Keep an achievable resolution
Local dietitian urges residents who are looking to stay fit to make small changes in routine
With the new year quickly approaching, local residents will soon begin flocking to the gym and using nontraditional diets in an attempt to fulfill their resolutions for the new year and attain a better body.
At the end of each year, residents hear the latest and most fashionable diet trends that are made popular by celebrities or companies and instruct users to ingest nothing but fluids, go without carbohydrates or eat a specific “superfood,” dietitian Maria McIntosh said. However, these alternatives are not always the best or most healthy way to get the body you want.
“We all have different bodies and needs,” McIntosh said. “It’s always good when somebody wants to make healthy eating choices, but sometimes the way we go about them might not be the best.”
“I caution you to look around, notice the diversity of bodies and remember that one size does not fit all,” nutritional therapist Heidi Schauster said, adding that a healthy food or behavior for one individual may not be the same for another.
Most times, the latest diet fads ask you to do very drastic things — like drink gallons of water every day or only eat cauliflower — at a pace that can’t always be maintained, McIntosh said. Instead, the best thing to do is to make some resolutions that you feel you can still be working on a year from today.
For example, rather than selecting a restrictive type of diet, say that you’ll increase your veggie intake, McIntosh said. “Even if you don’t eat any now, add one veggie a day,” and you’re already in a more healthy place than you were before.
“Blindly trying the latest fad without listening to how it feels in your body is a recipe for discomfort, confusion and sometimes harm,” Schauster said.
“There’s no magic bullet,” McIntosh said. “It really is about taking logical steps and trying to eat more veggies, because they have more calories and can still be filling.”
One of the most important factors in a successful health journey is consistency, according to the pair of health professionals.
A good idea is to use the 8020 rule, meaning you make the healthy choice 80 percent of the time, McIntosh said before adding that this allows yourself the ability to enjoy your favorite dessert over the holidays. “If you can do 60-40, then do that. The truth is you should do what you feel is attainable for yourself right now.”
Another useful suggestion is to take a plate and make an imaginary X on it, McIntosh said. The different sections are your serving portions, and you want to try to fill those with different foods, whether it be pasta, grains, meat, salad or fruit. “The idea is to balance out the plate.”
It’s also important to move a little more than normally, Schauster said.
“That doesn’t mean spending three hours in the gym because you’ll be so achy that you won’t go back until next year’s resolution,” McIntosh said. Instead, do a little something for at least 30 minutes a day.
“One of the things I do is I always park on the highest level of the garage. I know I don’t get into the gym as much as I should, but I know that I’m getting a workout in small ways here and there,” she added.
To test your progress, McIntosh said to focus on how clothes are fitting instead of what the scale is telling you.
“One last thing to mention is to not give up,” McIntosh said. “Research shows that the more you try something, then the more successful you end up being long term. Give yourself that time. Habits take time.”