The New Year is off to a great start! How are those New Year’s resolutions coming along?! Did you resolve to exercise more, eat better, live happier, or make a career change? Or how about starting a new hobby, learning a new language, or tackling a bad habit?

Whatever your resolution is for this New Year, the library has a variety of books, videos, DVDs, magazines, and classes to help you on your quest for better living.

Lifestyle Changes

In her book, You Do You, Sarah Knight presents an irreverent guide to letting go of the weight of others’ expectations and doubling down on one’s dreams to find real, lasting happiness. In The Big Five, Dr. Sanjiv Chopra suggests five simple, virtually-free actions that can help you live a longer and healthier life. His suggestions are based on easily digestible data and startling results from real studies conducted by reputable universities and involving thousands of subjects. For simple lifestyle changes, try The Heart of Simple Living: 7 Paths to a Better Life, a book by Wanda Urbanska. Find out how people across America are transforming their lives by finding the “where” of their happiness in Richard Karlgaard’s book, Life 2.0. In This is Your Do-Over, Dr. Michael Roizen shares seven secrets to losing weight, reversing damage, optimizing health, living longer, and getting a second chance at living a life filled with energy and happiness.

We have some great programs planned in February for those of you looking to making some positive lifestyle changes – click here for details!

Diet & Nutrition

For healthier eating, try SuperFoods HealthStyle, written by Steven Pratt.  Tia Mowry shows how real food can transform your life in her clean-eating cookbook, Whole New You. Alissa Segersten’s The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook offers more than 300 delicious whole-foods recipes, including gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and egg-free dishes. Want to teach your kids habits that will launch a lifetime of healthy eating? Try Dina Rose’s book, It’s Not About the Broccoli.

Exercise

Want to start a new exercise regime, but uncertain where to begin? Donald Driver’s The 3D Body Revolution provides the ultimate workout and nutrition blueprint to get healthy and lean. In Strong is the New Beautiful, world champion skier and Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn encourages women to stop thinking about “losing weight fast,” and instead focus on loving their bodies for what they are and what they can do. If Driver and Vonn’s workouts are too intimidating, what about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for inspiration?! In The RBG Workout, Ginsburg’s personal trainer Bryant Johnston shares the simple but challenging workout that has helped the octogenarian stay active and energetic.

Inspired by NBC's hit series The Biggest Loser? Invite these fitness coaches into the privacy of your own home by checking out one of their DVDs!

If you want to try out Pilates or yoga before committing to a class, check out some of these DVDs first! Or download Derek Doepker’s 50 Fitness Tips You Wish You Knew from our hoopla collection!

Career

If you’ve been considering a career change, the library has a number of resources for job hunters, including newspapers from around the area, books and DVDs on creating a better resumé, and much more. Learn all about a business before you apply by researching it through one of our business databases.

To help you find the path to the career of your dreams, try Jonathan Acuff’s Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck (available as a book, CD, or from our downloadable hoopla collection.) Kerry Hannon offers step-by-step tips for revitalizing your career in Love Your Job: The New Rules of Career Happiness. If you’re looking for something to help you identify the type of work you’re best suited for, try Julie Jansen’s I Don’t Know What I Want, But I Know It’s Not This.

Several of our libraries have some great programs planned for job hunters in February. Come to one of our Job-Search Survival Workshops, or attend our LearningExpress Library demonstration to hear about the online career certification practice tests that are available. Click here for the schedule of programs.

Budget

Is it time to tighten the purse strings and become a savvy shopper? Dina Gachman offers 50 ways to live the dream on a dime in her book Brokenomics (available as a book or hoopla audio ebook). Marjorie Harris offers practical advice on ways to live a quality life on less in her book Thrifty: Living the Frugal Life with Style; learn how to haggle, how to become a frugal fashionista, and how to maintain home and hearth on a budget. Brian O’Connor offers a funny, savvy guide to budgeting in the real world in his book The $1,000 Challenge. In his Wall Street Journal bestseller, You Need a Budget, Jesse Mecham offers a proven system for breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, getting out of debt, and living the life you want. Christine Romans’ book, Smart is the New Rich: Money Guide for Millennials (a hoopla audio ebook), is a realistic and optimistic road map for millennials to save more, navigate their careers, invest in the stock market, and pay their student loans all at the same time.

These are just a few of the many resources that are available free to the public at FBCL. Get fit, get healthy, and get going for a brand new you!