Holding on For Dear Life to Those Nutrition Resolutions

By Allison Mitidieri, JCC Nutritionist

The New Year celebrations have come and gone, and as we approach the end of January many of our resolutions have come and gone as well. Maybe you vowed that in the New Year you would go to the gym every weekday and that you would end the year in the best shape of your life. Maybe on January 1^st you went to the grocery store and loaded your shopping cart with kale, pomegranates and fancy health foods to start you on your new path to a healthier lifestyle. Maybe you decided to take on both the gym every day AND consume nothing but salads because there is no better time than January 1st!

How’s that going for you?

I’m sure some of you are still on that New Year high, still holding strong on those big resolutions, and I commend you: great job and keep up the good work! The fact is, though,

many of us abandon our resolutions relatively quickly. We get frustrated and give up. Some people get so discouraged that they want nothing more than to forget that they even tried in the first place.  Maybe next year we will be better, but this year we lost our shot.

It doesn’t have to be this way, and it’s not too late to salvage that last bit of positivity that you have for being more health conscious. Resolution is not a word that has a purpose only on January 1st of every year.

Here are some helpful solutions to make your resolutions more manageable all year long:

• Most of us set the bar too high- set a realistic goal to start. Completely cutting out pizza and unhealthy foods and replacing with vegetables is not a sustainable goal, and you are probably asking a little much of yourself. Stop and ask yourself, “Am I really going to be able not to eat pizza for an entire year? Will I really have the patience to rub out that kale to make it less bitter and tough?” For most of us, the answer is probably no, and that’s fine. Instead, try one new plant-based recipe for dinner a week for the next month.

• Did you reach your goal? Good! Now let’s do that again the next month, but tack on a little something extra, like adding a small side salad to your weekly pizza lunch. Reach that goal, and then the next month tack on another small goal. You may see other positive changes, like having more energy to spend time with your family at the end of a long workday or shedding some extra weight.

• Build a support system. It will be a lot harder to do Meatless Mondays if your family and friends don’t support you and your goals. If they don’t even know you have goals in the first place, they won’t be able to help!

Remember that you’re only human and you are bound to slip up at times. That is not failure!  Re-evaluate your goals; make changes as needed, and try again.

All we can realistically ask of ourselves is to just be a little better with every passing year. No matter what your resolution for 2017 is, I hope that you find a way to at least come close to success, a little bit at a time.

If you need help with refocusing your nutrition resolutions or if you are struggling with any other nutrition issues, please do not hesitate to stop by the fitness center to schedule a nutrition consultation.  You can learn more about everything offered in the JCC nutrition program by visiting https://katzjcc.org/nutrition/.