Five steps to a better, healthier you!

e start every year with a long list of resolutions.

Come January 15, all these sudden changes to our lives all at one time seem to make existence very hard. And back we go to our normal ways.

This year, Get Ahead makes life easier for you! We help you plan your resolutions such that you try and accomplish one each week.

Yes, we are three weeks into the New Year. But these are small, simple changes, so don't worry about having lost time!

The goal: By the end of the year, you should have managed to make 52 constructive changes to your life!

In the first of a continuing series, we present five simple, constructive changes for January:

1. Replace all your aerated drinks during the day to black or green tea.

Both these teas are high in health-boosting phytochemicals, known as polyphenols, that may help prevent heart disease and certain forms of cancer.

Let us also not forget the fat-burning benefits of the green tea extract, epigallocatechin gallate (ECGC).

2. Hungry? Pass up on the biscuits, doughnuts and french fries. Reach for a small handful of nuts.

Nuts are rich in minerals like magnesium, potassium, vitamin E and protein, and are a good source of heart-healthy unsaturated fats.

Don't go overboard, though. Nuts are nutritious, but can be calorie heavy if you overeat.

3. Take 15 minutes off during your working day.

Choose whatever suits you best: take a short nap. Talk to a friend on the telephone. Take a walk outside the office.

Do anything that is not job related.

Studies have shown that even a 15-minute break from your job during the day decreases stress levels and helps you perform your job more efficiently for the rest of the day.

4. Have at least one serving of dairy during the day.

Milk is an excellent source of protein as well as the Number One food source of bone healthy calcium.

Have a problem with sleep? Drink a glass of milk just before you go to bed at night.

Milk contains tryptophan, which raises your body's inbuilt relaxant chemical, seratonin.

Just make sure it is the low fat variety.

5. Stop digging your nose!

That's the quickest way to catch the flu!

DON'T MISS: February resolutions, coming soon!

More Rustom Warden:

Want a lean, sexy body?
Three easy steps to a great body!
Why you should NOT diet!
What could go wrong at the gym?

Rustom Warden, a personal trainer, has been running his own personal training gymnasium in Mumbai since 2002.