45 percent of people will make a resolution at the start of 2013, yet less than half of those promises will still be in effect six months later.

Monday is like the January of the week: the day that people can reset their intentions after the weekend and try again. By recommitting to their resolutions every Monday, they get 52 opportunities to stick with it and incorporate healthier habits into their lives.

Plus, having a Monday resolution means people don’t have to do it alone.

The tips to help stick to their new year resolutions are:

On Monday, people should eat a more diverse, nutrient-dense diet by swapping meat one day a week for fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains.

People can take 8-11 quit attempts to kick smoking for good, so they should gain an advantage by recommitting to their quit every Monday.

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A plastic surgery treatment that uses extreme cold to blast away love handles and spare tyres is rapidly gaining popularity in America.

The CoolSculpting treatment, which can be done during a lunch hour, is proving particularly popular with men who do not want surgery or liposuction, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The procedure is done with a machine that uses vacuum pressure and deep cooling to target fat. It freezes unwanted fat cells in the waist, hips, thighs, buttocks, abdomen, arms and back.

Patients can even read a book or watch a film while undergoing the treatment.

It is used for small areas of fat that refuse to budge with exercise, and is done without anaesthetic or medication.

Dr Grant Stevens, a plastic surgeon at Marina Plastic Surgery, which has so far done 4000 procedures in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, claimed he had his love handles done himself.

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Despite its bad reputation, beer actually has a number of natural antioxidants and vitamins that can help prevent heart disease and even rebuild muscle, a doctor has revealed.

Beer also has one of the highest energy contents of any food or drink, but one does need to set limits because one beer gets you going and four make you fat, Fox News reported.

There is no need to be worried about dehydration because beer is 93 percent water. Also, according to a Spanish study, beer may actually provide better hydration than water alone when you’re sweating it out under the sun.

Calorie-wise, one may be tempted to grab a light lager, but a dark beer is the better choice for health benefits.

Dark beers tend to have the most antioxidants, which help reverse cellular damage that occurs naturally in the body.

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Fighting the flab might just be down to how you eat it rather than what you eat, researchers say.

According to scientists, the secret to beating the bulging seasonal waistline is to chew each mouthful of lunch for 30 seconds before swallowing it, the Daily Mail reported.

New research has shown that this has a powerful effect on appetite later in the day, curbing the desire for chocolates, sweets and snacks that can pile on the pounds over the Christmas break.

The volunteers of the study who chewed their lunch in this way during a recent experiment carried out by psychologists at the University of Birmingham ate half as many snacks in the afternoon as those who ate normally.

Although previous studies have shown chewing for longer curbs calorie intake during a meal, the latest research shows that it can also have a significant impact on snacking habits later in the day.

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Good nutrition and an active lifestyle are fundamentals to good health and a healthy living. However, in today’s increasingly rapid pace of life, it becomes very difficult to stick to an ideal routine diet. On the contrary, chances are very high that majority of the population binge on junk food which is an unhealthy supplement. It is only good to attract your taste buds. Youngsters, especially, fall in this category and health issues such as obesity, heart ailments, blood pressure and diabetes have become synonymous with their generation.

A research conducted by AC Nielsen in 2010 reveals that 64 % of men in the age group of 40-50 in cities like Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Kolkata cannot stay away from unhealthy food. This is a major cause of heart disease and diabetes. Adding to this, a busy and highly stressed life-style is forcibly driving people towards a diet of convenience which is devoid of vitamins and minerals, overloaded with fat, sugar and high calories.

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The memory of having eaten a large meal can make people feel less hungry hours after tucking into food, according to new research.

Researchers from the University of Bristol found that people who think they have eaten more – but have actually eaten an average-sized or smaller portion – are less likely to experience hunger pangs hours later.

The discovery may help those struggling to lose weight.

Jeffrey Brunstorm and colleagues from the University showed volunteers either a small or large portion of soup just before lunch, and then manipulated the amount of soup they actually consumed by means of a covert pump that could refill or empty a soup bowl without the eater noticing.

Immediately after they ate, the level of hunger reported by the volunteers was proportionate to the amount of food they had eaten, not the amount they had seen just before eating.

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Researchers have found that subtle reminders of platonic love rather than sexual love may help foster healthy food choices.

Symbols of platonic love evoke feelings of commitment and caring that are long-term, whereas sexual love tends to evoke feelings of passion and romance that have a relatively short life span, said David Raska, a Northern Kentucky marketing professor who was lead author of the study.

And those feelings can affect food choices. Subtle signals of commitment may lead consumers to unwittingly choose healthier snack foods, according to the researchers at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, who tested their hypothesis on college students.

Between 45 and 97 students completed three experiments. In the first, they were randomly assigned to view one of three snack menus on a computer screen. Each menu had one of three possible backgrounds: hearts, kisses or a blank white screen.

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Carrot can offer prevention against different ailments, say health experts.

The vegetable-cum-fruit contains rich vitamin and mineral contents, besides other valuable nutrients.

Considering the effectiveness of carrot, doctors and health experts have declared it ‘apple’ for the people having meagre resources, the News reported.

Dr. Mian Iftikhar, a Medical Specialist, said that carrot especially its juice, is better for stomach and gastrointestinal health, which also solves a variety of digestive problems.

He said carrot is useful in different cases like stomach disorder, peptic ulcers, gastritis, crohn’s disease (chronic inflammatory disease affecting the whole of the alimentary tract), diarrhoea, celiac disease (defective digestion found in children).

Carrot juice, combined with spinach and a little lemon juice, is very effective in the treatment of constipation, he added.

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It’s that time of the year again. Time to celebrate, party, and gorge on sweets! Excitement is in the air. But once the festive mood is over, tension starts mounting. The after-effects of every delicacy that you indulged in start showing up in the form of extra pounds on the body.

Now you can enjoy the festive spirit to your heart’s content while keeping a check on your weight as well.

Yoga practices, which comprise asanas (body postures), pranayama (breathing techniques), and meditation, will help you stay fit and healthy this festive season.

Follow these simple tips to remain in good shape:

1. Keep up with your yoga practices - This is extremely important, more so during the festive season when chances of putting on weight are higher. There’s no stopping yourself from enjoying delectable recipes but let the festivity not be an excuse to postpone your yoga routine. Make sure you do a few yoga postures every morning, some pranayamas and a few minutes of meditation. Even if you are busy with the preparations and don’t have too much time, Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) is a complete body workout and the best exercise that can be done in short time.

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Endzone, a fitness and wellness consultancy firm recently conducted a survey revealing the susceptibility of osteoporosis among Indian women.

It has been observed that women in India are prone to osteoporosis especially between the age of 40-60 years. 20 percent of Indian women over 40 suffer from osteoporosis or brittle bones, while another 65-70 percent suffer from osteopenia or weak bones.

Therefore, the remedy to this problem is that women should undertake some type of weight training sessions which result in stronger bones and increased metabolism rate. Also, it has been seen that especially during menopause the risk of osteoporosis increases. Woman could lose up to 20 percent of their bone mass in five to seven years after menopause, making them more susceptible to osteoporosis.

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