If goal setting works for you, then new years can be a great way to kick start life back into gear – this never works for me.
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I don’t like rapid change.
I end up giving up as soon as one day goes “wrong”.
So this year I’m going to take a slower approach and make small more achievable goals.
More Fruit and Vegetables
As a dietitian, people believe my diet is always perfect; it’s not!
When I get tired, run down or stressed I reach for processed foods like lollies, chocolate, ice cream and cakes, just like everyone else.
I try hard to curb these, by having regular meals and healthy snacks, preparing foods so I’m less likely to reach for snack foods, but sometimes life gets in the way.
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This year I’m going to try and be more mindful about my intake and include a serve of fruit or vegetables in every meal, including my snacks.
The Australian Health guidelines recommend five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit every day.
But did you know that only 4 per cent of Australians meet this recommendation?
New Year’s Recommendations
1. Add a serve of fruit to your salads to make them sweeter; it will stop those after dinner cravings.
I add grilled or baked nectaries to your usual chicken and mozzarella salad.
2. Combine 1 cup of Greek yoghurt, 3 tablespoons of peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of honey and mix until smooth, serve with fruit or whole grain crackers (this makes enough dip for three serves).
This dip is high in protein, healthy fats, calcium and makes fruit a little yummier!
3. Always have frozen vegetables on hand.
I have frozen edamame, corn, peas and those single serves of green vegetables you can pop in the microwaves in my freezer at all time.
They all take just minutes to defrost and have been snap frozen at their peak, so they are packed full of nutrients.
Move more
This was an area I focused on in 2017. I went from doing just cardio (lots of running and walking) to a well-balanced mixture of cardio, strength and yoga.
Exercise for me has always been for my mental health, rather than for physical fitness.
Working in mental health has taught me that exercise and good nutrition are just as important as anti-depressants in managing anxiety and depression.
Yoga taught me to slow down and bring my awareness to the present moment, something that did not come easily in the past.
New Year’s Recommendations
1. I don’t believe in the mantra go hard or go home. Sometimes your body
needs a more gentle work out and other times it needs to be pushed, listen
to your body.
2. Too much of a good thing, I learnt this the hard way. You cant just do the
same exercise over and over again- this is when the risk of injury increases.
3. Work towards at least 2.5 hours of exercise per week.
Embrace your imagination
I love reading but I don’t do it enough.
Research shows that reading reduces stress by up to 68 per cent and can leave the reader feeling more positive about life in general.
It can also help ward off Alzheimer’s and other memory conditions.
Reading can also promote sleep; creating an evening ritual that includes reading signals to your body to wind down and prepare for bed and sleep.
Unfortunately, this is only true of real books, as the backlighting on e-reader and tablets may keep you up.
New Year’s Recommendations
1. This year I’m going to read one non- work related book a month.
2. My first book for the year is Dan Brown’s New book “Origin”
What changes do you want to make this New Year’s?