Sticking to your Resolutions

Healthy eating is one of the top New Years Resolutions, but we all know what happens all too often with resolutions....here we will discuss some ideas for ways to stick to this year's resolutions!

1. Don't diet: Start listening to your body's internal cues for hunger and satiety and practice mindful eating. Allow some time for you to develop healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Instead of avoiding your favorite comfort foods, make room for them in small amounts once in a while. Practice choosing and preparing a variety of fresh foods including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains...this will help you to develop those long-term healthy eating habits.

2. Be realistic: You didn't gain the weight overnight, and you won't lose it (and keep it off!) overnight either. Be patient, around 1 lb. week of weight loss is realistic in order to keep it off long-term.

3. Snack: Regardless of your dietary approach to weight loss, you want to make sure you are eating every three to four hours. Doing this will keep your "metabolism up" and prevent excess fat storage and burning of your lean body mass.

4. Variety and volume: Eating foods that are nutrient dense but not energy dense will allow you to eat larger volumes of food! Examples are fruits and vegetables which are relatively low in calories but high in nutrient content (including fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals). Aim for a variety of fruits and vegetables every day, and shoot for at least 3-5 servings per day. Eating fruits and vegetables that are in season is a good way to save money. Also, frozen fruits and vegetables are less expensive than fresh, provide good nutritional value, and can easily substitute for fresh produce in many recipes.

5. The 90/10 rule: It's not fun to be too strict. Allow yourself to eat less healthy foods up to 10% of the time, assuming that you are following a healthy plan for the remaining 90%.

6. Plan: Plan to go to the grocery store at least once per week. Many of the foods that make up a healthy diet (produce, dairy, whole grain breads and cereals, fish, etc.) won't last too long in the fridge or the pantry. You'll want to do a bit of advance planning for your meals (i.e. cooking ahead on Sunday night and eating leftovers for the next couple days), snacks--always be prepared with them in your purse or bag, and have some healthy frozen or packaged items on hand for days that you don't have enough time to cook.

7. Buddies: It's a lot easier for you to change your habits if your spouse or roomate is also changing with you. You'll both be accountable to each other and can even have fun with it.

8. Rewards: Reward yourself for your accomplishments! Have you been wanting a new dress or a night out on the town? Make that your reward..it will motivate you even more.

9. Motivation: A new website called http://weightview.com allows you to upload a digital image of yourself, indicate the amount of weight you would like to lose, and then emails you the adjusted image of what you would look like at your goal weight. Try it and hang it on your fridge for daily motivation!

10. Exercise: The more active you are, the more calories you will burn. Incorporating a strength training routine with cardiovascular exercise will help you reach your weight goals more quickly, when done alongside healthy eating.

Happy 2009!