Revisiting and Recommitting New Year’s Resolutions

Well, we’re about 45 days into the New Year – how are you doing on your resolutions?

Losing weight is the No. 1 New Year’s resolution according to staticbrain.com and, if you’re anything like me, making the resolution is a mere memory at this point. After all, it’s hard to make a new habit or break an old one. And exactly how do you go about it?

Well, this issue of CV Weekly is here to help! We’ve talked to experts in all fields of health to help kick start a healthy regime or encourage you in your ongoing battle to walk more, drink less and eat your vegetables. From self-help direction to organized exercise, we’ve got some professional advice for you.

And how lucky are we to be living in Southern California? As the east coast continues to get bombarded with wet, snowy, cold weather, we’re deciding whether or not we need a sweater when we go out. There are no better conditions in which to get healthy! Especially here in the Crescenta Valley, which was founded on its healthy climate and good air quality.

Back in the 1800s, tuberculosis was at epidemic levels in the United States. The only cure that doctors suggested for tuberculosis, also known as consumption, was dry clean air. This drove the infirm to Arizona, Colorado, Southern California and the Crescenta Valley. On a hillside in nearby Sunland you can see the remnants of one of these sanitariums. According to historian and Treasures of the Valley writer Mike Lawler, tens of thousands of invalids and consumptives streamed to the slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains, the so-called “sanitarium belt,” made up of hospitals, resorts, hotels, and boarding houses, all hoping to attract health-seekers from the east.

These pristine conditions still exist today, which should encourage us to get outside and start moving. Local bike paths and hiking trails are at our doorsteps making it that much more difficult to come up with a reason not to get healthy.

But regardless of how well we monitor our health, we can still fall prey to illness and disease. As co-chair of this year’s American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life taking place April 11-12 at Clark Magnet High School, I’m painfully aware how devastating cancer is for those who are fighting it and for their friends and family who many times feel helpless. I encourage you to mark your calendar right now to be at Clark at some time between 9 a.m. on Saturday morning to 9 a.m. Sunday morning to meet with caregivers, survivors and fighters as teams take to the field, walking for 24 hours to show support and solidarity. www.relayforlife.org

So whether you want to maintain your health, get healthy or support someone who is fighting to regain his or her health, you’ll find plenty of help.

So pull up a kale smoothie and read on!

  robin goldsworthy