New Year’s Resolutions

I sat down today to check on my electronic life with my cats

and a nice cup of tea,

along with a few left over bits of Christmas baking (hey, someone has to eat them and once they are gone… no more sweets in my kitchen!),

when I read yet another New Year’s Resolutions post on Facebook. The article, “Fifteen things Canadians can do to be healthier this year“, both intrigued and spoke to me, and not just because of the cute images, but because each of the “things” was contributed by a well known and/or authoritative Canadian.

Not surprisingly a third of the suggestions had to do with exercise or a bit more than a third if the items about wearing a helmet (presumably for skiing, skating, sailing, skateboarding, etc.) or the one about breathing (aka meditation) are included in this group. The remaining topics were about food or other lifestyle choices. Amazingly there was no direct mention about stopping one’s sugar intake as was mentioned in a different article I read recently, unless, the suggestion to “Clean up your kitchen” by “minimizing foods that have been processed” can apply to sugar consumption. Anyway, I’m going to give that a try.

Of course I loved all the exercise contributions, but my favourite one, perhaps because of its humorous twist was “Try a revolutionary ‘new’ treatment” by Mike Evans, staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, associate professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Toronto. His concluding statement says it all: “If I had to pick one thing, I’d say movement is the best medicine.” The piece, “Shake a leg”, by Greg Wells, assistant professor at the University of Toronto and associate scientist of physiology and experimental medicine, the Hospital for Sick Children, pretty much says the same thing, but I believe multiple reminders to get up and move are worth repeating over and over again.

The items by Simon Whitfield, Olympic gold and silver medalist in the triathlon, “Invest in yourself”, and “Take it outside”, by Raymond Lam, professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and director of the Mood Disorders Centre, UBC Hospital, speak to me in so many ways. Both of these are credences that I live by and I can highly recommend.

There are so many ways to articulate New Year’s Resolutions, but for me, I’m going to carry on exercising and trying to find balance in my life, through proper eating, yoga, travel, reading, meditation, cat hugging, dog petting, friendships, family ties…. All the good things in life and none of the bad.

Wishing you all the best for 2014.