By Connie Colbert
Director, Canyon Health and Wellness Clinic
Make your New Year’s resolution 2018 : “I will never diet again.”
This year, do not start out the year with “ I will start my diet tomorrow.” Instead say, “ I will start a life of living healthy tomorrow.”
Why?
Diets do not work.
Diets are unsustainable.
Diets usually have an end.
Diets, especially those that use prepared food, are not always healthy and often contain many artificial ingredients.
On the other hand, healthy living:
Is a lifestyle.
Is sustainable.
Never ends: If you make a bad choice one day, week or month, you can always get back on track the next day.
Provides long term benefits.
Is an investment in “you.”
So where can you start?
- Prepare yourself mentally. It all begins with a determination within yourself to make a change.
- Start by choosing real food: Fruits, vegetables, eggs, fresh meat and fish.
- Avoid fast food, packaged food, boxed food and any food product with a long list of ingredients you cannot pronounce.
- Track your food intake. You may be eating more than you think. Replace sugary snacks with healthy alternatives such as nuts, apples with peanut butter or cucumber and carrots with hummus.
- Make sure you exercise several times a week. It does not need to be vigorous as you start. Just get that body moving. Find an exercise you can stick to. This is different for everyone, so try walking, running, hiking, home videos -- whatever you enjoy and can most easily fit in your day. Make the commitment to follow through.
- Limit sugary drinks. If you drink sugary drinks such as soda, sweet tea or even sports drinks, take them out of your diet. You would be surprised at how many calories you can cut out by eliminating these drinks and drinking more water.
- Don’t focus on the pounds, focus on the health!
Once you maintain a healthy lifestyle for a period of time, you will stop craving those old habits and foods! So join me this year and make this the start of a health revolution.
