What goals have you set regarding your health?
By Dominique25
@Dominique25 (9464)
United States
August 23, 2011 9:55am CST
Last night I was reading up on information about soda. I know that soda isn't good for me. But I just absolutely love a nice cold can of it. I'm going to set a goal to go a whole month without drinking it. I'm pretty sure that I can do this it just it taste so good. And whenever we go out somewhere I prefer to have it. There is so much sugar, sodium,carbonation, and caffeine in it. I wish it could taste good without it:). I don't mind drinking water but I like some flavor to my drinks every now and then. I think though for me to stop drinking pop would be a good thing. What health goals have you set or done? How is or has it gone for you? Were you happy with the results.
1 person likes this
12 responses
@BLTLife (337)
• United States
23 Aug 11
if you are looking to set small goals regarding health, the best would be to eliminate all the empty calories in your life and study nutritional facts religiously. all you need to do for better health is pretty much excercise, don't stuff yourself, and eat nutritionally whole foods. soda is empty calories. all it is is terrible carbs, not complex ones that give you energy, terrible sugars, and sodium. it's all terrible! stay hydrated. i recommend if you dislike the real taste of things, find a fake sweetener that you like. truvia/stevia, splenda. diet isn't ideal, but it might make the skip to water better. don't drink juice/juice cocktail, those are NEVER good for you. even as nutritional as they have you believe. flavor your water with things like cucumber, lemon, lemongrass, etc if you want flavor. these are incredibly healthy and tasty things! and there are drink mixes, but make sure they are calorie-free. there is also tea, which can be sweetened with a bit of honey (don't go overboard here!)
but you should strive for eight 12oz glasses of water a day. it will improve your life tremendously. your skin, your immune system, everythign will function so much better! water is the essence of life!
hope this helps.
as for goals i've set for myself, i am trying to phase out all caloric drinks, nutritionally empty foods, processed foods, etc etc and form better eating habits :) i'm also trying to figure out an excercise routine for myself.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
Yes having things with empty calories aren't good. They don't provide any nutrition and are very bad for our health. Unfortunately there are so many things that can be considered empty calories. Find things that are healthy takes a little time and effort. Especially to plan meals that are healthy. Thanks for recommending different sweeteners that I could use, and the ideas for flavoring water. I've never tasted lemongrass so that would be a new and different taste.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
20 Sep 11
I like things that are natural and good for us. It makes me feel so much better. I enjoy going to the health food stores and meijers because they have a good selection of organic and natural products that I can buy for my family. You have a new baby? Awe that is great. Do you have a girl or boy. I have a little girl. She is so precious. Our only child. She keeps us busy as well.
@BLTLife (337)
• United States
25 Aug 11
well, it's really not that hard if you know basic food science and are aware of your taste palate. i'm not saying it's very easy, but basic knowledge will save you a lot of hiccups if you plan good meals for yourself. you can even eat better when you go out a lot of the time, but its best not to go out very often anyway (you pay for the food to taste good! what makes food taste good? FAT :))
as for sweetners, splenda is the best because it's made FROM sugar, and now they come in varieties that include vitamins/fiber in them. it's called sucralose, instead of aspartame, like in equal or sweet n low. supposedly better for you, i think it tastes better too.
beware if it says sweetened naturally, because it is more than likely truvia or stevia or whatever which tastes just like splenda (to me) but it's not a fake sugar or anything... it is natural, but idk, it tastes the same.
flavoring water is a great idea because you get nutrients from things :) even a slice of lemon or lime is great and refreshing. i will indulge once in awhile with a cherry pepsi but otherwise its all water and unsweet tea for me. and i do feel alot better after getting rid of soda.
next the processed foods :| its so hard for me to not eat frozen stuff! i hardly have time or money to really sit down and plan a meal. new baby = busy busy busy
@bounce58 (17385)
• Canada
24 Aug 11
I can't do this cold-turkey!
Like you, I also like sodas. Diet coke to be more specific. I have it with everything, and everytime, even before I go to bed.
Early this year, I decided to cut my consumption of Diet Coke. I will not cut it off completely, but I would drink less and less. I've moved on from the can, I just buy the big bottles. And everytime I want some, I just pour myself half a cup.
It's going good so far. Maybe in the future, I'll make it less even more.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
25 Aug 11
I completely understand where you are coming from. Soda just taste so good. It's nice to have a glass or can when I work on the computer. Me, I guess i would say I'm a drinker. I've always got to have something to drink when I'm online. When it's hot I prefer a soda. When it's a bit cooler I like coffee. I think it's a huge comfort thing for me as well.
@airasheila (5454)
• Philippines
24 Aug 11
Good day Dominique25,
Since I am already old so I need to consider some points as to how to maintain my health. As I dont want to drink and maintain any medicines when I have reach the age of 50. So as early as now, I am doing some precautionary measures for me to not to drink any medicines at all.
With reference to the above, I am doing a daily habit of exercise. As I am doing this religiously in order for me to keep going. Aside from that, I am watching carefully what I eat. As the saying goes, you are what you eat. So I eat foods which is less in fat and I dont eat meat that often. And I am proud to say, that I am indeed happy for the outcome.
Have a nice day and wish you a great health.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
25 Aug 11
I'm so happy that you are able to meet your goals. I think exercising regularly and eating health is essential for us to maintain our health. I would like to go walking more, perhaps early in the morning while it is still cool. My schedule is so hectic that I've got to figure out how to schedule this. I consider my self a third shift worker. I work most of the time in the evening while my daughter is asleep. That's when I'm able to get the most done. Then I sleep for about 7 hours and I'm up with her for the rest of the day. So I think that I need to exercise really early in the morning for about at least a half hour. That would make me feel better.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
All those are things we need to do regularly. Doing these will help us to have a balance in our lives. Sometimes for me i need to balance them more. Thanks so much for sharing your response regarding your health activities.
@alquizar (480)
• Philippines
24 Aug 11
I used to drink softdrinks before but now as much as possible I will avoid drinking it instead I will drink lots of water to help replenish my body and it really do help me a lot in my health because I feel clean inside and it really help in keeping my skin healthy.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
Avoiding softdrinks is a good thing. It is bad for our bodies in many different ways. Like you mentioned when we don't have soda our skin even feels and looks healthy. I think I will feel much better once I stop drinking soda. I will diffinitely be able to notice the results.
@lavender_000 (13)
•
24 Aug 11
I realised health is very important last year.So I decided to keep runing or doing other sports.Then sometimes I am busy to forget it .But I will do sports like pingpong ...I find that doing a sport which myself love is a happy thing and it is good for my health .
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
Yeah continuing to be active is a very good thing. I have diffinitely got to do better in this regard. I work from home and so most of the time I'm home working online and taking care of my daughter. So I've got to set some type of goal in walking or something like that. It's just so much easier to exercise when we have a partner.
@GemmaR (8517)
•
23 Aug 11
I have always been overweight, and this year I decided that I would do something about it. I wish to get my weight down to 10 stone, and I am 14 stone at the moment. I have already lost 4 stones as I used to weight 18 stones, so that means that I am doing very well with this and I am over half way there to meeting my goal. I exercise every day and don't eat junk foods anymore. It's good for me, and my entire body feels a lot better than I used to when I was heavier. I hope that I will reach my target by early in the New Year. At the rate that I'm going, I see no reason to believe that I won't.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
I'm so happy for you. That you are doing well losing your weight. There are a few things that I found online that are free that can help us to stay fit and healthy. The three that I found were fat secret dot com, my fitness pal dot com, and sparklepeople dot com. I love finding free resources that can help us reach our goal. I hope that you continue to have great success in all your goals.
@Simon1223 (903)
• China
23 Aug 11
In my view, you'd better not set too many goals regarding your health, or you may feel it's difficult to achieve them. Drinking soda itself is not harmful to your health unless you drink too much or too frequently. In the daily life, I only set two goals regarding health for myself. One is that do not focus on one certain food or beverage. The other is that doing exercises regularly for instance three or four times a week. I'm quite sure that if I could follow these two rules I could keep myself healthy.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
I agree that it's a good idea to work on only a few health goals at a time. This way we are able to focus more. I would say that I drink one can of pop a day. I don't know if that's a lot by others standards but I feel it's a lot for me. I think your goals are good and because you haven't set a lot it will be easier to do.
@Fireheart (683)
• India
23 Aug 11
Well regarding my health i would try to stay fit by going to gym and eating healthy vegetable and so far i have avoiding external source of food such as fries and caffeine's, and also i have sodas and stuff that gives you gas a lot, drinking lot of water is best and with some proper food timing, all this so far am healthy and am quite happy with it.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
I'm glad that you are doing well with your health goals. I have a membership to the gym I need to start going more. With my little girl it can be difficult to schedule timing right unless I go really late in the evening when she's sleeping. I need to get more vegetables as well I don't care for vegetables all that well. But I could work on these because it will help me feel better and help my health.
@katie0 (5203)
• Japan
24 Aug 11
Well I became Vegan and stopped smoking, I think it couldn't get healthier but now I'm also checking the calories, the vitamins on the packs, wich I didn't used to do. It's amazing how we become more aware knowing the calories. I take my calcium in soy milk, brocolis and many delicious stuff. Proteins from soy 'meat', hamburguers and vegan 'meat' balls, tofu. I work out and feel strong in the muscles.
Spider Man's Toby McGuire is vegan for example and we can see how gorgeous his body became to star on spiderman.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
I'm sure that being a vegetarian is very healthy. All the food you eat seems to be very good for you,and that it is very balanced. I didn't know that Toby McGuire was a vegetarian. We learn something new everyday. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me.
@bobosusanwang (135)
• China
24 Aug 11
I used to have a lot of unhealthy food,but now I think the home cooked foods are the best,so if possible,I would go home and have dinner with my family to enjoy the food prepared.
I don't always deny the unhealthy food with the flavor I like,but not too much.I want to live as long and as healthy as I can. :P
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
I agree cooking home cooked meals are so much better for us. It is nice to be able to have dinner at home with our family. I really want to set a good example for my daughter in this regard to eat healthy. Cooking things that are healthy benefits everyone and helps us to feel better.
@ennaira (16)
• Philippines
24 Aug 11
too much of something is bad. it's not bad to drink soda as long as it is in moderation. but if you really want to try to set a goal and try to get rid of it for a certain span of time, then you need to have self-discipline. me, i've tried not to drink any soda for two yrs. i only drink water and/or fruit juices. if you are really determined you can achieve your goal. so goodluck!
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
24 Aug 11
I agree that self-discipline is needed in all the goals that we set for ourselves. I feel it's important to be able to keep ourselves motivated. That is awesome that you haven't drank soda in two years. I think that it would be awesome to reach a goal like that. I'm sure my whole taste since towards soda would be different after 2 years.