Healthy New Year to you too.
Yes, I realize I'm a tidge-bit early...but deal w/ it.
It’s almost January, the time for new beginnings, the time to put your health first! If it’s a healthier heart, mind, body, and soul you are looking for, this article will give you plenty of helpful hints and insights on what it takes to be a healthier you.
January is about you, about making healthy life choices. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the healthful eating and exercising tips and tidbits provided to you by your dietitian.
Keep a diary:
When trying to lose weight, eat more healthfully, or keep up with your New Year’s Resolutions, it is recommended that you keep a diary. By doing so, you increase your awareness of what, how much, and when you are doing various activities. By keeping an exercise, food, or well-being diary you can track the frequency and duration of exercise, feelings about daily life, and how much and when you’re eating. This will also help identify problems in any of your plans. A diary helps keep you honest and motivated!
Move more:
Increasing your activity levels by doing both continuous exercise and “lifestyle” exercise is key to staying healthy and losing that extra holiday weight. Continuous exercise, like walking, jogging, biking or yoga, is vital to keep you fit. “Lifestyle” exercise, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to the store instead of driving, or doing yard work, will keep you moving and active to help burn calories throughout the day!
Eat out less:
With the holiday season over, you can really begin to see your mind and body transform when you stay at home and make a healthy meal! By cooking and eating in, you know exactly what you are putting in your food and in your body. You can buy fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables, chicken, fish, meat, and pastas, rice, and whole-wheat breads. With these healthy items on hand, you’ll have dinner ready, before you can say, “I’d like to order…”
Schedule exercise and “me-time” into your day:
If you don’t schedule your exercise and “me-time” then it won’t happen! Make these times a priority and daily habit. Don’t let these two vital activities be the first things to go when you get busy. If your plan doesn’t work for you, simply change it. Have a back up plan in case of bad weather or schedule changes so you don’t have to cancel. Remember, it’s better to exercise a little and take care of yourself, than to give up entirely.
Relax and Savor your meal times:
Eating should be about tasting your food, enjoying its textures and flavors, and allowing it to recall memories of places visited long ago, childhood memories, or other lovely experiences. By doing this, you will also give your body time and sustenance it needs to know that you are full! This one act, can significantly help you to eat better and lose those holiday pounds!
Remember that sustainable weight loss is attainable (even if it is not the new year):
Weight loss occurs as a result of moving more and eating less. As you get older, you lose muscle mass which decreases your daily calorie burn. By putting in a little extra effort, you can enjoy the New Year, enjoy your friends and family, and also be in good shape! Long-term weight loss will require you to be vigilant in taking time for your exercise, eating healthfully, and becoming more self-aware and caring for your well-being.
Don’t think of the New Year as a dreadful list of “things you want to do” simply because it is a New Year. Think of it as a renewal, a time to take back control of your exercise, eating, and mindfulness habits. By doing a little bit every day, it won’t feel like a burden, or feel draining and daunting. Instead, it will become a new habit, one you look forward to, one that brings a little more happiness into your life, simply because you’re giving a gift, the greatest gift of all to yourself: The gift of health.
It’s almost January, the time for new beginnings, the time to put your health first! If it’s a healthier heart, mind, body, and soul you are looking for, this article will give you plenty of helpful hints and insights on what it takes to be a healthier you.
January is about you, about making healthy life choices. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the healthful eating and exercising tips and tidbits provided to you by your dietitian.
Keep a diary:
When trying to lose weight, eat more healthfully, or keep up with your New Year’s Resolutions, it is recommended that you keep a diary. By doing so, you increase your awareness of what, how much, and when you are doing various activities. By keeping an exercise, food, or well-being diary you can track the frequency and duration of exercise, feelings about daily life, and how much and when you’re eating. This will also help identify problems in any of your plans. A diary helps keep you honest and motivated!
Move more:
Increasing your activity levels by doing both continuous exercise and “lifestyle” exercise is key to staying healthy and losing that extra holiday weight. Continuous exercise, like walking, jogging, biking or yoga, is vital to keep you fit. “Lifestyle” exercise, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to the store instead of driving, or doing yard work, will keep you moving and active to help burn calories throughout the day!
Eat out less:
With the holiday season over, you can really begin to see your mind and body transform when you stay at home and make a healthy meal! By cooking and eating in, you know exactly what you are putting in your food and in your body. You can buy fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables, chicken, fish, meat, and pastas, rice, and whole-wheat breads. With these healthy items on hand, you’ll have dinner ready, before you can say, “I’d like to order…”
Schedule exercise and “me-time” into your day:
If you don’t schedule your exercise and “me-time” then it won’t happen! Make these times a priority and daily habit. Don’t let these two vital activities be the first things to go when you get busy. If your plan doesn’t work for you, simply change it. Have a back up plan in case of bad weather or schedule changes so you don’t have to cancel. Remember, it’s better to exercise a little and take care of yourself, than to give up entirely.
Relax and Savor your meal times:
Eating should be about tasting your food, enjoying its textures and flavors, and allowing it to recall memories of places visited long ago, childhood memories, or other lovely experiences. By doing this, you will also give your body time and sustenance it needs to know that you are full! This one act, can significantly help you to eat better and lose those holiday pounds!
Remember that sustainable weight loss is attainable (even if it is not the new year):
Weight loss occurs as a result of moving more and eating less. As you get older, you lose muscle mass which decreases your daily calorie burn. By putting in a little extra effort, you can enjoy the New Year, enjoy your friends and family, and also be in good shape! Long-term weight loss will require you to be vigilant in taking time for your exercise, eating healthfully, and becoming more self-aware and caring for your well-being.
Don’t think of the New Year as a dreadful list of “things you want to do” simply because it is a New Year. Think of it as a renewal, a time to take back control of your exercise, eating, and mindfulness habits. By doing a little bit every day, it won’t feel like a burden, or feel draining and daunting. Instead, it will become a new habit, one you look forward to, one that brings a little more happiness into your life, simply because you’re giving a gift, the greatest gift of all to yourself: The gift of health.
posted by Dana M. Ellis, MPH, R.D. @ 11:15 AM
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