Page 14 - AAA North jersey – AAA Now! – January/February 2018

SLEEP RIGHT
By Christina Elston
New Year’s resolutions are fun, but your health is a year-round concern. So instead of breaking promises to yourself by mid-March, pick up three simple habits that will stick with you throughout the year.
“We’ve become a very sleep-deprived society,” said Dr. Lawrence Epstein, medical director of clinical sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. That’s because we don’t pay attention to our bodies’ cues.
If your schedule permits, spend a week going
to bed when you’re tired and sleeping until you naturally wake up, to see how much sleep your body needs. “Most people will find that it’s more than they’re actually getting,” Epstein said. You could also add 30 minutes of nightly sleep each week until you hit your sweet spot.
You’ll feel better and be more productive, and you won’t need to sleep in on weekends.
EAT YOuR VEGGIES
Eating 21⁄2 cups of vegetables each day provides essential nutrients, plus fiber that squeezes less- healthful foods out of your diet.
Add veggies to your breakfast smoothie or bake an egg-and-vegetable casserole that you can slice and heat all week, suggests Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokesperson and registered dietitian Libby Mills. Remember to pack a healthy lunch (and save some cash).
Half of your dinner plate should be filled with vegetables, but it doesn’t have to be all one type, Mill says. Add a second option of a different color just for fun. “You can just know that you’re doing something super healthy for your body,” Mills said. That makes each meal an instant success.
MAKE YOuR STEPS COuNT
About 84 percent of us get no regular exercise, says Walter R. Thompson, president
of the American College of
Sports Medicine. Moving from
zero to 10,000 steps a day
is too big a leap, so he suggests taking it slow. Park your car farther from your destination. Take the stairs.
“As you start making those small adjustments,
you become more used to them and you become more comfortable making long-term adjustments,” Thompson said. Next, track your daily steps for one week and increase the amount every month, until you reach 10,000.
Eventually, you’ll be ready to join a gym, take a class, play a sport or go cycling with friends. But by then, you’ll be able to stick with it.
lifesTYle
Live Well –
Health Habits to
Change This Year
While It’s Hot – Limited Time Discounts
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