Easy does it

WELCOME TO a new year – and the usual New Year’s headlines. ‘‘Detox with the stars!’’ ‘‘Lose 5kg in 3 weeks!’’ These are par for the course at this time in January, which is also about the time when many of the health resolutions we’ve made on January 1 start to fall by the wayside.

About half of us make New Year’s resolutions but I don’t think it will surprise anyone to know up to 88 per cent of those who do fail to keep them going, and the first few weeks of January are usually when we fail.

If we’ve already broken our health resolutions, it can be appealing to look for a quick fix. But it is basic human nature to hate being told what to do, and restrictive diets and detox plans essentially do just that. This is the reason most diets fail and weight piles back on. Most of us can’t stick to anything too extreme; we don’t like feeling deprived. So if we’re going to make changes, they need to be things we can stick to long term, long enough that they actually become new habits.

Anthony Grant, the head of the coaching psychology unit at the University of Sydney, was reported saying: ‘‘Many New Year’s resolutions would be better phrased as New Year’s aspirations.’’ I think the idea of aspirations is a much more positive way to look at things. A ‘‘resolution’’ has the whiff of a decree from on high, for which non-compliance will be punished. An ‘‘aspiration’’ sounds positive, something to strive for.

So instead of resolving to give things up – ‘‘I must not eat sugar’’, etc – or going on an extreme detox, why not think of some positive aspirations for the year ahead; things we can add to

One of the best aspirations you could have is to add another serving of vegetables to every meal.

our diet and to our day? One of the best aspirations you could have is to add another serving of vegetables to every meal. Be creative. Think about how you can get more veges into your breakfast (I like a bit of tomato and avocado on grainy toast), lunch and dinner. Summer is a fantastic time to do this, with all the fresh delicious produce around and the warm weather; it’s easy to add a salad or lightly dressed slaw of grated veges to every meal.

Another fantastic aspiration – especially if you want to lose weight – is to aim to eat breakfast every day. Breakfast eating is one of the consistent factors that most people who’ve lost weight and kept it off have in common; eating breakfast kickstarts your metabolism and sets you up for a healthy day so you are less likely to go off the rails and go crazy on the snacks in the afternoon.

Adding breakfast; adding vegetables; adding extra incidental activity; all of these are easy to do and will result in a healthier you if you keep them up. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing to get results. Niki Bezzant is a healthy cooking expert and the editor of

magazine, latest issue on sale Do you have a question for Niki? Email editor@healthyfood.co.nz with SST in the subject line.