The Hometown Treasure January 2012 | Page 22

Suffering from allergies? Your home may be the cause. Rainbow® doesn’t just clean your carpets, it cleans the air. The Power of Water ® advantage. Shipshe 260.768.7370 (main) Nappanee 574.773.4796 Warsaw 574.267.4561 Goshen Soon The Mission Possible 7 Team — Make sure it’s us. CERTIFIED as asthma & allergy friendly™ by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). Wet Dust Can’t Fly The Rainbow uses Mother Nature’s most powerful element, water, to trap dirt and odors, returning only naturally clean, waterwashed air to your home environment. Twice as Clean This Unique water filtration system captures 99.997% (by weight) of typical household dirt. Remaining microscopic particles are caught by our HEPA Neutralizer Filtration System. This two-stage filtration combination removes nearly 100% of dirt and contaminants. Hurricane™ Motor Powered by switched-reluctance technology, our powerful Hurricane™ motor has the force to tackle your toughest cleaning jobs and offers indefinite motor life. Power and Control at your Fingertips We’ve thoughtfully placed the controls in an ergonomic handle grip, allowing precise control over powered accessories. Quick Connect Changing wands and tools for different jobs is a snap. Travel Lightly The Rainbow follows you from room-toroom on its easy-maneuvering dolly. A rubberized bumper protects your walls and furniture. On-Board LED Headlights Illuminates the path ahead, ensuring you’ll never miss a spot. Wall-to-Wall Cleaning Dirt, pet hair, and crumbs vanish in the Power Nozzle’s powerful revolving brush. Circulating Active-Edge brushes clean tough-to-reach debris along baseboards. pg 20 · The Hometown Treasure · Jan. ‘12 Smart Choices Luke Pamer with Connie Lehman, RD, CD Making Smarter Resolutions The word “new” usually has positive connotations of hope and a good change; from the miracle of seeing new life brought forth in God’s creation, to buying something new that we have desired for a long time, so it is with the coming of the New Year. Many of us think that a new year can bring positive changes into our lives, so most New Year’s resolutions are about losing weight, getting “in shape” or stopping a bad habit like smoking. Yet the statistics show that within only two weeks, the vast majority of us give up our new changes and go back to old habits which keep us feeling stuck. How can we extend that time of success from weeks to months to permanent change? Following are five tips to increase your chances of success. 1. Make S.M.A.R.T. goals- Reword “I will lose thirty pounds by Spring Break”, which in not sensible, since we cannot will ourselves to lose weight, into a goal that is Sensible, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time sensitive. “I will stop eating after 7 P.M. for the next thirty days” or “I will walk fifteen minutes before supper on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday” meet the SMART goal guidelines. Instead of “I will stop eating sweets”, which is not attainable for most people; reword your goal to be “I will keep sweets out of the house for the next month.” These goals are a first step to give you confidence. Later you will change them as needed. 2. Monitor your progress- Statistics show those who are successful at lifestyle changes keep track of their eating and exercise habits. From a simple check or colorful sticker placed on the calendar to show you exercised, to a special notebook set on the counter to record your meals, monitoring can show how you are doing, and perhaps show you that the goal is too strict and needs to be tweaked to fit the reality of your schedule. 3. Aim for Persistence not Perfection- Since most people give up on their goals by the end of two weeks, plan at first to persevere for one month. Expect to not follow it perfectly, and at the same time plan to not give up , just keep trying hard. Look at your goal weekly and see if it needs to be changed a little to fit your reality. Then keep trying! 4. Get help and support- Who can you walk with? What community classes or resources can help you stay on track? What online recipes or free monitoring assistance can find you? Who in your household can help support you? 5. Plan rewards along the way- The best rewards are ones which do not sabotage your hard work, so try to plan inexpensive non-food rewards as needed. On days you meet a goal, put a small amount of money in jar, and when it adds up, treat yourself to a new song from iTunes, a massage, flowers, or a new item of clothing. Or track the miles you exercise by mapping it on a wall map, seeing “how far you can go”. Be creative, be persistent, check your progress, ask for help and make your new year a SMART one! Sponsored by 260-593-2252 • 101 N Main. St. • Topeka, IN