Happy New Year from Yancey FCS!

As a Family & Consumer Science Agent, January's newsletter is the hardest for me to write. The world turns to back to healthy eating, setting fitness goals, and reinventing themselves. Unlike most other FCS agents, the thought of a salad turns my stomach, I consider bread to be a major food group, and well, let's just say I won't be running a marathon anytime soon.

For those of us with loftier health goals and/or stubborn habits January can be intimidating. In this newsletter, we'll break down some of the larger goals into small steps that are more achievable.

Don't Crash and Burn
Specialized diets have been around quite some time. George Cheyne was an English doctor in the 1700's. He consumed nothing but rich food and drink, causing him to become obese. He switched to a diet of only milk and vegetables and gradually improved his health. In 1724 he published his work "An Essay of Health and Long Life" containing his diet along with lifestyle choices such as exercise, getting fresh air, and avoiding rich foods.

This trend continues for centuries. New diets come out every few years, some claiming to improve more than your waistline. No matter which diet you feel fits your needs best, the most important thing is to stick with it!

Sticking to Your Resolutions
Studies show that almost half of those who make New Year's Resolutions give up before February. According to Strava, a Running and Cycling tracking app, the majority of them quit the second Friday in January. They call this “Quitters Day”.

Yancey FCS and Yancey 4-H are teaming up to help lower this statistic. By showing some easy, simple, and cost-effective "swaps" or changes you can make, hopefully we can help you stick to your resolutions.

This class is appropriate for youth and adults, so if your family is making a resolution together, this class is for you!

Uncovering Your Clean Slate
Many often look to January as a time for starting with a clean slate. The phrase "new year, new you" is often used in marketing slogans to get customers to change their mindset on January 1st. It's nice to shift into a new year without baggage, literal or theoretical, but what do you do when the literal baggage takes over?

One of my biggest struggles post-holiday is the cleanup - especially with two little ones. The day after Christmas feels like a scene from any typical post-apocalyptic movie. You stand amid piles of rubble with nowhere to go. It can be overwhelming, but digging in there to organize can help prepare you for the new year.

National Radon Action Month
Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking. It is an invisible, odorless gas that can seep into various types of structures, including but not limited to basements, slabs and crawl spaces. The only way to know if it is present at dangerous levels is to test for it.

Radon is produced from a natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water. It enters homes, offices, schools and other buildings through cracks in floors and walls, construction joints or gaps around service pipes, electrical wires and sump pits.

Prepping for Cold Weather

In December, we had some of the coldest weather we've seen in a very long time. These temperatures led to frozen pipes, messed up pumps, and water issues all over. A pipe that bursts can do some major damage. Several folks traveled for the holidays and came home to find inches of water standing. The cleanup required is similar to that of a flood or other disaster relief.

Although we have no control over the weather, there are a few preventative measures you can take to minimize or prevent these issues altogether.

Your pump should be in a space where the temperature stays above 40 degrees. If it's located in a place where the temperature dips below that, make sure it can be insulated or enclosed prior to cold weather.
Make sure any above ground pipes are insulated - especially where the pipes come up from the ground and into your home. This can be done with foam sleeves, bubble wrap, or even pool noodles.
Leave a slow trickle of water or a steady drip from a faucet going overnight when the temps dip in the low teens or lower.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look December's cold spell will be the end of our extreme temps. The Farmer's Almanac states, "The eastern half of the U.S. should brace for potentially record-breaking cold to define the season. This frigid forecast extends to the Deep South and Texas, which could see the mercury diving as much as 8°F below normal!"