A diet is more than what you eat.

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Another year in the rearview mirror and great expectations for the year ahead of us.  Many of us decide we want to lose weight so decide the new year is the perfect time to start a diet.  After all new year, new you right?

That’s a good place to start but this year, maybe you should expand what you think about the word diet.  Diet is more than the food you eat. It can be anything you consume including what you watch, what you read, what you listen to, and the people you are around.

As you would when you eliminate things from your nutrition program such as sugar or soda, you might want to take a good hard look at everything else that may need eliminating.  After all, garbage in garbage out as the saying goes. Below are a few things for you to take a closer look at it:

• Amount of time you watch television or videos online.   One of the biggest time wasters is watching TV. In addition, it can have a negative impact on your overall health and well being.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the average TV viewing time at 2.8 hours – ON THE LOW SIDE.  For those that are home most of the day, that number is much higher.  But here is the scary part. There are studies that have tied TV watching to Type 2 Diabetes, depression and weight gain.  As soon as that TV screen is turned on, we turn into vegetables and don’t move off the couch UNLESS it’s to get a snack.  This year, make one of your resolutions to reduce the amount of time you watch television.
• What you read.  Again, garbage in garbage out.  Similar to television, there are so many options for reading materials for you and your family YET not all books and other reading material are created equal nor are they all true.  When people write, they are writing from their perspective but not all solutions may fit your particular need.  As an example, you have been doing a lot of soul searching about making a lifestyle change and feel good about the decision you have reached.  You then come across an article on the internet that has a completely different perspective.  All of the sudden, you are not sure about that decision that you felt good about 5 minutes earlier.  Like television, you must be the keeper of the gate and take control of what you read and let into your head.  As I tell my daughters, say no to Doctor Google.
• The people in your life.  This can be a really tough one to deal with for many of us but the fact of the matter is the more toxic a person is, the more you need to limit the time you spend with them.  We have all at one time or another had to deal with a toxic person in our lives.  They are draining aren’t they? They can also have you questioning your life and perspective and that is where you must draw the line.  A toxic person’s main concern is themselves and everything they do is self-serving. They are manipulative. They are judgmental. They never apologize when wrong. And most important, they are never interested in what is important to you.  Unfortunately, many times those people are family. So what can you do? Bottom line, if there is a relationship in your life that makes you feel bad about yourself, it is time to sit down and discuss the issue with that person.  Keep in mind that they may be unwilling to change or feel they are not the issue.  If that is the case, you need to be ready to limit the time you spend with that person.   At the end of the day, the only person you can change is yourself.

Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean me first. It means me too.  Have a wonderful first week of 2019!

To your health,

Denise

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