New Year Resolution
5 Ways to Pamper Yourself in the New
Year
By Joe Wilkes
From the Million Dollar Body Club - Join Today and Workout to
Win!
It's the New Year. Time for new
beginnings, and time for the resolutions that THIS year, we're going to keep.
Less junk food! Less alcohol! No smoking! More exercise! Portion control! We're
back on the road to recovery after a major holiday detour. But life can't be
all about depriving yourself. There are still a lot of ways you can have a good
time without putting something in your mouth. Here are some ideas for treating
yourself that won't set your resolutions back a year.
 Meditation.
Tired? Tense? Instead of lying on the couch face down in a
pile of Cheetos, why not try something a little more transcendental? By turning
your mind inward, you can reach true inner peace as opposed to the peace found
in a caloric bottle of chardonnay. Spiritual refreshment rather than refreshing
spirits, if you will. And if you add a little yoga to your meditation time, it
can add to your physical fitness.
 Massage.
This is a great way to pamper yourself after a hard day at
the office or as a great reward for a well-done workout. There are all kinds of
professional massages available, including deep tissue, shiatsu, Swedish, Thai,
and many more. Use some of that money you're saving by not eating out or
boozing it up to treat yourself to some hands-on relaxation. If you're uneasy
about going to a pro, enlist the help of a significant other—who knows, it
could lead to other stress-relieving activities. Or, you could always give
yourself a relaxing massage—at least the parts you can reach. And for the
parts that you can't, there are any number of mechanical implements widely
available that will help you vibrate, knead, and pound your troubles away.
Check
out this article from the Beachbody archives for more on
massage.
 Baths.
Years ago, a friend of mine found a horrible detox diet in
a fashion magazine that she insisted we try. It consisted of eating mainly
millet (which I found out later is the main component in birdseed), flaxseed
oil, and steamed cauliflower. After three days of nothing but birdseed and
veggies, neither of us was able to venture more than 50 yards from the nearest
bathroom. The diet was awful, but it had one good thing—baths. Every day
we were supposed to use a body brush to brush our skin and then settle into a
hot bath with lavender and chamomile oils. It was pure heaven. (Unfortunately,
the terrible irony was the bathtub was in the same room as the toilet.) After
the diet blissfully ended, bath time remained.
 A nice cup of tea.
Giving up that glass of wine or two (or ten) in the
evening is a resolution that a lot of people have trouble keeping. Why not
begin exploring the world of tea? It's not just that soggy bag of Lipton
anymore. Tea shops are popping up all over the place. And the ceremony of
making a cup or pot of tea can be as relaxing as the beverage itself. Try out
different flavors and types of tea: black, green, or herbal. Most of them have
some health benefits, and some may even have medicinal value.
Click here
to read more about herbal teas.
 Retail
therapy. Often, we get used to rewarding ourselves for a
job well done with some sort of food or beverage. But when it comes to
rewarding yourself for diet and exercise, this kind of reward system can be
pretty self-defeating. Instead of using food, how about getting yourself
something new to wear. Especially if you've been sticking to your diet and
workout schedule, you can start rocking some smaller sizes. And even if you
haven't reached the weight where you're ready to start building your "skinny"
wardrobe yet, you can still reward yourself with accessories like jewelry,
hats, or some nonwearable item like a music CD. A friend of mine quit smoking
by treating himself to three new CDs every week, since he figured that was the
amount he was saving on cigarettes. Before long he'd kicked the habit and built
an extensive music collection!
Read
more about buying clothes for your new figure here.
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