New Year, New Diet?

Jan. 1st signals a new calendar year, and for many Americans, a “new year, new me” mentality. In fact, according to Business Insider, getting in shape is consistently the most popular New Year’s resolution in the United States. While making lifestyle changes, as approved by a doctor, is not a bad thing, turning to a fad diet to achieve a resolution of getting in shape is not ideal or healthy.

According to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, fad diets promise quick weight loss through usually unhealthy and unbalanced dieting. Fad diets can lead to things like gout, poor athleticism, heart disease, ketosis and—ironically—poor, long-term weight-loss control. If you’re looking to get in shape or lose weight this year, make lifestyle changes that encourage portion control, exercise more, avoid empty calories and eat a well-balanced diet. Keep in mind that forming healthy dieting practices now will keep you on track with your long-term weight-loss goal.

TIPS OF THE MONTH

1. Studies have shown that goals that are either easy or difficult to reach provide more motivation than goals with moderate difficulty levels. Make sure your goal is SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely).
2. Start off slowly and simply with exercise. Overdoing it with exercise will not help you reach your goals. It might actually set you back if you try to do too much too fast and end up hurting yourself.
3. Use Sundays as prep days to eat healthy all week. Get enough produce and staple foods needed for the week. Make double or triple portions of your meal and freeze extras for future use.
4. Diet and exercise are equally important. To get the best results, it is imperative that you eat well and exercise consistently.
5. Keep a food diary. Knowing what you eat will help you to make changes. Starting today, write down when you eat, as well as what, how much, where and how you feel when you eat (for instance, 3:30 p.m., two cookies, at work, feeling stressed). Identifying your eating habits can help you make changes.

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