The New Year brings hope and promise of being a better year, which motivates many people to make resolutions. Making the resolution is the easy part … keeping them is the hard part. Here are some tips to help you stick to your goals.

1. Write your goals on sticky notes and put them where you’re most likely to see them everyday: on your laptop, on the bathroom mirror, on that box of cookies in the pantry that stares at you every day. When you’re constantly reminded of your goals, you’re more likely to stick to them.
2. Monitor your progress in a journal. Whether you had a good or bad day goal-wise, write it down. Being realistic with your goals and seeing your progress over time throughout the journal will help you commit.
3. Get an accountability partner. This could be your significant other, best friend or coworker. Someone who knows you well enough to ask about your progress and help keep you accountable.
4. Make it measurable. While you may have a large goal, try to break it down into smaller goals. This will help it seem more manageable and help you to keep to a schedule as well.
5. Reward yourself along the way. You’re doing a great job, so an occasional treat won’t hurt.

“What’s up with protein powder? What is it? Who needs it?”

I’m glad you asked! Protein powder is a growing fad and many people are jumping on the bandwagon. We’ll tell you all about what it is and who needs it in their diet.

Protein powder is a powdery mix that turns into a drink when it’s added to liquid, most commonly water. The three most popular forms are whey, soy and casein. It is an easy way to get a complete, high-quality protein meal.

So who needs protein powder? Everyone needs protein but certain people are looking to add more protein in their diets, such as:

• Athletes trying to build muscle
• People amping up their workouts, like for marathon training
• Growing teenagers
• People recovering from an injury
• Vegans

Protein powder can be helpful but before you run out to the store and stock up, remember that you can have a protein-rich diet with lean meat, chicken, fish, dairy, nuts and eggs. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines recommend that 30 percent of your daily diet comes from protein. So while protein powders may be delicious and easy, make sure you don’t over-do it.

Just when we think the snow has gone away for good, Mother Nature blows it right back in. However, it’s important to stay active during the colder months too in order to maintain a healthy body weight and healthy blood pressure. Not only that, but it helps improve your mood which is often affected by the weather. Here are some simple tips you can incorporate to your everyday routine:

1: Take the stairs instead of the elevator

2: Put on some music and dance while you’re making dinner

3: Walk around the mall (and leave the wallet at home)

4: Swim in an indoor pool

5: Pop in a fitness DVD at home

6: Shovel your driveway

7: The treadmill is your friend, not your enemy

8: Yoga

9: Take advantage of sunny days & go outside

10: Get a step counter to motivate you to walk more

11: Try an outdoor winter sport, such as ice skating

12: Deep clean your house

13: Run in place or do pushups while watching television

14: Park farther away from work

15: Play with your kids and pets

‘Tis the season for runny noses and sore throats. It’s easy to just brush it off and keep going on with your day, but not taking care of those early cold signs can lead to more serious illnesses. When you first feel your throat getting scratchy and your head hurting, take these precautionary tips to help you get over that darn cold.

1. Rest. It seems simple but it’s so underappreciated. When you keep going and going, your body has to work harder to keep up, so when you’re feeling under the weather it just has to work that much harder. Take an afternoon (or longer) to relax, go to bed earlier and maybe push that snooze button just a few more times.
2. Stay hydrated. Whatever is in your body needs to be expelled out of there. Water is usually good for this because oftentimes when we are sick, we get dehydrated from not wanting to eat or drink. But if you have a sore throat, try sipping some mint tea. It does wonders for the body.
3. Add moisture to the air. One simple way to do this is with a humidifier. Besides a low hum, you won’t even notice it there. Oftentimes our throat and nose become dry which causes a lot of the harsh scratchies we feel.
4. Relax. Sometimes we don’t feel that our bodies physically tense up from stress (even if we don’t feel stressed), which only adds to the growing cold. Stop, read a book, take a bath, do yoga.

Sugar. It’s addictive and something we all need to consume less. It’s the worst added ingredient that can contribute to a variety of health problems. Sugar is often hidden in the food and drinks we eat and drink – including some items we think are healthy. It’s important for you to know what sneaky other names manufacturers are using for sugar.

Here are some other names of sugar:

• Agave nectar
• Barbados sugar
• Barley malt
• Beet sugar
• Blackstrap molasses
• Brown rice sugar
• Brown sugar
• Buttered sugar
• Buttered syrup
• Cane juice crystals
• Cane sugar
• Caramel
• Carob syrup
• Castor sugar
• Coconut sugar
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Corn syrup solids
• Crystalline fructose
• Date sugar
• Demerara sugar
• Dextrain
• Dextrose
• Diastatic malt
• Diatase
• Ethyl maltol
• Evaporated cane juice
• Florida crystals
• Fructose
• Fruit juice
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Galactose
• Glucose
• Glucose solids
• Golden sugar
• Golden syrup
• Grape sugar
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Honey
• Icing sugar
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Malt syrup
• Maltodextrin
• Maltose
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Muscovado
• Organic raw sugar
• Panocha
• Raw sugar
• Refiner’s syrup
• Rice syrup
• Sorghum syrup
• Sucrose
• Treacle
• Turbinado sugar
• Yellow sugar

Meet Brad Gray: He’s Lost 70 Pounds at Body Bar MD.

When you tell your friends or family that you’re looking to lose weight, they probably adopt a didactic tone and tell you that you simply need to, “Eat less and exercise more.” That’s easier said than done. First of all, it makes most people want to throw up their hands and exclaim, “WOW, thank you so much! I’m cured! Why didn’t I think of that?” Second of all, though, that simplistic view of weight loss can be incorrect.

Any diet that recommends simply eating less than 1,200 calories per day (depending on your gender, age and weight) is almost 100 percent likely to be a step in the wrong direction. Although it makes sense to us that eating fewer calories will cause us to lose weight, you must be careful not to eat too little. Not consuming enough calories can cause your body to go into what’s called “starvation mode,” which is thought to have been an adaptation our ancestors developed for survival. During this time, your body stores the fat you consume and instead burns muscle to provide it with the calories it needs to function. Over time, this leads to a significant loss in muscle causing the metabolic rate to slow down. A slow metabolic rate means any weight loss you initially expected will not occur.

Another problem with the “eat less” philosophy is it doesn’t take what you eat into consideration. If you limit yourself to a certain number of calories, (let’s say 2,000 just for the purpose of the upcoming example), and eat every single one of those calories in doughnuts, it’s guaranteed you will feel sluggish and/or sick. You won’t ever feel full and you will probably feel yourself losing most of your muscle and replacing that muscle with fat. After all, 2000 calories is only 7-10 doughnuts for your entire day and those doughnuts have practically no nutritional value. Eating less in general is important if you previously consumed four full plates of food at breakfast, lunch and dinner. But eating less junk food and more healthy food is just as important for your health and weight loss goals.

There isn’t really a set number of calories you can consume that marks the difference between experiencing weight loss and going into starvation mode. It all depends, as previously mentioned, on your gender, age and weight. However, being patient with your diet and allowing yourself to eat when you’re hungry can prevent you from reaching that point. Seeking guidance and making a weight loss plan (as opposed to letting your ‘diet’ consist of 10 doughnuts per day) can help you achieve your weight loss goals while receiving proper nutrients and ensuring your body is healthy.

Quinoa is a rising popular food that still baffles many people. What is it, how is it good for you, what recipes can you make with it? Welcome to Quinoa 101: Your new go-to guide for everything quinoa.

What is it? Quinoa is a grain crop grown for its edible seeds in the Andes and Bolivia. It comes in three different types – white, red and black.

What makes it popular? Quinoa is gluten free and contains all nine essential amino acids necessary for good health.

Is it grown in the U.S.? Yes but it takes high elevation to grow properly, such as in the San Luis Valley in Colorado.

What is its claim to fame? The United States General Assembly declared 2013 as the Year of Quinoa. Sounds like a pretty big deal to us!

Fun Fact? It’s one of only very few plant foods considered a complete protein.

How can I add it to my diet? Blend it into a smoothie, use it instead of oatmeal, throw inside of quiche, make your own energy bars, mix in your salad, swap out for rice, toss it in chili, roll it in your burrito. Just get creative!