When January 1st comes around, it means it’s time to dust off that list of diet resolutions you made last year (and the year before that?) and vow to tackle them again. Often, we struggle due to our “to-do” list being a mile long. We’re creatures of habit, and it just takes time for new habits to take hold.
Here’s a suggestion for you – don’t try to make all your changes at once. In fact, try to focus on three small changes a month until the end of the year. If you work on establishing just three new habits for a month, you won’t be overwhelmed with trying to focus on too many things at once. By the end of the month, the three new habits will be part of your routine!
Think about what you’d like to work on first.
Let’s say you want to cut back on your sugar intake. Your diet resolutions for January might be:
• I will have fruit for dessert instead of cookies
• I will cut my soda intake in half
• I will switch from pre-sweetened yogurt to plain yogurt
Maybe eating too much fat is your problem. In that case, your January diet resolutions might be:
• Instead of crisps with my lunch, I will have a side salad instead
• I will switch from regular salad dressing to low fat
• I will have my coffee drinks made with non-fat milk instead of whole milk
If it’s portion control you need to work on, your January resolutions might look like this:
• I will use smaller plates when I eat at home to control my portions
• When I go out to eat, I will ask the server to put half my meal in a take-home container and serve me the rest
• I will weigh and measure my food portions a few times a week to make sure I’m staying on track
This is the year to take a different approach to your diet resolutions. Make these few changes, give them a month to settle in, and then build on those changes’ month after month.
