Five Tips for the New Year

Year after year we make resolutions to exercise regularly, eat well, give up smoking and other bad habits. But most of us fail to keep our promises to ourselves. Here are five tips to help you this new year!

1. Think positively. Think positively that you can lose weight or whatever your health goal may be. Thoughts become desires and desires turn into actions. Actions will create results!
2. Step jerking your body around with diets. If you want to lose weight and/or be healthier, it’s important to phase out old habits by slowly introducing new healthy habits and routines. Small changes build momentum.
3. Eat whole foods. When you eat whole foods, like an orange (versus orange juice), your body has work to do! It has to break down all the fiber which takes time, so the energy is released slowly and steadily. Whole foods keep you energized and satisfied longer than when your meals are made of processed foods.
4. Aim for the 80/20 rule. Once you are in the habit of eating whole foods, eat them at least 80 percent of the time and 10 percent of the time you can feel free to choose foods that aren’t whole foods. Eating cake at a birthday, a cookie for a snack or a hamburger at a fundraiser makes you flexible and stops you from feeling deprived. These approaches to eating lead to long-term success.
5. Fuel the active part of your day. Don’t back load your nutrition and calories at the end of your day. When you skip meals and snacks or under eat during the active part of your day, you can end up feeling out of control because you’ve been feeling hungry for too long. In this frantic state, all the healthy choices you planned on making will go out the window.

What is your resolution this year?