How Much Water Should You Drink in a Day?

Breaking the Eight-Glass Myth

By RealAge

How can you make sure you're staying hydrated? Should you rely on thirst alone, or is it best to abide by the eight-glasses-a-day rule?
The truth is, either approach will probably work just fine -- for the most part. But your fluid needs can vary, depending on your activity level, the weather, environmental conditions, and even the medications you may be taking.
Getting to know which situations are likely to increase your need for fluids can help you stay hydrated. But don't go overboard. There's no point in drinking more water than you need, just for the sake of it. At the very least, you'll end up running to the bathroom every 10 minutes. At worst, you could put yourself at risk of a life-threatening condition called hyponatremia, or water intoxication. So, how much water should you drink in a day? Read on to find out!

Too Much of a Good Thing

Under normal circumstances, a healthy body can process large amounts of water as long as it also has plenty of electrolytes, in particular, sodium. But the combination of too much water and not enough sodium can cause problems. Those at highest risk of developing hyponatremia are:

• Endurance athletes who lose large amounts of sodium through sweating and then flood their bodies with too much fluid as they try to rehydrate
• People with kidney problems
• People over 65 years of age who take multiple medications or have health conditions that compromise the body's ability to get rid of fluids or maintain adequate sodium levels

Although rare, hyponatremia can also occur as a result of unsafe crash dieting or binge beer-drinking.
So What About Those Eight Glasses?
Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence to suggest that staying hydrated hinges on drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day. And relying on the eight-glass rule may not be enough to avoid dehydration in certain circumstances.

Avoiding Dehydration

Mild dehydration, if it occurs frequently, may increase your risk for health problems such as heartburn, constipation, kidney stones, and even kidney failure. Severe dehydration can cause your body to shut down and go into shock. So make sure you know the early warning signs of dehydration in order to take action and protect your health.

How Dehydration Happens
Mild dehydration occurs when you lose 3% to 5% of your body weight through loss of fluids (usually sweat, vomit, or diarrhea).

Heat and Exertion
If you're already low on fluids, and you exercise or do physical labor in a hot environment, you can become dehydrated in a matter of hours.

Thirst
Fortunately, dehydration is unlikely to happen without triggering significant thirst, so if you feel thirsty, listen to your body and take frequent sips of water. Don't gulp down gallons, especially if you're suffering from nausea or diarrhea -- it's likely to make things worse.

Signs of Mild Dehydration
The following signs are tip-offs that you may be in the early stages of dehydration:

• Dry mouth and lips; mouth may also feel a bit gummy or sticky
• Difficulty concentrating
• Fatigue
• Elevated heart rate
• Headache
• Dizziness

Don't ignore these clues, especially if you experience two or more at the same time.

Check Your Fluids
If your urine is unusually strong smelling or dark, it may be a sign that you are mildly dehydrated. But many things can affect your urine, from medications and multivitamins to certain foods or beverages, such as asparagus or beer. So also keep an eye on any changes in how much water you pass. Low urine volume over the course of a day is usually associated with dehydration.

Preventing and Treating Dehydration

The best treatment for dehydration is prevention. If you know you're going to be exercising or laboring in a hot, dry environment, it's a good idea to make sure you're well hydrated to start with. Take water with you, and watch out for early signs of dehydration.
To recover from and treat mild dehydration, slowly drink water or pure fruit juice until you no longer feel thirsty. A banana or a serving or two of another fruit will help restore the minerals you may have lost. Many fruits and vegetables have a lot of water in them, so you don't need to rely on drinks alone for staying hydrated.
Bottled vs. Tap: Which water is best?

What About Sports Drinks?
Sports drinks are fine if you prefer the taste, but they don't typically hydrate the body at a faster rate than water. Also, some research indicates that sports drinks may cause more gastrointestinal discomfort than water does, and they contain sugar, which will add to your daily calorie intake.

Don't Be Fooled by Rules

Although there is probably no danger in following the 8 x 8 fluid rule, When it comes to how much water you should drink in a day, it’s important to know that your own individual fluid needs may vary. Drink fluids in comfortable amounts, and pay special attention to your fluid intake during warm weather and times of physical exertion or illness. When you work hard or work out, also remember to monitor your own signs and symptoms of dehydration. Paying attention to your body can help you promptly determine whether you need to up your intake of water or supplement your diet with more foods with high water content.

Quick Q&As

Water for Weight Loss?
Q. I've heard that drinking more water will help me lose weight. Is that true?
A. Well . . . yes and no. Drinking water before or with your meal may help you feel fuller faster. And if you're replacing your regular sugary soda with a glass of zero-calorie water, then yes, it may help you reach your weight loss goals quicker. But simply upping your water intake -- without cutting back on calories -- isn't going to wash away those extra pounds.

 

Foods with High Water Content
You don't have to get all of your liquids from beverages.

Over 90% water

• Watermelon
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Celery
• Spinach
• Cucumbers
• Broccoli

80%–90% water

• Carrots
• Oranges
• Apples
• Peas
• Grapes
• Cantaloupe
• Potatoes

Wellness Games Week 5: No Soda!

Utah Valley Dispatch Wellness Games

Week Five:

Soda Pop Fizzles Your Health!

Before you take another gulp from your soft drink can, here are 7 facts about soda to consider that may drastically affect the quality of your health.

Ø  pH of Soda = pH of Vinegar
For one, soda, no matter who makes it, is the most acidic beverage you can buy, with a pH of about 2.5, about the same as vinegar. Why does that matter? Acid oxidizes whatever it comes in contact with. If you put soda or vinegar on metal, it will rust it quickly.

Ø  Drink Soda, Leach Calcium
If you drink soda, which also contains high levels of phosphorous, you will leach calcium from your bones. It appears that increased soft drink consumption is a major factor that contributes to osteoporosis.  Tooth loss, periodontal disease, and gingivitis can be problems, especially with a high phosphorus intake, particularly from soft drinks.

Ø  Soda Will Dissolve Your Tooth Enamel
Weak bones is just the beginning. In an interesting experiment the sugar from one soft drink was able to damage the white blood cells’ ability to ingest and kill bacteria for seven hours.  Sugar and acid in soft drinks so easily dissolve tooth enamel.

Ø  Each Additional Soda Increases Risk for Obesity by 1.6 times
So now we’ve got weak bones, weakened immune system, and dissolving teeth. What’s next? Weight gain!  The relationship between soft drink consumption and body weight is so strong that researchers calculate that for each additional soda consumed, the risk of obesity increases 1.6 times. 

Ø  Children Who Drink Soda Break Bones More Easily
Our children aren’t safe, either. Adolescents who consume soft drinks display a risk of bone fractures three to four-fold higher than those who do not. The high sugar hides the acid. Children little realize they are drinking this strange mixture of phosphoric acid, sugar, caffeine, coloring, and flavoring matter.  A joint study by Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital researchers in February 2001 concluded that such excess liquid calories inhibited the ability of older children to compensate at mealtime, leading to caloric imbalance and, in time, obesity.”

Ø  Diet Soda Isn’t Any Better
For those of you with a diet soda in your hands, the news isn’t any better, in fact it’s worse! One liter of an aspartame-sweetened beverage can produce about fifty-six milligrams of methanol. When several of these beverages are consumed in a short period of time (one day, perhaps), as much as two hundred fifty milligrams of methanol are dumped into the bloodstream, or thirty-two times the EPA limit.  So, you’re poisoning your body, too.

With diet soda, you’ve gone from high calories to poisonous levels of methanol and an increased chance of developing cancer. Not a very good trade.

Ø  Drink of Choice
The average American drinks more than 53 gallons of carbonated soft drinks each year, more than any other beverage, including milk, coffee, or water.

 Still Drinking that Soda…..?
Hard to believe that so much mayhem can come from a little can or bottle, but there is nothing good or redeemable about soda. The sooner we can remove it from our diet, the better.


At the end of the week, please email Shantell indicating how many days you didn’t drink soda pop.

  

23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?

10 Reasons to Utse an Exercise Ball as Your Chair

10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair

I recently came across this article, which talks about using an exercise ball as your home or office chair. I have used an exercise ball as a chair before, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Here are some of the benefits of using an exercise ball as your chair. Whether you spend your desk time at the office, or studying at home for that next exam, office ball chairs can help you in many ways.

1. Forces proper spine alignment. Because an exercise ball is not stable, your body needs to try to balance itself on it. The perfect spinal posture is coincidently the easiest to balance with. Thus, your body will automatically try to align itself into the proper posture. This helps improve your spinal health, and decrease back pains.

2. Causes you to frequently change positions. An exercise ball causes to you to change your position often to balance. For example, if you turn 45 degrees to face the phone, your body will assume a new position. This helps reduce damage caused by prolonged sitting in the same position.

3. Fitness is at your fingertips. Another great thing about using this alternative to a chair, is that you can do stretches or mini-workouts whenever you want, without getting up. If you’ve ever stuck waiting for a minute or two, you can make productive use of that time with a quick workout or stretch. Because it’s much more convenient, you will probably do it more, thus resulting in better health.

4. Improve your balance. This one is very understandable. Sitting on an unstable surface all day will improve your sense of balance, as well as the reactions of your muscles. The result? An overall better balance, that can be observed out of the office.

5. Get that 6-pack you’ve been wanting. Your body primarily uses your core (abdominal) muscles to help compensate for changes in balance. Thus, your essentially getting a low-key abdominal workout. This may not sound like a lot, but consider the amount of time you spend on your computer at the office, or at home. Those hours can build up, and result in a strengthening of ab muscles.

BLABLA

6. Improves your circulation. Using an exercise ball will keep the blood flowing to all parts of your body, throughout the day. A desk chair on the other hand, reduces circulation to some parts of the body after prolonged use.

7. You’ll feel more energetic. It has been proven that staying in one position, will make you more tired, while moving around and being active with give you more energy. With an exercise ball as a chair, you will feel much more energized after you finish your work.

8. Burn up to 350 calories per day. More movement during the day = more calories burnt. Burning 350 calories per day = losing one pound of fat every 10 days. You may not burn quite 350, but nonetheless, it will help you stay fit.

9. Really cheap. Specialized exercise balls designed for sitting usage can range from $15 to $80. Much cheaper than buying an ergonomic chair, which can range anywhere from $100 to $400 and up.

10. C’mon, its fun! Who doesn’t like the idea of bouncing around on an exercise ball all day. Exercise balls are an exciting alternative to chairs, and may just give that spark of fun to your day.

Update: I just bought an exercise ball for myself. So far, I am really enjoying it! My only complaint is that in the morning when I am half-awake, it is hard to balance. I found this cheap exercise ball which is  great for trying it out,  if you don’t want to invest $40-$50 in a ball which you may never actually use. Also, before you buy, make sure you know what size is right for you. I am about 5 feet, 6 inches, and the 65cm ball fits me well. Your legs should be almost parallel with the ground. If you are above 5ft10 I would go with a 75cm ball.

Wellness Games Week 4: Exercise!

EXERCISE

This week we are focusing on exercise.  We all know it is hard to find time to exercise with our work schedule, so I have posted some exercises that we are able to do here at work.  You will find these on the wellness window.

There are 5 areas I have concentrated on:

1.    Exercise Ball – try and sit on the ball for 30 min a shift.  The exercise ball has many benefits. Some of these are: improves your circulation,  improves your balance, helps with back pain by forcing your spine to properly align and helps you feel more energetic

2.    Desk Exercises – I have listed 4 basic exercises that can be done at your desk.  These are simple and will only take a couple minutes each.

3.    Elliptical Trainer – If you are unable to take a break and walk around, try the elliptical trainer.  Looks are deceiving.  It is harder than it looks.  Try and do 10 minutes a shift. If that is too hard, start out slowly and work your way up

4.    Weights – Weights help strengthen your whole body and tone it.  Try and do 10-15 reps each 3x.  I have listed a few that can be done.  Do what you are comfortable with. ALWAYS stretch before lifting weights.

5.    Stretching -  If you do not do any of the above, just try and stretch.  We are sitting down for the majority of our shifts.  This causes our body to be at a standstill.  By stretching,  it increases our energy levels, greater circulation of blood, relief from pain, helps you relax and be less stressed.

Some of you might be less than thrilled at trying to exercise at work, but here are some things that might help.  Start off slowly.  Do 1 area a shift.  Once you feel comfortable and confident, go to 2 areas a shift and so forth.  If you just need motivation, find a “workout” partner.  Do your exercises together.  The 1^st partner can be on the exercise ball, while the second one is doing the desk exercise and the elliptical trainer and then switch. This will keep you both motivated and on track.

I hope this helps and  let us all  “COMMIT TO BE FIT”

6 Added Benefits Besides Saving Money of Bringing Your Lunch to Work

by RC on July 29, 2008

Bringing your lunch to work can save you quite bit of money. If you save $5 to $6 a day x 5 days a week x 50 weeks a year, you can save $1250+ per year. But have you considered the non-monetary or indirect monetary benefits of brown bagging it?

Save time

Instead of spending an hour fighting crowds, you can easily eat your lunch in 20-30 minutes (or less), and have 30 minutes plus to do other things, such as:

• Read- Catch up on your reading, whether books or on the ‘net.
  
• Work more- Work on that project if you have a tight deadline, and if your employer allows it, you might even get paid for it.
  
• Make phone calls- Work or personal calls
  
• Run errands- Pick up your dry cleaning or run to the grocery for non-perishables, and you won’t have to cut into family time later.
  
• Take care of other personal business- Like paying bills, scheduling appointments, etc.

Save gas

While you may be within walking distance of places to eat, a lot of people hop in the car every day to go to lunch, probably sitting in traffic.

Reduce the chance of wasting leftovers

How many times have you run across something in the fridge that would have been great to take to work for lunch, but has now been there a little too long. Even if you are careful, this can happen on occasion. Bringing leftovers reduces the chances of this happening.

Improved health

Unless you pack a lunch bag the size of a knapsack, you probably will eat healthier and consume less calories than if you go out to eat.

Avoid afternoon drowsiness

An added bonus of not consuming so many calories is that you will likely be more alert than if you stuffed yourself at the all-you-can eat Chinese buffet again.

The environment

Even though big macs no longer come in the styrofoam container, your homemade packed lunch will likely produce less waste, you can re-use your brown bag or grocery bag, or use tupperware over and over again.

Wellness Games Week 3: Brown Bag It!!

Utah Valley Dispatch Wellness Games

Week Three: Brown Bag It!

January 15 – 21, 2012

Packing a lunch from home allows you to control the portion size and the nutritional value of your food.  Not only will you be happy with your waistline but you will save money, too.  If the average lunch costs about $10, bringing a lunch from home will save you nearly $3,000 per year!  And it’s good for the environment!

Goal: Brown-Bag it several days over the next week.  Pack leftovers, fruit, chips, 100 calorie snacks, etc.  Be creative….save calories, money and the planet!

-          Be aware of your food choices. Try to include all food groups

-          Try to swap a low-fat jello pudding for cookies or dessert.  Pretzels or baked chips instead of regular chips. 

-          Modify some of your food choices rather than eliminate choices.  Don’t allow yourself to feel deprived.  Pack a variety of foods every day.

Example:

Main Dish	DESSERT	SNACKS
Tuna sandwich on whole wheat	100 calorie cookies	Low-fat vanilla yogurt and granola/ pretzels
Chicken Noodle Soup and half turkey sandwich	Graham crackers and skim milk	Cottage cheese with pineapple/granola bar
Left over pasta salad	Low-fat chocolate pudding	17 wheat thins/cheese stick and an apple

GOLD: Brown-Bag It 3 times this week – email Leslie at the end of the week.

SILVER: Brown-Bag It 2 times this week – email Leslie at the end of the week.

BRONZE: Brown-Bag It 1 time this week – email Leslie at the end of the week.

Wellness Games Week 2: Keep a Food Journal

Utah Valley Dispatch Wellness Games

Week Two: Keep a Food Journal

January 8 – 14, 2012

Keeping a food journal can be a great tool to help you evaluate your current dietary behaviors, identify where your diet needs improvement, and show if you are consuming too many or too few calories. Food journals can also help you keep track of getting enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins each day.

Goal: Keep a food journal for seven days during week two of the Wellness Games.

-          Record everything you eat and drink daily, as you eat it (don’t rely on memory.)

-          Note what you’re doing while you’re eating – driving, watching TV, etc.

-          Be honest. It’s a journal; no one has to see it but you.

Example:

FOOD	AMOUNT	TIME / PLACE
Frosted Flakes	2 fists	6:45 AM; kitchen counter
M & M’s	Fistful	10:15 AM; desk

*You don’t have to measure. You can use relative sizes such as “2 palm sized slices” or a scoop “the size of a fist”.

Healthy Daily Eating Habits:

·         9 servings of whole grain cereal, rice or pasta (1/2 cup) or bread (1 slice).

·         5 servings of fruits and vegetables (1/2 cup).

·         3 servings of low fat milk, yogurt or cottage cheese (1 cup).

·         8 ounces of lean meat, poultry or fish or a non mean equivalent (1 ounce of meat = 1 egg, ½ cup beans, or 2 to 3 ounces of tofu).

GOLD: Keep a food journal for 7 full days – email Dani at the end of the week.

SILVER: Keep a food journal for 5 full days – email Dani at the end of the week.

BRONZE: Keep a food journal for 3 full days – email Dani at the end of the week.

·         Anything less than 3 days does not qualify.

Take your Food Journal to the Next Step!

So you've started a food journal but you've found it too bulky to carry around. Or maybe you're okay with writing it down but now you want to know how many calories, fat grams, etc are in each serving. Maybe you also want to keep track of what nutrients you are lacking in your diet. How about how much water you're drinking each day?

There are many different smart phone apps and internet sites that can accomadate you. My favorite is http://www.myfitnesspal.com/, not only can you keep track of everything online, but it also has smart phone apps, and apps for your tablets or iPads too. The apps and website sync together so that you can add to your daily entry no matter where you are or what you have access too. The best part: IT'S COMPLETELY FREE! 

With a 100% FREE membership you get:

• The easiest to use food diary  -Track what you eat with just a few clicks from anywhere with an internet connection or from your smart phone/tablet - at home or at work

• A searchable food database of over 1,334,000 items -and it's growing everyday!

• Your own personal food database - add your own foods and recipes at any time and access them from anywhere. It will even compute the nutritional content for you!

• Free mobile apps for iPhone and Android - so you can log your meals and exercise even when you are on the go

• Support and motivation from people just like you - There area discussion forums let you learn from others, share your own tips, receive and give encouragement, and make friends.  Plus you can add friends to your profile (kind of like facebook) and you can support eachother through your goals.

• A personalized diet profile- customized to your unique  goals. Whether you're looking to loose weight, maintain weight or even gain weight. This will help you do it healthily.

• Flexibility- our system can support any diet like Atkins, the South Beach Diet, the Zone, and more. No matter what diet you're on, we can help.

• Keep track of workouts- there's also an excersize tracker where you can enter how much and what kind of cardio you did, as well as what kind of weight training and any other excersize notes you have. 

Check it out, it might be just what you need to help you stay on track with your Wellness goals.

Top 10 Reasons you should keep a food journal...

The Top 10 Benefits of Recording What You Eat in a Food Diary

1. Allows you to monitor your caloric intake. – Losing weight is a simple equation – take in fewer calories than you expend. Monitoring your caloric intake is the first step in lowering it. 2. Encourages you to focus on your food choices. – More often than not we overeat because we are focusing on something other than what we are eating. Writing down what you eat in a food diary forces you to focus on what you are doing. 3. Provides a record you can share with your health care provider. -- Your health care provider can look at your food diary and provide insight and information on what you can do to eat healthier. Also, what you are eating may be impacting your health in other ways. 4. Helps you control the urge to binge. – Knowing you are going to have to write down what you eat can stop you from reaching for the second helping of potato chips. 5. Allows you to track your progress. – A food diary can serve as evidence of how far you have come in this journey. It also feels great to look back and see you are eating better today than you did days, weeks or years ago. 6. Encourages mindful eating. – Writing down what you eat encourages you to think about what you are eating. The more you think, the less and better you eat. 7. Creates a means of evaluating the connection between what you eat and how you feel. – You can use a food diary to examine the circumstances and feelings which trigger overeating. Once you identify the causes you can begin doing something about them. 8. Helps you be sure you are getting enough of each food group. -- It is important to eat a balanced diet. A food diary can provide clues as to what foods you have been neglecting and need to add to your diet. 9. Assists you in acknowledging the reality of how much you eat. – Keeping a food diary will help you confront the truth about how much you eat. Once you stop kidding yourself about how much you eat, you can begin making the necessary changes. 10. Reinforces your commitment to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. – Each time you make an entry in your food diary you are expressing your intention and desire to do what needs to be done in order to live well. Jacqueline D. Stanley: Author, Speaker, Chief Encouragement Officer at Lettuce Is Not Enough University: The Place to Learn How to Live Well and Lose Weight. http://www.lettuceisnotenough.com

Steps for Successful Goal Setting and Achievement

by Paul Christenbury

Goal Setting is an extremely powerful technique for accomplishment, but for Goal Setting to really be effective requires more than just writing down what we want to achieve. This article will present important steps that will help to define and achieve goals with more success.
Benefits of Goal Setting
Goal setting helps us determine our priorities, get organized, make big decisions, and realize our dreams. Almost all motivational experts incorporate goal setting as an important part of their programs. Zig Ziglar, when speaking of the importance of goals, poses the question “Are you a wandering generality or a meaningful specific”. I personally became so sold on the power of goals that I created a website called MyGoalManager.com. The objective of the website is to direct the user through the entire Goal process from definition to achievement. This Goal Achievement process entails the following requirements:
1. Well formed Goal Statements
2. Breaking goals down into manageable Steps
3. Motivation and Commitment
4. Reminders and Keeping on track
5. Frequent Review and Re-assessment
1. Well formed Goal Statements
The Goal Statement forms the basis for the entire process so careful attention should be placed on formulating a clear and accurate goal statement. A good way to remember how a goal statement should be defined is the old S.M.A.R.T. acronym used by many experts in goal setting. SMART stands for:

Specific
Measurable
Action-Oriented
Realistic
Time and Resource Constrained

The Goal should be specific enough so that we know exactly what we are striving for, measurable so we can tell exactly when the goal has been reached, action-oriented to indicate an activity that will produce results, realistic in that it is practical and can be achieved, and time and resources constrained meaning that it has a definite deadline for completion and realizes limited availability of resources. The goal statement “Increase sales 25% by the end of the fiscal year without increasing advertising spending” is an example that follows these rules.

2. Breaking down Goals into manageable Steps
Once we have a well-formed Goal Statement we need some direction to follow to achieve this Goal. The creation of Goal Steps gives us a list of the important things that need to be done to achieve the Goal, an action plan, and also allows us to track our progress towards the goal. While the goal “Increase sales 25% by the end of the fiscal year without increasing advertising spending” is a great goal statement, this is a monumental task without being broken down into smaller detailed steps.

3. Motivation and Commitment
Motivation and commitment are what make us strive to achievement. They give us the push, desire, and resolve to complete all of the other steps in the Goal process. This motivation can be obtained by developing a statement that creates a high level of emotion and energy that guarantees achievement. Commitment is what sets us on direct course to reach our goals and creates costly negative consequences for failure.

4. Reminders and Keeping on Track
Reaching our goals requires persistence and regular attention. We need some sort of system to keep us reminded and accountable. MyGoalManager.com uses a combination reminder emails, calendars, and reports to keep users organized and on track. If some accountability system is not used then we are likely to loose sight and fail.

5. Frequent Review and Re-assessment
Goal Setting is definitely an ongoing process that is accomplished over time. When we first sit down and start to define goals it can seem like a difficult and daunting task but over time it begins to get much easier. Patience is required. All goals due in the next year should be reviewed at least once a week and daily if possible. The great thing about frequent review is that this forces us to make big decisions and determine priorities in our life. We should keep watch for goals that aren’t being achieved on time or for goals on which we keep extending the deadline.

I hope this article will help you achieve your goals and give you more focus and direction. The website at MyGoalManager.com automates all of the philosophies and procedures laid out in this article and is a very helpful tool for reaching your goals. TopAchievment.com also has a demo that shows some examples of the strategies described in this article. Good luck as you realize all of your greatest dreams!

Wellness Games Week 1 :Setting Goals!

Week one of the “Wellness Games” will be all about personal assessment (setting goals). The most important factor for success starts with a foundation for motivation. The most important foundation is setting goals that are obtainable. Setting too high a goal can lead to failure and soon followed by defeat.

The first step is to consider what you want to achieve. Make sure it is measurable.

The second step is to find out why you want to achieve it. Set goals that are not out of reach. Be realistic.

The third step is to know how you are going to achieve it. Write it down and set up a time line. Stay on course.

Use the SMART guideline to set and reach your goal:

S          Specific (significant)

M         Measurable (meaningful)

A          Attainable (action oriented)

R          Relevant (rewarding)

T          Time-bound (trackable)

Bronze Award -           You set a measurable goal

Silver Award -             You set a goal and sent an email to Brenda saying you set a goal (You do not have to specify your goal).

Gold Award -               You set a goal, sent an email and wrote down the goal with a time line attached.