If you’re more of a Twitter person, then you’ll be happy to know that you can now follow me @gotsas. I’m just getting started here, so I’d welcome your support. SaS is all about helping each other live healthier ever after, so the more we connect, the more impact we’ll have.

But most exciting of all, the program Smarts and Stamina for the New Year went so well that Kathryn and I will be teaching 2 new rounds between now and the summer. Retitled Smarts Ways to Build Stamina, this 8-week online program is all about getting you to your health goals in the most effortless and sustainable way possible. Whether you want to focus more on your sleep, food, mood or exercise habits, we’ll open up our bag of resources and help you get there. The program can be entirely done from the comfort of your home, and at your pace.  It’s getting rave reviews from its current participants.  Here’s an example, coming from Jo in Australia:

Please take a minute to check out the course by clicking here. But act fast!  Our early bird special ends Thursday, February 23rd.

Questions about the economy have consumed the world media of the past few years. We ask, “what is wrong with the economy?” and “How can it be fixed?” But few people have asked the question we should be asking… “What’s the economy for, anyway?”

This is the question that authors John De Graaf and David K. Batker ask in their new book (aptly titled,) “What’s the Economy For Anyway? Why it’s Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness.” Throughout the book they question governments’ reliance on economic growth (GDP) as a sole measure of success in spite of the fact that GDP growth is correlated to a variety of negative societal outcomes including crime and prisons, less leisure time and lower quality of life, and overconsumption of natural resources.

Economists and positive psychologists often talk about the “progress paradox” in the U.S. showing that as we have risen in wealth over recent decades we haven’t seemed to be able to convert that wealth into greater happiness for our citizens. We attribute this paradox to a variety of factors including the relative nature of happiness (we are only happier if we are doing better by comparison, not when everyone is doing better,) the paradox of choice (wealth brings more choices, which leads to greater stress and more regret from all the options we pass up,) and the “hedonic treadmill” (the fact that we quickly adapt to positive changes in our environment and so happiness is elusive and seems to always be just out of reach.)

But there is one seemingly uncontroversial area where economic growth is better for people, and that is our health. Economic progress has brought with it medical knowledge, technology and innovation that keeps us healthier and living longer. And yet, the most shocking finding of De Graaf and Batker’s book is that American health has gone up during the recession of recent years, not down. They cite a report from economist Christopher Ruhm showing that a 1% rise in unemployment during a recession corresponds with a .5% drop in mortality.

Apparently, in every recession, health goes up and not down. The authors report a variety of reasons for this surprising finding:

1. Although suicide rates go up for people who lose their jobs, many people are able to use their newfound free time to learn new things, take up new hobbies or passions, socialize with friends and family, and generally think more about their health.

2. For those who are able to hold onto their jobs, although they have some increased stress from taking on the burden of more work and less people, many employers will also reduce overtime, encourage job sharing, or consider work furloughs that give people more free time to pursue leisure and health related activities.

3. In general, “people have more time and less money.” They have time to sleep, exercise and visit with friends and family more than before. And with less money, they drink less, smoke less, and eat less.

GDP is a measure of consumption, For people at the poorest end of the economic spectrum, an increase in wealth can help them get access to food and medicine that they desperately need to live a healthy lifestyle. But consumption is not always healthy. Once you get above the poverty line, healthy consumption quickly becomes overconsumption and begins to take a negative toll on our health and our happiness. Taking the foot off the GDP gas pedal from time to time can be a good thing.

—

References and recommended reading:

De Graaf, J. & Batker, D. K. (2011). What’s the Economy For Anyway? Why it’s Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness. Bloomsbury Press.

Photo courtesy of CarbonNYC

Besides coming to my talk, you’ll also be able to connect face-to-face online and interact with some of the world’s top experts, authors, and speakers in the health and nutrition field, including Dr. Alejandro Junger (author of CLEAN and founder of The CLEAN Program), Brendan Brazier (author/speaker and founder of VEGA Foods), Andrea Beaman (author and TV host), Dr. Bernie Siegal (world-renown doctor), Dr. Caldwell Essylstein (featured doctor in the documentary “Forks Over Knives”), and about 25 more.

These interactive sessions are all provided free of charge with the aim of fostering a movement of greater health, happiness, and success among people all over the world. Check out this video to learn more about it.

Please help spread the word and let more people know about these incredible sessions!  Thanks!

A lot of newsletters encourage us to say “No!” to energy vampires – and with good reasons.  You don’t need that kind of contact in your network, they’ll say, so stop spending time and energy in human black holes.  That’s reasonable advice.

Who calls for champagne?

But equally important is to be aware of the people who care about the good events in your life and who help you make the most of them. Who asks you what specifically got you promoted and then responds “Champagne!” when you’ve explained it? Who helps you go from feeling good, to feeling larger than life?

These are the people you need in your life. Interacting with them not only makes you feel good in the moment, but also keeps your heart in shape and your immune function strong.

But you probably already knew that, so let’s take this reflection to the next level: how often do you return the favor? Do you react to their good news with the joy and pride that they give you when you share yours? If you want more of these good people around, you just have to make sure they want to see more of you too!

Like this tip?  Check out Celebrate Good Times on p. 174 of our book for more details and associated recommendations.

24 Front Kicks = 30 seconds

Wrinkling your eyebrows? Let me illustrate with something I do every day – making cappuccino for lunch.

I found myself getting really bored watching the second hand on the kitchen timer for 30 seconds while I ground my coffee. Then I figured out that it takes me approximately 30 seconds to do 12 high kicks with each leg. Voilà! I’ve invented a new coffee-grinding timer that gets my heart pumping faster. I put the coffee in the grinder, press down on the lid, and kick 12 times with my right leg, 12 times with my left leg, trying to kick as fast and high as possible. When I’m done, the coffee is ready to go in the machine.

While the milk steams, my balance improves

Steaming the milk used to be almost as boring as timing the coffee grinding. But now I’ve started doing single leg squats – not very deep – first with my right leg while I steam my milk, then with my left leg while I steam my husband’s milk. My doctor suggested this exercise to increase balance. I just stand on one leg and bend my knee as far as I can and still stay upright. So while my milk steams, my balance improves.

Sometimes I’ll switch to calf raises or stretches while the milk steams, just to get a little variety (and hit another leg on the solid exercise program).

Want more ideas like these?  See Exercise on Company Time on p. 192 and A Solid Exercise Program Has Four Legs on p. 200 of our book.

Images
High kick courtesy of doctano
Microfoam courtesy of ahemler

But if you’re like me (and pretty much everybody I know for that matter!), you may need a little hand with your resolutions.  So before a “same old same old” feeling ruins your positive vibes, here are 3 suggestions to consider:

• Make sure to have lots of positive reminders for your new intentions visibly in sight. For example, if you want to do a better job managing your stress this year, change your computer password to “relax2012″ and make your screen saver say “I am in control”.  You can also formally schedule a 10-minute break each day to meditate or go for a walk and have your calendar alert you when the time comes each day. Carry a card in your wallet that says “when a door closes, a window opens” and have a candle in your restroom so you can take care of your bedtime prep in a soft soothing light. With your intentions not being out of sight, they won’t be out of mind!
   
• Check out my appearance on Women Speak Radio. Dr. Nancy and I will help you discover why you inevitably want to dive in the tub of ice cream after a long day at work – and how to change that unfortunate pattern.  If you are prone to emotional eating every now and then, this is a show you won’t want to miss!  Available January 6th through the 11th.
   
• Join my co-author Kathryn and me for “Smarts and Stamina for the New Year“, an online class starting January 16th. We will give you all the techniques you need to make 2012 the last year you resolve to … (fill in the blank with pretty much anything you’ve resolved more than once!).  More specifically, we’ll show you how to:
  • Get out of the one thinking trap that can kill your ability to feel capable of change
  • Sleep tight at night and avoid insomnia
  • Enjoy healthier foods and stop emotional eating
  • Cultivate a sunny mood and silence that internal voice that criticizes you
  • Fit exercise into your day

In your future, you see holiday meals and potluck buffets. All that traditional, tempting holiday food! This year, you’ve resolved to eat reasonably, but when you face the delicious spread, you are afraid that your will-power will melt faster than the candles illuminating the table.

So what do you do? Here are 10 strategies for enjoying the holiday food in moderation.

1. Be Prepared. Studies by Roy Baumeister of Florida State University and colleagues demonstrate a small dose of carbohydrate can help replenish a depleted ability to self-regulate. So don’t go to the feast completely starving. If you deprive yourself of food prior to the event, not only will your will power be in short supply, but your ability to rationalize overeating will also be increased, quite a counter-productive strategy.

2. Pace Dishes. Start out with the healthier options, such as the the veggie tray, before you look at the buttery puffed pastries and other creamy bites. You can fill up on the good stuff and be stronger for what follows.

3. Choose a small plate (or bring one with you) and pick the smallest cutlery. The amount we eat is very affected by the size of the plates and utensils we use. Paul Rozin of the University of Pennsylvania has found that Americans use larger serving dishes than Europeans, and that when smaller dishes are used, people eat less.

4. Navigate the Trays Wisely. To maximize profits, commercial buffets tend to place cheaper foods in areas that are most accessible because they know that patrons are more likely to serve themselves more of it. Pick your own strategy by spending more time where the lighter foods are the easiest to grab.

Holiday bouquet

5. Decorate.The more abundant the food, the more we eat. If you are the host, trade some of the space given to food for fresh flower bouquets or other decorations. This will make your spread look plentiful without having to serve more food.

6. Water It Down. Replacing one or two alcoholic beverages with water can easily shave as much as 300 empty calories off your meal, not to mention that it helps fill up the stomach quicker. If you are the host, make water available and appealing by adding slices of strawberries, orange, lemon, or lime or perhaps mint leaves. This option is tasty, interesting, and full of vitamins!

7. Just the Right Size. People tend to agree that “one is appropriate.” If you take a piece of pie weighing 10 ounces, that’s what you will eat. If you take half a slice, you are very likely to stop at 5 ounces. Hosts, try serving your desserts in small pre-cut pieces. (Caution here! If the serving is so small that it looks bite-size, the strategy will backfire!)

Family Wii time

8. Get Moving.Suggest an activity shortly after the meal to detract attention away from eating and towards connecting. If that activity involves mild caloric expenditure, such as a Wii or ping-pong tournament, dancing, or walking in the neighborhood to admire decorations, you get bonus points. Your holiday get together will have more to offer than just food.

9. No! To Arm Twisters and Guilt Attacks. Catch yourself before you tell others that they have to taste every dish, that one more drink won’t kill them, or that they should indulge a bit more. If somebody talks that way to you, change the subject or move away. If you overdo at one feast, don’t load yourself down with guilt. Look over these strategies. Is there one you needed to pay more attention to?

10. Yes! To a Buddy System. Getting peer support is an important booster of self control. If food acts on you like a magnet on metal, ask a buddy to nudge you if you go overboard. If that’s not enough to discourage you, take a formal bet to make a $100 contribution to a charity chosen by your accomplice for each plate of food you eat past your main course and dessert. That should do it!

Of course, you may want to give yourself carte blanche to eat whatever you want since the holidays are the last week of the year. If that’s your choice, just remember that the expression “use it or lose it” applies to self-regulation too. So you might want to find other ways to flex your self-control muscle over the holidays. Exercising or meditating every day would be good choices.

Happy Holidays everyone!  May 2012 be filled with peace, warmth, health, and accomplishments!

Images

Holiday Feast courtesy of Amanda Yepiz
Sunrise Bouquet courtesy of Vladimer Shioshvili
Learning the Wii courtesy of Tim Meaney

Big thanks to Kathryn who helped me update the version of this article I published 3 years ago in Positive Psychology News Daily.

While most of us feel inspired by that clean slate at the turn of the year, the vast majority of resolutions will end in frustration before the second week of February. Why? Because we think that all we need to change a habit is a good dose of willpower, when in reality research shows that self-discipline alone really isn’t enough. In fact, University of Hertfordshire researchers followed 2,000 people and found that those who relied solely on their own willpower failed inside 2 weeks!

Make 2012 your breakthrough year. Make it what you’ll remember as the year in which you stopped stumbling over hurdles and learned to handle them effectively. Kathryn Britton and I are launching a 6-week online class starting January 16th called Smarts and Stamina for the New Year. It will teach you a process to make your health-related resolutions stick – this year and every other thereafter.

The course is based on the concepts and activities in our Healthy Living Amazon bestselling book, Smarts and Stamina: The Busy Person’s Guide to Optimal Health and Performance.

Since this is the initial launch of this program, we are offering it at a much discounted rate of $20 per week, or $120. But wait!  The first 8 people to register get it for only $97. Don’t delay, only 4 spots are still available at the early bird discounted rate!  Click here to join today!

But improving one habit is already a challenge, never mind improving habits in 4 categories! Agreed, doing so can sound daunting and effortful (if you don’t know my full process, that is ), so today I’d like to share ways that will improve your health and simultaneously save your energy.

1. Sleep All You Need:The vast majority of adults living in the developed world are sleep deprived.  Sleep deprivation is the cause of many suboptimal bodily processes, such as poorer brain power and weaker immune function.As if this wasn’t challenging enough already, lack of sleep also causes our biochemical activity to be out-of-whack, which in turn makes it harder for us to implement other healthy behaviors. (For more about how this works, click here.) So sleeping enough is definitely a great step in the right direction.
2. Eat by Design:Food can serve many purposes other than nutrition. We often use it for celebration, distraction, consolation, or as a way to connect with others. Paying attention to all the ways you use food, and then replacing purposes other than nutrition with something else can make a big difference.For example, rather than celebrate at a bar or restaurant, why not do it with a manicure and pedicure, or with a round of golf? If you wonder why this fits in my lazy strategies, it’s because it has to be a very clear rule, taking any debating out of the process. Am I hungry?  If the answer is no, then food isn’t an option. Turn to something else.
3. Do a Mini:The nervous system is divided in 2 parts: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems (SNS and PNS). The 2 function much like the gas and brake pedals on your car (as Wayne Jencke describes here). To arrive safely to a destination in a car, you’ll need to use both pedals. Similarly, if you want to maintain good health, you’ll need a balance between your SNS and PNS.Since modern lifestyles tend to overstimulate the SNS, regular relaxation sessions to boost the PNS are in order. To do so, close your eyes and take deep and full belly breaths while mindfully quieting your internal chatter. Doing this for just a few minutes several times a day can make a difference.
4. Don’t Make It a Big Production:We all have an internal lawyer that is ready to argue the case for whatever we want.  For example, if you’re in the mood to go for a walk, your internal lawyer will preach the benefits of outdoors exercise. If you’re not in the mood for a walk, then your internal lawyer will bring up the possibility of rainfall or remind you that you are a little short on time.One way our internal lawyers rationalize inactivity is by arguing that exercise takes a lot of preparation and recovery. I once worked with someone we’ll call Jane.  When I first met Jane, she thought that she needed to have eaten a light meal at least 2 hours before any workout session, brought her favorite gear including her most comfortable underwear and socks, her water bottle, a sweat headband, and a stop watch, planned for at least 75 minutes but at a time when the gym was not crowded, be prepared with photos of the latest moves from her favorite magazine and with her iPod filled up with her favorite songs, have a change of clothes, a brush, and hair dryer on hand, and have enough time to redo her hair post-workout – all this before she could head to the gym. Whew! I’m tired just thinking about it! So the point here is, whatever requirements you have for yourself prior to being active, see if you can lower the bar, and make it simpler for you to start a workout.
5. Exercise on Company Time:Taking advantage of any chance to move around and be active contributes to a stronger, leaner body. On a long conference call?  Do it standing, and perhaps you could pace in your office, do a few calf raises or discreet knee bends at the same time. Meeting with colleague? Go for a walk-and-talk session. Time to use the restroom? Go to the one on the next floor, and if no one is in there at the same time, use the counter-top to do a few push-ups. Keeping your body as active as possible will make a difference in your health, weight, and alertness.

I presented these strategies to Karel Vredenburg’s Life Habits podcast series, available here on iTunes. If you liked them and want to learn more, check out Smarts and Stamina: The Busy Person’s Guide to Optimal Health and Performance, which I co-wrote with Kathryn Britton. Please excuse the shameless self-promotion, but I think it can make a fabulous holiday gift, since most of us have a hard time following through on our resolutions… Speaking of which, if you’d like support with your 2012 resolutions, here’s a 6-week program to help you do just that.

This article is posted simultaneously on Positive Psychology News.

Sources:

Bauer, K. & Sokolok, C. (2002). Basic nutrition counseling: Skill development. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Benson, H. (November 2010). Introduction to the relaxation response & the biopsychosocial- spiritual model of health. Presented at the Harvard Medical School conference, One-Day in Mind-Body Medicine. Boston, MA.

Dement, W. (2000). The promise of sleep: A pioneer in sleep medicine explores the vital connection between health, happiness, and a good night’s sleep. New York: Random House.

Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient wisdom. New York: Basic Books.

Kessler, D. A. (2009). The end of overeating: Taking control of the insatiable American appetite. New York: Rodale.

Kimiecik, J. (2002). The intrinsic exerciser: Discovering the joy of exercise. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Shaar, M.J. & Britton, K. (2011).  Smarts and Stamina: The Busy Person’s Guide to Optimal Health and Performance. Philadelphia, PA: Positive Psychology Press.
Images
Sleeping Tiger courtesy of Tambako the Jaguar

Active Dad & Son courtesy of Scott Ableman

We’ll talk about our overscheduled lives, how to avoid feeling overwhelmed, and how giving our bodies a little TLC can go a long way in terms of increased productivity.

Come meet me, let’s have coffee (I’ll have tea!) and chat about how to live a better life. Here are the details:

- Towne Book Center & Café: 220 Plaza Drive, Collegeville, PA (right across from Wegmans)

- Wednesday, November 30th 2011, 7-8PM

- RSVP: 610-454-0640

Hope to see you there!  ;-)