime. Men, if you have had increasing wakings, you may have prostate enlargement, so get your annual checks, and communicate with your physician if you have any changes in wakings, diameter of your urinary stream, difficulty with lovemaking, etc. Supplement with zinc to help the prostate along. If you have restless or crampy legs, take a magnesium supplement for a muscle-relaxant.

3. Optimize your body composition.  Weight loss is a rather nebulous term…you want to differentiate between fat loss and muscle loss. Yo-yo and trend-dieters tend to lose muscle…which is BAD.  The more muscle mass you have, the better your body can defend against injury, illness, cancer, etc. The activity also promotes bone growth and helps prevent or even reverse osteoporosis…even with just body-weight exercises.

Women tend to shy away from weight training, as they often believe they will get huge.  This happens only if you’re taking large amounts of testosterone and doing the wrong kind of training. Granted, even with moderate training, you will increase in size initially, as the hard-earned muscle pushes the fat to the periphery.  That may look a little dimply, but don’t be discouraged, and definitely don’t quit. Then, when you stay consistent after a few weeks, that fat layer will whittle down, and what you have left is a beautiful sweep of muscle. So, exercise consistently…start with 15 minutes a day…then 15 minutes a couple times a day…then 30 minutes a day, etc.  Just get moving. Add some lunges to the end of your walks or while you’re watching TV. If you had to choose, work the big muscles (the legs), as they will require more calories to maintain themselves (read: burn more calories at rest). You don’t have to spend hours a day at the gym. The effort, even in increments, adds up.

Then feed your muscles properly…eat lean protein or a protein shake within 30 minutes of exercise.  On a daily basis, reduce your intake of white foods (rice, bread, pasta), and stick to lean meats, fish, leafy vegetables. Minimize starchy vegetables, like potatoes, corn, or carrots.  Substitute couscous or quinoa for rice, as they have a much higher content of protein and fiber. Substitute black beans for refried beans. Ask for meat to be served on a salad instead of a bun. Ask for dressing on the side, and dip your salad into it for flavor and minimize the calories. Eat fruits high in antioxidants to fight free radicals that cause damage to your DNA. Keep track of meals and exercise on an app like MyFitnessPal.

And don’t forget taking a good multivitamin, fish oil (look for EPA 1000 mg or more daily…helps with inflammation on a cellular level… heart disease, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other chronic diseases have been linked to inflammation), and calcium citrate for women.

4.  Get your glow on.  Your skin will reflect your inner health, so be sure to follow steps 1-3 above. As for other beauty secrets…use a face brush to wash your face with every night. They look like a mushroom brush, or a large toothbrush. You may spend $200 on a Clarisonic, but just about any soft-bristled brush will do…even a non-battery-powered hand-held one. The brush acts to flick oil, makeup, and debris out of your pores, so it gives them a chance to reduce in size and give you baby-butt skin. The brush also helps to exfoliate, a process which occurs less with age, leading to dull, ashy skin…so help it along.

Use a face brush and a gentle facial cleanser  that is appropriate for your skin type. Many people with acne tend to overdry their skin and think it is caused by too much dirt. But the skin gets too dry, then creates more oil to compensate…then a vicious cycle begins. This happens to men as well, since they tend to have oily skin (which keeps them younger looking). They will often not use moisturizers because they think their skin is plenty oily, but their skin does need hydration as well. Simply select oil-free moisturizers and sunblock.  You may need to change your skin care regimen with the seasons…switch to a creamy cleanser in mid fall till spring.

As for serums, lotions, and potions…a good vitamin C serum is great to apply to the skin prior to sunblock every morning, to combat the damage caused by the sun…especially during the commuting hours, where your skin is haplessly being attacked by the sun passing through the useless tint on the car windows. Those few minutes every day accumulate to skin damage in the form of wrinkles, brown spots, and sagging skin.  Compare the right and left sides of your face.

Sunblock should be worn every day, since we are in Texas, and little water droplets called clouds do not block the evil sun rays. Select an SPF at least 30. Many sunblocks have micronized zinc or titanium, so they are not as zombifying as they used to be. Make sure you apply an ample amount. All sunblocks, even the water-proof ones, are good for only 80 minutes, so reapply every hour if you are outdoors.  If you are indoors all day, apply before you leave the house (preferably 30 minutes prior, so it has time to bind to your skin), and 30 minutes before you leave the office.

Well, hopefully these few resolutions will help get you started to a healthier, younger you. Make your goals, stick to them, and feel free to reward yourself for your efforts.  Good luck in the new year!