Happy New Year!! Welcome to 2019 - the year of taking control of your life, making better choices to live healthier and happier!
We all start the New Year with some sort of belief or false confidence that the welcoming in of a new day will bring magical changes our shitty habits.
All well intended, the overzealous commitment to completely overhauling diet, exercise and lifestyle will not happen overnight!
Good News is it will happen if you have deep rooted desire, intention and motivation to change.
There are no quick fixes, magic pills or potions that will create the long lasting, sustainable changes that lead to a happy, healthy balanced life.
Nutritionally, eating a diet with a variety of wholefoods, avoiding or at least minimizing processed foods and drinking plenty of water will deliver balanced nutrition, feeling of satiety and improve mental & physical health.
When we get our systems out of balance it can be tempting to turn to a quick fix, however rather than looking to the latest fad diet to ‘lose your Christmas pudding’, instead approach a positive health change by introducing constructive practices.
My Top 5 Tips for improving dietary habits;
Drink more water- provides a vehicle for water soluble Vitamins to nourish our cells, improves mental alertness, reduces risk of disease and illness, and creates satiety- more you drink fuller you feel!
Up your Veg intake- Vegetables offer a diverse range of nutrients. Leave the skin on as most of the nutrients reside right under & peeling removes them! Full of fibre, eating more vegetables daily you will feel fuller for longer, reduce diet related diseases and improve mental health. Adding fresh lemon and Himalayan salt to your water first thing in the morning will allow better hydration to the cells and deliver a boost of Vitamins & Minerals.
Ditch the labels – If it doesn’t have a NIP (Nutritional Information Panel) it usually means it doesn’t need one. Manufacturers use sneaky tactics to promote foods as healthy, however look closely and there is an overabundance of sugars, preservatives and highly processed food stuffs that promote disease. Did you know that food manufacturers have over 50 names for sugar? Many are in the same products and they use different types as to avoid having sugar listed as the main ingredient.
Have a Gut-full of Ferment– Think kefir, kombucha, kraut or tempeh. Eating pro-biotic rich fermented foods is incredible for our microbiome in our guts. Our guts home approx. 3kg of bacteria and when out of balance effect our entire bodies. Introducing and increasing fermented foods feed the good bacteria that will promote positive mental and physical health.
Meal Prep- Write a list of meals for the week then chop a weeks’ worth of veggies for stir-fry, salads, soups, roasts or casseroles. Often it is the hardest to find the motivation to start. With a little preparation, quick easy meals are only 10 mins away. If you have a few hours, cook up soups, casseroles and stews to freeze in portion sizes. Set yourself up for success with a little thought out action.
As with any behaviour, small incremental changes create the permanent lifestyle differences.
Rather than looking at what you need to stop, avoid, what you are ‘missing out on’, focus on the healthy habits you are adding to your life, the benefits of the changes, how much more energy and zest you have.
A great way to start is with smart goals. The following framework can be applied to any lifestyle change you are wanting to implement.
Positively wire your brain with SMART goals.
S Specific Be clear and define what you wish to achieve.
M Measurable What are the markers of success?
A Achievable Ensure that this is realistic and attainable.
R Relevant What or how is this of importance to you?
T Timely Creating a deadline increase urgency.
Without clearly defined goals and how you will achieve them, success will elude you.
This simple framework can be applied to any goal, personally or professionally. Use it to introduce the top 5 tips as above.
This method will help you set clear, achievable goals, creating a measure of success to your goals will ensure most effectiveness.
It’s the little things done consistently that will help your transform your lifestyle in a health-loving, wholefood-munching vibrant soul!
Amanda x
