Posted in Health

Every year millions of people contemplate a New Year's resolution.  One of the most popular resolutions is to lose weight and/or lead a more healthful lisfestyle.  New Years' marks a new beginning for many...another year to get your life together, so to speak.  However, there is no reason for you to wait.  Do it now.  Instead of using the coming of the new year to mark the starting point of gearing your life to a more healthful life, consider starting today. 

There are many ways you can begin this journey without a full blown plan.  Did you know that the planning can take so much energy that when the execution phase comes, one is too tired to follow through?  Here are a few tips and links to help you get started.

• Eat locally.  A friend of mine has brought this to my attention.  You make your main food choices by what is in season locally.  This certainly would keep things simple, and with each changing season, your food choices would change as well.  For more info read 10 Reasons to Eat Locally, Eating Locally, Thinking Globally, Eating Locally.
• Revamp your food plate.  When plating up food, use the simple visual that Jorge Cruise encourages:  divide your plate in half, then divide one half in half again, leaving you with 3 sections.  The largest section is for vegetables and the 2 smaller sections are for carbs/grains and protein.  Simple, right?
• Choose the most colorful fresh food you can.  When choosing fruits and vegetables, the more colorful, the better the nutrients.  Peas and Carrots are an excellent pair.  Think outside the box, too.  Perhaps a fruit salad for lunch, instead of a veggie salad.  5 A Day, Eating Fruits & Vegetables, Eating your Way to 5 a Day
• Speaking of salads, mix it up a bit, to keep boredom at bay.  Put fruit in a veggie salad.  My favorite is the addition of apples to a regular salad.  Think about making salad the main course of a meal.  This is an easy meal, and that is why restaurants have such popularity with these.
• Remember, a better numbe rof ruits and veggies per day is 9, not 5.  That's A LOT of food.
• Keep food as close to the original product as possible.  This is simple.  A Baked potatoe is better for you than mashed.  Steamed peas carry more of a punch than pureed pea soup.  You get the idea.  However, variety is the spice of life, so change it up each day.  One day have snacks that are in their raw form and food that is a little more prepared.  The next day have the cooked food as your snacks and focus more on salads for your meals. 
• Keep protein sources low in fat.  No brainer. 

These tips will help you get started today, for the new healthful you!  One GREAT benefit to this lifestyle change.  Your kids will follow.  even though they might balk at first, they will do whatever you do.  If you keep chips, cookies, and other junk food available in your home 24/7, they will eat it.  Yet, if you eliminate it except for occaisional times, they will value it so much more.  AND there will be certain things they will begin to not enjoy as much.  This is true for you too!  Reserve chocolate splurges to a few times a month and make it good chocolate!  Pretty soon you'll not want those low qulaity Hershey's bars; walking past that candy rack to check out of the grocery will be no sweat.  Really!

Get started now, and you feel better by New Years! 

These are my thoughts.