Choosing Health Resolutions that Stick! By Andrea D’Ambrosio, RD

How to Choose Health Resolutions You WILL Keep:

What is the point of making a resolution for living better, healthier lives if it is not maintainable? Here are my 4 best tips for weight loss and great health. All my tips are achievable and sustainable!

1. Focus on “life-long change” – Ditch all those fad diets, the hunger strikes, the elimination diets and take charge of your health with real foods that taste good! Remember that any valiant effort to lose weight that involves deprivation and/or extreme exercise is unsustainable; you will eventually default to your old habits. Strategies that are enjoyable are sustainable!

2. Fill up with Fibre: Fibre fills us up on few calories; it slows digestion, lowers cholesterol and stabilizes blood sugars. Choose whole grains (ie. oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, barley) and b-fast cereals with more than five grams of fibre per serving. Add 1.5 Tbsp of chia seeds to cereal and yogurt to boost fibre at a meal or snack.

3. Take the stairs: Taking the stairs burns twice the number of calories as walking. Stair climbers also have greater leg strength and better aerobic capacity. Climbing just two flights of stairs daily could equate to a 6 pound weight loss per year. Similarly, if you did six flights a day, this could be a 18 pound weight loss over one year.

4. Learn to cook! We have become increasingly dependent upon processed, convenience and restaurant meals. Similarly, our taste buds have become accustomed to crave these types of high fat, salt laden and high sugar foods. Cook your own food more often to improve your dietary quality and decrease your reliance on processed foods. Your waistline will
thank you for it!

Andrea D’Ambrosio is a Registered Dietitian and owner of Dietetic Directions, a dietary counseling and education company in Waterloo, ON. (www.dieteticdirections.com). Follow her on twitter @DambrosioRD or like her page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/andredambrosiord