New Years resolutions are behind us and swimsuit season is just around the corner in the borderland. With February being both Heart Month and Chocolate Month, just where does that leave your diet?
Hopefully at the top of your to-do-list. Eating healthier is not something you can do just once a week, like the laundry. Changing eating habits is a bit like trimming the budget. It can be painful because everywhere you look there are reminders of ways to spend, be it money or calories.
Whether the diet changes you seek are for weight loss, living longer, feeling better or cutting your risk of a heart attack, here are some ways to get started and keep going.
Make a plan. If you have a goal like eating more veggies, map out how to get there. Maybe that means batch cooking your veggies on the weekend for healthy lunches, or using a shareable grocery-shopping app like Cozi to make sure you have healthy foods on your list.
Go all-in. Ill be the first to say that diets dont work. (And by diets, I mean a drastic, unsustainable diet change.) Sure, they work temporarily just like saying youll never do the Starbucks drive-through again to save money. But before you know it, forgoing the pleasure of that latte doesnt seem to be worth the $3.99 youll be saving. However, sometimes going all-in for a habit change is just the jump-start you need: 5 p.m. workouts followed by protein smoothies for a week instead of happy hour with fried appetizers could be what you need to feel and see the benefits of changing habits.
Small changes make a big difference. Being more active can help with your health goals. Debi Hicks, RD, LD, food service director at The Hospitals of Providence Memorial Campus, says Dont forget that small increments of activity are helpful, too such as taking the stairs, parking farther away and even taking your pooch for a 10-minute walk. Hicks also recommends a FitBit or Apple Watch for extra fitness motivation.
Get the tools. Some people thrive on new gadgets. If youre one of them, buying a yoga mat, some cool running shoes, a NutriBullet or a Spiralizer will help you visualize and follow through on healthy habits you want to start.
Use the technology. There are many apps to help you toward a healthier you many of them free. Keeping a food and activity diary is the first recommendation I give to new clients. MyFitnessPal and MyPlate apps track food and activity.
If you love Instagram, try See What You Eat, an app that encourages you to stay on track by taking pics of everything you eat.
Rise Up + Recover is an app that helps you track what you eat and your mood, where you are and who you are with. This is a top pick for people who lean toward disordered eating.
The key to eating healthier and making it stick is finding the right balance between eating for health and eating for enjoyment. Use these recipes to jumpstart your healthy eating for 2017.
Bridget Swinney is an El Paso registered dietitian and blogger at http://www.eatrightmama.com. She has a virtual consulting practice and is the author of three books.
Excerpt from:
Eating healthy: How you can make it happen - El Paso Inc.
