Keeping your Diet Resolutions

Last Updated 1/10/2024 • in News

Iredell County, NC – It’s the beginning of the new year – the perfect time to start fresh and set goals and resolutions that will enhance our health and wellbeing for the year ahead. But for many of us, New Year’s resolutions are often easier to make than to keep.

One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions year after year is improving dietary habits. Because of this, the first week of January is known as Diet Resolution Week. To support you in your journey toward a healthier diet, Alyssa Sharp, registered dietitian at Iredell Wellness & Diabetes Center, offers a few tips to help you stick to your dietary goals this year.

Set Clear Goals Goal setting is critical for healthy weight management. However, we often set goals or resolutions and don’t stick with them because they are too strict or unattainable. It’s important that the goals we set are S.M.A.R.T. goals. S.M.A.R.T. stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time. “If you never go to the gym, instead of setting an unrealistic goal like going to the gym five days a week for one hour starting January 1, try setting a S.M.A.R.T. goal. For example, go to the gym two days a week on your days off for 20 minutes for one month. This may seem small, but if you do more, great! You surpassed your goal,” said Sharp. Clear, S.M.A.R.T. goals help us stay on task.

According to Sharp, some clear and specific goals could be:

• Limit sugar-sweetened beverages to 8 oz every other day.

• Eat one cup of vegetables five days a week with dinner.

• Drink a cup of water before breakfast and dinner five days a week.

• Limit fast food/fried food to one day a week.

• Cook a meal at home three days a week.

“Stay focused on progression and not perfection. If you don’t meet your goal, that’s OK. The important thing to do is figure out why. If your goal was to only drink 8 oz of sugary beverages every other day, and you are having a difficult time with this, figure out why and adjust your goal accordingly,” said Sharp.

Stay Hydrated Water makes up around 60% of your body – it is vital to your health. Water plays a key role in many of our body’s functions, including bringing nutrients to cells, getting rid of waste, protecting joints and organs, and maintaining body temperature. In addition, water can help you in your weight loss goals. “Staying hydrated helps our body understand the difference between hunger and thirst.

Sometimes, these signals get confused, and we think we are hungry when we are actually thirsty,” said Sharp. Sharp recommends drinking about 6-8 cups of water per day. “Water is the best way to stay hydrated. Sports drinks are only necessary after intense exposure to heat or physical activity,” said Sharp.

Plan Your Meals Planning meals to prepare at home helps you improve your food choices and avoid less healthy drive-through meals. Meal planning gives you a clear idea about the food you will be consuming throughout the day. “Plan out about 2-4 meals throughout the week prior to grocery shopping. If you are waiting until 5 p.m. to decide what to eat and still need to go to the store and cook, chances are you’ll be going out for dinner or ordering in. You know the days of the week you will be busier than others, so plan for that as well. Don’t plan to make a dinner that takes an hour and a half to prepare and cook when you only have 20 minutes,” said Sharp.

Since we all live busy lives, it’s important to plan for quick meals as well. According to Sharp, this could be healthy tacos or rotisserie chicken, boil-in-a-bag rice, and steamed vegetables. “Sheet pan meals are also a good, quick idea. Put tenderloin, potatoes, and asparagus on a pan. While it cooks, you can get other things completed around the house,” she said. Eat More Vegetables Try to include more nutritious vegetables in your meals. “Vegetables are the most important part of healthy eating, but they are most often missed. For individuals without gastrointestinal issues, you can never overdo vegetables,” said Sharp. Vegetables are low in calories, provide you with essential vitamins and minerals, reduce the risk of certain cancers, and contain fiber, which helps keep you full.

“Remember that New Year’s resolutions shouldn’t be about restricting or taking something away. You can add many things to the diet to promote healthy eating versus ‘never eating junk food again,’” said Sharp.

Exercise “Exercise has many benefits, other than weight loss, that we don’t always consider. Oftentimes, we exercise with weight loss in mind, and when we don’t see the scale tip in our favor, we lose hope and stop exercising. However, exercise does so many great things internally for our body, such as improving heart function, reducing blood glucose and blood pressure, reducing stress, increasing metabolism, decreasing unhealthy cholesterol, and increasing healthy cholesterol,” said Sharp. Sharp recommends getting at least 30 minutes of exercise three days a week. Seek Help “If the advice you read online or receive sounds too good to be true or very restrictive, such as, ‘cut out all sugar and carbs,’ ‘only eat this list of foods,’ or ‘you’ll lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks,’ this is a quick fix and temporary. Eating healthy and having sustained weight loss come with lifelong diet and behavior changes — not a 1–2-month diet plan,” said Sharp. “If you are seeking additional support or not sure where to start, you can certainly get help from a dietitian,” she added.

Alyssa Sharp is a registered dietitian at Iredell Wellness & Diabetes Center located at 235 N. Main Street in Troutman. If you would like to schedule an appointment with Sharp, speak with your primary care provider about a referral. To learn more, please call the wellness center at 704- 878-4556.