After an indulgent end to 2014, you are most likely ready to kickstart a healthy diet, or at least lay off the big calorie-rich meals and fattening snacks for a while. New Year is a good time to use this January motivation to really instill new diet rules that you are going to stick to throughout 2015. You may have wider resolutions about fitness and other areas of your life, so you could see your healthy diet resolutions as a kind of specialized branch of New Year resolutions!
1. I am going to think before I drink! – Even if you eat a great diet, you can really mess up your nutrition, and your weight, if you don’t consider what you are drinking too. Do you know how many sugars are in those big sodas? What about when you relax at the end of the evening with a few alcoholic drinks? It all adds up in terms of carbs.

You might even be drinking loads of sugar when you don’t even know that you are. Many people drink juices, unaware that they are made from concentrate and are high in sugar. Even diet drinks have a bad reputation and some experts believe they can actually increase sugar cravings. If you find water bland, add some crushed ice and a splash of lemon and lime but make sure that you are hydrated as this is good for your health too.

2. I am going to be aware of what I eat and stop mindlessly grazing! – Have you ever looked down at a bowl of nuts or other such snack and realized that all have been eaten, even though you don’t remember eating them? Be honest! This might be an extreme of mindless eating; unconscious eating, however, with many foods at easy reach so much of the time, it is easier than you might think to simply graze without any real consideration as to whether you want or need what you are eating.

Make a rule that you won’t put anything in your mouth without thinking about it first. That means actually pausing and asking yourself if you are hungry, why you are about to eat whatever is in front of you and whether you need this food. You might be surprised to find that when you bring in some awareness you will change your behavior. Letting your healthy appetite surface, rather than your subconscious or your unhealthy cravings, is a great way to get some real control over an overeating issue or where you eat too much of the wrong foods.

3. I am going to add some natural colour to my diet! – Start 2015 with a rainbow of healthy food goodness. Red is for tomatoes and peppers; yellow is for corn and couscous; pink is for salmon and tuna; green is for broccoli and asparagus ; purple is for eggplant and purple-sprouting broccoli; orange is for oranges and carrots ; and blue is for blueberries and plums. You get the picture! A diet that is not varied is often bland or is artificially colored. Fresh veggies packed with vitamins are the pot of food gold at the end of your healthy menu!

4. I am going to eat slowly and think about portion size! – Gobbling food down can not only cause painful gas but also is not great for digestion. Your saliva contains enzymes for breaking down foods, so if you scoff down meals with the food barely touching the sides, you could start to feel bloated and also slow down your digestive processes. A more meditative approach also makes you more appreciative of simple essentials in life and grateful for the food that you receive in life.

Unless you are so inclined, chances are that you won’t want to measure out and note all that you eat, although you could instead keep a food journal to raise awareness. If you want a rough guide to portion size then protein on your plate should be no bigger than what would fit in your palm, carbs should be fist sized and veggies should be the equivalent of a big handful. Keep portion sizes down by eating off a smaller plate too!

5. I am going to cut out obvious food ‘baddies’! – You don’t need to be a nutritionist to know that rich chocolate cake is not a slimmer’s delight and that deep-fried late night snacks are not recommended. Any foods that are really healthy eating no-nos can be labeled with a big “do not eat’ sticker. However, remember, a little bit of chocolate is thought to be good for your health, whereas a lava cake after a rich meal is not going to win you health diet guru of the year!

Now you’ve made some diet and nutrition rules for New Year, what about some fitness related promises and goals? We can help you create a plan and succeed with it to, so resolve to get in touch now!