Better late than never: resolutions 2013

Your decision to diet in 2013 may have already crumbled like that last shortbread munched in the late-night glow of refrigerator light, but plenty of experts at the University of Toronto say it’s never too late to improve your life with a few small tweaks and tips. Reap year-round benefits from these twists on New Year’s resolutions:

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO… READ THE CLASSICS

Sure, their adventures are epic, but the equally epic size of classics like War and Peace or Ulysses can thwart even the best intentions. Toronto Poet Laureate and U of T English professor, George Elliott Clarke, comes to the rescue with book suggestions as prestigious as they are accessible.

“American poet Ezra Pound says, ‘Literature is news that STAYS news,’ and that insight applies definitely to a ‘classic,’” says Clarke.

To help you get into some modern classics with relevance and bite, Clarke suggests these contemporary epic poems in English:

Derek Walcott's Omeros (1990) “showcases the Nobel Laureate's mastery of canonical Western texts--Homer's Odyssey, Dante's Divine Comedy--but also recasts these seminal works to narrate the complex history of African slavery, British imperialism, and Caribbean colonialism and neo-colonialism (including the invasive nature of mass tourism).”

Vincent Benet’s John Brown's Body (1928) is a “narrative exploration of the U.S. Civil War, slavery and abolitionism, and the place of 'race' in would-be democratic societies.”

Ezra Pound’s The Cantos (1920s-1960s) “projects history as a conspiracy of usurers and frauds versus artists and populist governors. Though his economics are cranky and his prejudices repellent, when one reads his epic in the context of the ongoing global liquidity crisis, parts of Pound's flawed poem begin to sound like ‘news’ that is still ‘news.’”

LOWER YOUR CHOLESTEROL

Maybe your plans to go vegan in 2013 expired, a few slices of roast beef ago. But with a few additions to your daily diet, Dr. David Jenkins, Canada Research Chair in Nutrition and Metabolism , says you can significantly lower your cholesterol—and, with it, the risk of heart disease and stroke.

“If you use the supermarket wisely you can get foods that give you maybe a third of what you’d get from the powerful statin [cholesterol-lowering] drugs,” says Professor Jenkins.

Jenkins and his team developed a portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods such as soy and other beans, sticky types of fibre found in oats and barley, plant sterols such as those found in margarine and nuts. Jenkins says when foods from these four pillars are eaten in “convenient amounts,” they can mimic up to half the effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Try these snack suggestions from Dr. Jenkins to get a head start:

·         An apple with a handful of nuts

·         Oat bran cereal with soy milk and berries

·         Oat bran bread with marmalade

LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT LIARS

A New Year’s resolution to be totally honest is all well and good until your mother asks if she looks good in her new sweater.

But what if you’re the one sporting a new sweater? Is it possible to spot a liar at ten paces?

Unfortunately, a study from the Social Perception and Cognition Lab of Psychology professor Nicholas Rule shows that people are extremely bad at judging someone’s trustworthiness from his or her face.

“People think they can tell if someone is good or bad, trustworthy or not—they can't,” Rule says.

“The faces of corporate criminals look no less trustworthy than those of their successors, the faces of U.S. war criminals look no less trustworthy than the faces of U.S. military heroes," he says, “and people could not accurately judge the trustworthiness of undergraduates who cheated on a test to win a monetary prize.”

GET PUMPED FOR THE GYM

Some call them Resolutioners, and although they fill the gyms in early January, by mid-month many already dropped off the treadmill.

Catherine Sabiston, professor at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, says the trick to staying active is getting social: “People are more successful at maintaining their exercise goals if they have social support.”

It’s as easy as entering a status update, she says -- sharing exercise goals on social media allows friends to follow and support our efforts.

“Our research consistently shows that people who share their goals with others, and who write them down and post them for themselves to see, are more likely to stick to their program, exercise more, and persevere even when faced with barriers.”

Finding a workout buddy who is a bit more advanced in terms of endurance or strength or fitness, has also been shown to influence long-term motivation, says Sabiston.

And even if you don’t mean it, try giving yourself positive reinforcement by saying, “this feels great” or “I really enjoy this." It works for professional and amateur athletes and exercisers alike, she adds.

“Self-talk helps you enjoy your exercise more, focus on the positive and leads to better overall workout and performance.”

What about using the memory of unhealthy snacks as motivation to fit in a jog or yoga session?

Guilt over that second helping of cake may get someone active in the short term, but it isn’t a long-term solution, warns Sabiston. In fact, it may in fact lead to feelings of shame and anxiety that are associated with lower levels of exercise.

“We find that people who are proud of themselves and their accomplishments enjoy exercise more,” she says, “and this leads to more sustained exercise over time.”

Facing down the bottom of an empty pie plate?

“It’s never too late to focus on the positive emotions and let the negative go,” says Sabiston.