1. Take Small Steps

• Vow to add a piece of produce to your brown bag lunch daily.
• Designate a day as fish day.
• Package up a single serving of your favorite whole-grain cereal, then treat it as your midmorning snack.

2. Water, Water, Everywhere

• Drink one glass first thing in the morning,before you brush your teeth.
• Tempted by more soda? Another glass of wine? Drink a cup of water with a splash of your favorite beverage in it first.

3. Go for the Gold...and Red...and Purple

Colorful produce is packed with disease-fighting plant compounds.

• Designate a color-a-day. Maybe Mondays are yellow, with grapefruit, golden apples, or corn, while Tuesdays are purple with plums and eggplant.
• Get the kids involved and go for a theme: Build a green pizza with emerald bell peppers and artichokes, or a red produce-infused chili.

4. Tackle Mindless Munching

• Pop a stick of gum or a sugar-free mint in your mouth.
• Brush or floss your teeth.
• Busy your hands with a glass of water, a cup of tea.

5. Stack the Odds in Your Favor

• Buddy up with a friend or family member with diet and weight loss resolutions. Then share your ideas, plans, and successes regularly.
• Leave the temptations at the grocery store. Promise yourself you’ll cater to cravings only outside the home, in one-serving portions.
• Socialize with non-food events. Get your friends together in the park, for a hike, or at the movies.

Take enough steps and you’ll reach any goal. Resolve to make a few small diet resolutions this year and then just watch how far you’ll go!

According to the American Diabetes Association, 79 million Americans have been diagnosed with a condition called “Pre Diabetes”. People use other terms to refer to Pre Diabetes such as “borderline diabetes” or “a touch of sugar”. Pre Diabetes is a condition in which your body is not able to properly use the insulin your pancreas makes to maintain blood sugar control resulting in a continuous elevation of sugar in the bloodstream. The diagnosis of Pre Diabetes is usually determined by a fasting blood sugar level range of 101-125. When left untreated, Pre Diabetes can progress to diabetes within 10 years or less.

Healthy lifestyle changes such as the suggestions below can help you to reduce your risk of developing diabetes.

Develop Healthy Eating Habits

• Drink no-calorie beverages such as water, unsweetened tea, diet sodas, and sugar free lemonade.
• Choose lean meat sources. 93% lean ground beef, fish, turkey, skinless chicken, low fat cheese, and egg substitutes are great low fat sources of protein.
• Avoid fried foods. Use cooking methods such as baking, broiling, and grilling.
• Decrease your fat intake. Skim milk, low fat sour cream, low fat salad dressing, low fat mayonnaise, and low fat margarine are a great way to decrease your calories from fat.
• Limit desserts to special occasions like birthdays.
• Eat meals at routine times everyday. This habit will prevent you from overeating.
• Choose more fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Reduce your portion sizes.
• Choose more whole grains. Whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole wheat pastas and whole grain cereals contain more fiber.

Increase Your Activity Level

• Park further from the store entrance.
  
• Take the stairs instead of using the elevator.
• Turn on your favorite music and dance for 20 minutes.
• If you suffer from joint pain, enroll in a water aerobics class. Exercising in water will reduce the stress on your joints.
• Exercise with a partner.
• Stand up and march in place during a 30 minute television show.
• Choose activities you enjoy.

Cervical cancer is nearly 100 percent preventable, yet according to the American Cancer Society’s most recent estimates for cervical cancer in the United States for 2011:

• About 12,710 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed.
• About 4,290 women will die from cervical cancer.

Some researchers estimate that non-invasive cervical cancer (carcinoma in situ) occurs about 4 times more often than invasive cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women. Then, between 1955 and 1992, the cervical cancer death rate declined by almost 70%. The main reason for this change was the increased use of the Pap test. This screening procedure can find changes in the cervix before cancer develops. It can also find cervical cancer early – in its most curable stage. The death rate from cervical cancer continues to decline by nearly 3% each year.

Cervical cancer tends to occur in midlife. Most cases are found in women younger than 50. It rarely develops in women younger than 20. Many older women do not realize that the risk of developing cervical cancer is still present as they age. Almost 20% of women with cervical cancer are diagnosed when they are over 65. That is why it is important for older women to continue having regular Pap tests.

In the United States, cervical cancer occurs most often in Hispanic women; at a rate that is more than twice that seen in non-Hispanic white women. African-American women develop this cancer about 50% more often than non-Hispanic white women.

For more specific information on current screening recommendations and cancer statistics, visit www.Cancer.org, the Website for the American Cancer Society.