Year of the Snake

How was everyone's New Year's? What are the things in 2012 you'll be glad to leave behind? And what are the things you'll be sad to see go? I for one am pretty over 2012. 2013 will be better for two reasons: 1) it's the year of the snake and 1977 (the year I was born) is also the year of the snake-and look what an awesome year that turned out to be! 2) I'ts not 2012.

Did you make New Year's resolutions? We have all at one point in our life made a plan to do something to better ourselves and either succeeded or failed. If trying to eat better or get some more physical activity in your life made your list of resolutions, I have some tips for you.

The first step to eating better is not to overwhelm yourself with unachievable goal. As Lao-tzu said-"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Many people feel very motivated at the beginning of the year to make a huge lifestyle change, which is great! But the way to keep that motivation going is to make ACHIEVABLE goals for yourself and track progress. Why set yourself up to fail? Oftentimes we try to be very regimented in restricting our diets and find we can only stick with our plan for a few weeks or months, but the REAL key to long term success is not to start with an extreme, restricted diet plan but instead aiming for a long term, lifestyle change.

Lifestyle changes work best by setting SMART goals. SMART goals are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time specific. For example ,instead of starting with, "I am going to eat better by not eating anymore sugar", start with something more achievable and specific like: “I am going to cut out soda and limit myself to dessert once a week." We have picked a smaller, achievable objective that we can track over time, and tracking your progress is important! It helps you celebrate your small successes and recognize your improvement. Document what you did to achieve your goal, how you felt about it (was it hard this day? easier another day?) and how you can continue to work towards your objective.There are some great apps for this like Nutrition Menu for your smart phone or just logging it in a small notebook that you can keep with you in your car, purse or work desk. Recognize that lifestyle change is fluid and will constantly be changing. In our previous example, after 2-3 weeks of not drinking soda and limiting dessert, it’s time for another goal. Once you realize that you are capable of making a change, the next change will seem easier. As you set new goals, don’t abandon your newer, healthier habits!

Remember; don’t punish yourself if you slip up. It’s much more important to stay with your goal for the long term and not get discouraged by mistakes.

Eating healthy isn't always about taking things away! It should also be about adding things to your diet like fresh fruits and vegetables, which most American’s don’t consume enough of anyway.

Stumped for a goal? Try these:

• I will eat one fresh piece of fruit and one vegetable every day
• I will limit red meat to once a month
• I will limit soda to once a week
• I will limit dessert to once a week
• I will add lean meats twice a week
• I will eat fish twice a week
• I will walk 30 minutes 4 days a week 

A recap of what we talked about:

• Aim for lifestyle changes NOT crash or fad dieting
• Set a SMART goal
• Track your progress towards your goal
• Set new goals often (aim for a new goal every 2-3 weeks)

Also, if you need help setting some goals for 2013 regarding diet and/or physical activity  message me and I will help you!