New Years Resolutions

You owe it to yourself to stay fit. Or at least not totally unfit (so if Homer Simpson is your current fitness role model, maybe you should re-think!).

There are many ways you can boost your fitness and they don't necessarily involve long work outs at the gym.

Walking or swimming are both good aerobic activities that can gently increase your fitness levels.

Buy a pedometer. Then log the steps you take every day. The very act of logging these will focus your attention on them and you'll find yourself automatically walking more.

If you're 40-something and want to regain some of that lost youthful energy, then check out Fit Over 40 for some useful and easy to implement ideas.

Losing weight should be simple. Eat less and hey presto you've lost pounds. Yeah, right.

Start by noticing the food you eat. Pay attention to the way it smells. Pay attention to the taste of each mouthful you eat. Put your cutlery down between each mouthful of food. Eat consciously! You'll be impressed by how good most of the food you're eating tastes. And if you are currently on a diet of boring, unimpressive, mass produced junk then this is the easiest way to notice.

Pay attention to your body. When your stomach sends an "I'm full" signal, listen to it. Push the plate away, even if there's unfinished food on it.

If you still need help, get hold of a copy of hypnosis weight loss. It's probably the easiest way to really lose those extra pounds

We've all met them, the smug people who can say "That's my last cigarette ever" and mean it.

But what about those of us stuck in the real world?

Patches have a success rate that's about the same as will power on it's own. So they're basically a waste of money.

Nicotine gum is still feeding your body nicotine. How's that supposed to help you kick the habit either?

Prescription drugs are available. But be careful to read up on the side effects in case any of them are attracted to you.

If you can afford it, a local NLP practitioner (especially if they come recommended by others) should have a success rate around 90% or more. It's not conventional and your doctor likely won't recommend it, but the number of people who have been permanently helped with NLP is impressive.

Next best - and still with an impressively high success rate - is hypnosis. Using hypnosis to quit smoking is simple and effective. If you can listen to an MP3 file, you're most of the way to quitting!

Giving up alcohol is something a lot of people do for the new year. It's an easy way to reduce the empty calories you're consuming. Your head feels clearer and your liver will thank you for it.

Some people find it easy to give up alcohol. Others find that social pressures make it more difficult.

You may be one of the people who can just drink the "mixer" and get away with it. If so, that's great! If you haven't tried it, give "mixer only" drinking a trial. No-one but you need know whether there's any rum in what they'll likely assume is a rum and coke. When it's not your turn to buy, just say you'd like a top-up of the mixer.

Cutting down on alcohol can work as well. Alternate between an alcoholic drink and a non-alcoholic one. Doing this means you've halved your alcohol consumption without much effort at all.

For more help on cutting down on alcohol, check this link.