10 Tips to Help You Achieve Your
New Year's Health Goals With the new year comes the opportunity for a fresh
start. For many people, this means leading a
healthier lifestyle and losing weight. If this is your
goal, follow these tips to stay on track. 1. Find Your Motivation
What is motivating you to lose weight? Do you want
to look better in your clothes, feel more energetic, or
simply improve your health? Get clear about what
you want, and then use that to inspire you
throughout your journey. 2. Have a Plan
If you were to go on a long road trip, you wouldn't
just jump in the car and go. If you did, you'd arrive
hungry, tired, and fatigued. That's the same way
you'd feel if you jumped into a whole new lifestyle
with no planning. Before January 1st arrives, outline the changes you want to implement and decide how
you'll fit them into your schedule. Keep in mind that
it may be best to take steps rather than tackle
everything at once. 3. Make Goals
Goals help measure progress. If you don't know
where you want to end up, you won't really know
how to get there. When making your goals, you
need to make SMART goals: Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely For example, a SMART goal would be something
like, "I will walk for 15 minutes 3 days for one
week." Or, "I will prepare one new healthy recipe
each week for the month of January." 4. Track What You Eat
Looking closely at what you eat is often an eye-
opening experience. Use FitDay's free online Calorie Counter and Fitness Log to keep track of everything you put into your body. You don't have to do it for
the rest of your life, but it is a great habit to start.
Tracking will help you tweak your diet so that you
can still enjoy foods you love without sabotaging
your weight loss or healthy eating efforts. 5. Use Reliable Resources
It may be tempting to try a fad diet, but these are
usually unrealistic, difficult to maintain, and
sometimes even dangerous. Instead, find a reliable
source of information to help you understand
nutrition. The USDA offers a number of tools and resources, or you can consult a registered dietitian
in your area. An RD is specially trained and can give
you tips and tricks to help you achieve your specific
goals. 6. Eat Breakfast Every Day
Surely you've heard that breakfast is the most
important meal of the day. It is! Eat a big healthy
breakfast as early as possible. It will give you more
energy, lead you to make healthier choices during
the day, and keep you feeling full so you eat less later on. 7. Fill Up on Vegetables
Vegetables are filled with nutrients, water, fiber, and
very few calories. If you fill half of your plate with
vegetables, you'll get fuller faster and cut down your
calories without feeling deprived. Use herbs and
spices to jazz up vegetables instead of using butter and/or salt to flavor them. 8. Exercise
In order to burn calories at a faster rate and build a
healthy body, you'll need to incorporate exercise into
your life. Take it slow at first, and then increase
your time and/or intensity once you feel
comfortable. If you haven't exercised in a while, talk to your doctor to make sure that you are healthy
enough to begin an exercise plan. 9. Take It Slow
A major mistake many people make when trying to
tackle a health resolution is trying to do everything
at once. This is almost always a recipe for disaster.
Spend a few weeks just trying to achieve 1-2 goals
at a time. When you have established new good habits, put a couple more goals on your plate.
Remember: You want to make permanent changes,
and these will take time to implement. 10. Be Prepared for Lapses
A lapse is when you temporarily "fall off the wagon."
This is a normal part of the process; no one is
perfect. It is important for you to take a moment to
recognize that you got sidetracked, but don't use it
as an excuse to throw in the towel. Every day is a new chance to start over, so return to your healthy
lifestyle immediately. Mandy Seay is a bilingual registered and licensed
dietitian who holds both a bachelor's degree in
nutrition and in journalism. After gaining 30 pounds
while living abroad, Mandy worked to lose the weight
and regain her health. It was here that she
discovered her passion for nutrition and went on to pursue a career as a dietitian. Mandy currently
works as a nutrition consultant and freelance writer
in Austin, Texas, where she specializes in diabetes,
weight management and general and preventive
nutrition. She recently published her first book, Your Best Health, a personalized program to losing weight and gaining a healthy lifestyle. Please visit
Mandy's website at Nutritionistics.com