Recess Newsletter January 2009
Spice Up Your New Year By Ditching the Same Ol' Resolution
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Start 2009 Right
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Love our look? Buy our beautiful 2009 stand-up desk calendar for only $7. Click for a preview.
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| Be In The Know
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Health Tip: A Spicy Resolution
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Make a resolution you can keep: more spice!
Add a little spice to your food and
diet with hot peppers. Even if you're not a fan of spicy food, adding a
little flame to your meal can help curb your appetite and spike your
metabolism at the same time. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that a little pepper taken at breakfast reduced hunger at
lunch time. Additionally, spicy food causes you to eat slower. Peppers are
also high in vitamin C and A provitiamins (South American athletes have
been known to eat them before strenuous exercise). And if that doesn't
convince you to start spicing up your diet, know that peppers (capsicum,
in particular) have been shown to repair the pancreas in mice with Type-1
diabetes, allowing them to produce insulin again.
Need additional help with meal planning?
Start a personal transformation package today! »
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lucy Winners Announced!
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Congratulations "lauratov"
& "Donna"!
lauratov and Donna were selected at random as winners of our fall contest. Anyone who commented on our blog or forwarded our newsletter was eligible to win. lauratov and Donna should send their mailing address to us via the comments section of our quote page before 1/12/08 or their prizes will be given to the next random winners!
Want to be a winner?
Forward our newsletter to a friend (see the bottom of this email) or, comment on our blog. This month we are giving away tickets for you and a friend to start the New Year out right (see below). Winners are chosen at random and will be announced on our blog.
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Recess vs. Paying Not To Go To The Gym
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If you like paying for stuff you don't use - Join a gym!
Ok. Here we go. Picking a fight again.
A 2005 study by two California researchers, titled
"Paying Not to Go to the Gym," examined nearly 8,000 gym members'
attendance over three years. You might be surprised to learn that 85% of users who bought a monthly contract were spending more money
than if they paid on a per-use basis. That's because most members paid
more than $70 per month but only visited the gym 4.8 times each month.
They paid about $17 for each visit.
How effective were those 4+ visit per month at actually transforming members' health? It's anyone's guess, but chances are a 30 minute workout on the treadmill and a couple of half-hearted bicep curls are hardly enough to make a dent in the number of calories found in a daily latte, scone or other work week indulgence.
Last month we kept it clean, but this month's fight could get ugly:
The 300 Pound Gorilla:
Gym Membership
Weighing in at an average of $50-70 per month, this hometown favorite is sure to pummel you with early cancellation fees when you realize that your 4 trips per month just aren't cutting the mustard. The Contender:
Recess Personal Transformation PackageFor the same price as a weekday latte and scone the Recess Personal Transformation Package will have you in fighting form. You'll meet more than one time every other week for a year with an expert at your home or office gym. By the time this fight is through you'll have tackled not just strengthening exercise, but also nutrition, cooking, lean body composition and calorie burn. What is your vote? Would you rather contract foot fungus in a gym locker room or shower in your own bathroom? Weigh in with your answer on our blog. Why wait? Get started today! »
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| Why Do Today What You Can Put Off Til Tomorrow?
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Resolutions, Procrastination & Working Under Stress
How many of us have made big plans for change on January 1 only to find ourselves in a continual state of "The diet starts tomorrow."?
The word "procrastination" literally
means "to stretch out." Procrastination is more than
a bad habit; it's a complex psychological behavior. Procrastinators often know
exactly what they should be doing and don't do it, which is why very detailed
schedules usually don't help.
But aside from work, procrastination can carry
over into personal life and take away from the time that you deserve for
yourself.
There are three general
types of procrastinators.
- Arousal Types seek the euphoric thrill of a deadline.
- Avoider Types suffer from self-confidence issues, fearing the task at hand and
so move on to things they know they're good at, like crosswords, Myspace, and
surfing the internet.
- The Decisional Types, with the inability to organize
their time wisely, cannot decide how to prioritize their activities, thus
resulting in missed deadlines and many all nighters.
Whatever the nature of the
procrastination, each type is linked back to either an addictive or restrictive
personality imbalance. Arousal types may also have self-control issues, drug
habits, or a kind of "the grass is always greener" syndrome. Decisional and
avoider procrastinators are more likely to have underlying self-confidence
issues.
Procrastination & stress are linked
Many people deny their
procrastination habits and believe that they need stress to be productive.
Lulling themselves into false sense of security, they think "I work well under
pressure." In reality, under the pressure of an oncoming deadline, we work
because we have no other options. Needless to say, working under stress is
seldom a good thing for your health. 
With the stress of work,
the added anxiety of waiting till the last minute, and any other stressful
thing in your life, fatigue can set in, making you less likely to want to
finish your work on time. And so, for most people, procrastination is a kind a
vicious cycle: life stresses you, you get tired, you procrastinate, more stress
accrues.
The impacts of stress on health
Scientists have begun to research the health effects of such a cycle.
Researchers have found that procrastinators drink more than they intend to,
tend to smoke, binge, veg out on the sofa, and engage in lifestyle abuses, like
over exercising.
In a study by D.M. Tice and R.F. Baumeister (reported in
Psychological Science 1997), over the course of a single academic term,
procrastinating college students showed signs of compromised immune systems, as
more colds and flu, gastrointestinal problems, and insomnia.
Make a resolution you can start today & keep
Whether it's bills, taxes, losing weight, or getting back to that one guy that I meant to call last
week, think about it: what's you holding back? And why are you afraid to do it?
This year, resolve to do something about procrastination. Here are some tips from the American Psychiatric Association for successfully making keeping this year's resolution.
Read how you and a friend can get back on track together »
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Fun event!
322 NW 6th Avenue,
Suite 200 (between Everett + Flanders)
doors @ 6:45,
workshop @ 7 sharp.
$8 includes munchies.
RSVP by Jan. 22 Email: portland@ywse.org
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Young Women Social Entrepreneurs (YWSE)
Tuesday,
January 27 at 7pm presents a workshop:
Big
plans for the new year? A new job, a new direction, a new you? YWSE is here to support you as you turn your New Year's Resolution into lifelong lifestyle change.
All transformations, whether changing the world, building your business or dropping a clothing size take energy and require good spirits, a supportive community and diligence. The results can be energizing and life affirming. This evening will emphasize a thoughtful and mature relationship to our health.
Comment on the Recess blog and you and a friend can to this event for free!
http://corporatewellnessprogram.recesswellness.com/
We'll pick one commenter at random by January 20th and notify the winners on our blog.
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Keep visiting the blog, comment and win!
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