Well, we do play all year but summer is the most fun. Also the most challenging as the leaves really fill out the trees, leading to more "tree trouble" than usual!

Luckily, I just happened to record my best drive of the day!

As a trainer, I often have my clients journal their food for a 5-day period.  A necessary thing to do even if fat-loss is not the goal, as the quality of fuel we put into our bodies affects our performance.

I am always thinking of ways to make food journaling more effective, and have come up with a new one!

This method will ensure you actually do the journaling AND takes less time!!!

Almost everyone's phone has a camera these days, so instead of having to journal 3-6 times a day just take a picture of everything you ate.  The pictures can be downloaded at night in the order they were taken in and then added to either an online photo sharing program or your computer's food-journaling folder.

My clients just email me the pictures in a folder (taken in the smallest resolution to save space) and I offer my feedback.  For both my clients and those of you who train yourselves, the sheer fact you must take a picture and look at it later, serves as a powerful psychological motivator to improve eating habits.

The one caveat is, you MUST BE BRUTALLY HONEST and take a picture of EVERYTHING you eat and drink that day.  

Weekdays are best if you don't want to be horrified on Sunday morning after a night out with friends : )

Try this for 5-days and prepare to be both surprised/shocked AND note the powerful motivation to eat better!  A picture is worth a thousand words...

As an example, here's what I ate all day Monday:

Plus an extra 1/4 plate.

 A double helping of these. w/ salsa

Two of these throughout the day. 

From Acupuncturist Avery Yackel, comes some great advice for the New Year and beyond!

As a New Year begins, many of us tend to make resolutions for ourselves, whether it's losing weight, getting in better shape, or improving our overall health.

Unfortunately, most resolutions - however good-intentioned they may begin - don't seem to last for very long. Our modern society, with a focus on quick fixes, immediate results, and instant gratification, makes it easy to fall back into old habits and patterns.

In the East, a different approach to self-improvement is taken. In fact, much could actually be learned from the Japanese manufacturing field where they used a concept known as "kaizen" to become world leaders in the automotive and electronics industries.

Rather than looking for huge breakthroughs and dramatic progress, kaizen is an approach to improving overall quality by making small, continuous improvements in day-to-day tasks. Over a period of time,
these small, seemingly insignificant changes add up and the entire production line and final end product achieves a much higher level of quality.

A similar method can also be applied to our own health resolutions and help us reach our goals:

1) Small changes - although dramatic changes may seem more exciting, it's the daily mundane details that usually have the greatest impact on us. Going for a 15 minute walk at lunch hour and doing some deep breathing for 5 minutes before sleep may not seem like much, but it's small changes like these that can add up throughout the day.

2) Continuous improvement - once we've added a few good habits and made them a regular part of our daily lives, we can look for a few more to add, being aware that trying to start too many at once can
be overwhelming.

3) Long-term Commitment - because smaller changes don't tend to be as noticeable, we need to give ourselves time to see the results. Health problems rarely happen overnight - they usually develop over
a period of time, and the same is true for good health.

Thanks for reading, and if you know someone else who could benefit from my newsletter, feel free to forward it to them!

Best regards,

Avery Yackel, B.A.Sc., R.TCM.P.
- Acupuncture & Moxibustion
- Shiatsu Massage

Phone: 604-671-4682
http://www.ayacupuncture.com
202 - 2383 King George Hwy, Surrey, BC V4A 5A4, Canada

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