There has never been a better time than right NOW to get healthier! The New Year just reminds us that it may be time for a review and some healthy tweaks to our eating.
Many people create unrealistic, quick-fix, unsustainable New Year’s resolutions when it comes to healthy eating and physical activity. Be warned…extreme actions and fad diets are doomed to fail as they are unsustainable and often based on inappropriate and unsubstantiated advice. We want to teach our kids healthy eating, not fad dieting.
What is important is making sustainable changes to produce short and long-term results! In 2014 make sure that you create sustainable healthy New Year’s resolutions to be healthy for the entire year and the years to come.
Here are a couple quick and easy tips for creating a healthier you (and your family) in 2014…
1. Begin as you wish to continue when it comes to improving your eating patterns and physical activity. This means set goals which you can achieve in the next week, next month, over the next 6 months and forever. For example, I like chocolate and I LOVE Lindt balls. So my goal is to reduce my chocolate consumption to two Lindt Balls a week. It would be unrealistic to say that I was never going to eat chocolate ever again!
2. Start small. Make small sustainable changes. Nothing breeds success, like success. Once you achieve a goal, you can set another.
Five New Years resolution ideas for your family:
1. Eat at the table as a family (without tv, even if one parent is at work)
2. Have a traffic light of colour on your lunch and dinner plate
(colours = fruits and veggies)
3. Introduce meat free Mondays. Enjoy eggs, lentils, red kidney beans and tofu
4. Add physical activity to your week
5. Plan your meals (involve the kids in choosing colours to add to the meals)
Tell me, are you a ‘new year’s-resolutions-kind-of-person’? Or do you just take it as it comes throughout the year?
Kate is a dietitian and mum to four young kids. She specialises in the development of fun and healthy resources and education sessions for kids, schools and parents. You can check out her fabulous website, Making Food Fun, here
