Five top tips for eating better in the New Year

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to eat better and lose weight.

It also probably the one of the toughest to stick to.

To help you succeed this year, Brian Higginson, a clinical dietician at Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center, has complied “Five Top Tips” for better eating.

Brian Higginson’s Five Top Tips:

• Ideally, each meal should include some form of a fruit or vegetable. The fiber they contain helps fill us up so we tend to consume less of other higher-calorie foods. Also, they are loaded with vitamins and minerals and they can help lower cholesterol and the risk of cancer.

• Think your drink. Studies suggest that our bodies do not gain much physical satisfaction from sugared beverages (it’s different for something like milk that has protein). Therefore, it can be very easy to take in more calories than one really needs. A good approach is to limit sugared beverages to 8-12 oz per day maximum.

• Start your day off right with breakfast. It literally “breaks the fast” and activates our body’s metabolism. Several studies show that people who eat breakfast regularly control their weight more than people who do not eat it.  Always eat something within the first 2 hours of getting up.

• Plan ahead. Know some basic, healthy recipes and make sure to have those ingredients available. Stock up on produce (frozen is OK) to help make it a more complete meal. Prepare a little extra and have it another day.

• In a similar vein, bring a healthy snack in to work to help avoid the vending machines or sweet treats from the coffee shops. Also, by having a good snack in the mid afternoon, one’s appetite should be under better control when getting home at the end of the day. This can help avoid overeating at dinner.

To learn more:

• Visit the Swedish Health and Fitness Center Web page.
• Watch Dr. Linquist’s “Sticking to that resolution” video in the sidebar.

Tags: Diet, Nutrition, Weight Loss

Category: Advice and Tips