No-Sweat Nutrition Resolutions That You Can Easily Follow

With 2017 just around the corner, NOW is the time to start putting pen to paper and begin planning your, or your PT clients, New Year resolutions. The Key to goal setting is thinking SMART and not overloading yourself with a heap of goals that you probably won’t have a chance to accomplish. When it comes to health and fitness goals, keep them simple and something that you can maintain, long term. To give you a few ideas in the nutrition space, we spoke with  Annette Chatterton, Fitness Coach, at the Australian Institute of Fitness to share five resolutions you can make stick in 2017 and beyond.

1 Drink More Water

Drinking more water is a common goal, yet so many of us struggle to consume the quantity we are after. An easy way to do this is to purchase a large water bottle and label 200ml lines on the side, then try to drink 200mls every hour.

After a nights sleep, and not consuming any water for up to 8 hours, it is very common to wake up dehydrated. So, to help to stay hydrated during the night, have a glass of water on your side table next to the bed, and before bed, and every morning, have a big glass of water!

TIP for the silly season: have a glass of water between every alcoholic drink, as a result you will drink less alcohol, and your head will feel so much better for it the next day!

2 Eat More Fibre

By adding more fibre to your diet, you will be helping your digestion and also lowering your cholesterol, WIN WIN!

TIP: Choose more fibrous fruit and vegetables, e.g. celery, brussel sprouts, sprouts, corn, cucumber, apples and citrus fruit and try to eat the peel when possible.

Include at least 2 meals that include lentils and legumes each week, and, add psyllium husks to a high fibre cereal for breakfast, or choose natural oats rather than fast oats.

3 Increase Green Leafy Vegetables In Your Diet

It is important to consume your daily intake of veggies, so make sure every evening meal has two – three serves of green leafy veggies and add some salad to your lunch. Perhaps slice spinach and kale thinly and add it to scrambled eggs, an omelette, pasta sauces and soups. Broccoli spears are easy to add as well, and taste fresh and crisp.

4 Reduce Saturated Fat

To reduce saturated fat, choose lean cuts of meat, and try grilling, dry frying or steaming your meat as it will reduce the fat content. Substituting your meat with fish is also a great option and is a great source of protein.

5 Reduce Your Sugar Intake

Making the habit to look at food labels is what will have you succeed with this goal, as it can be very difficult as so many commercially made products have sugar added these days. If you are looking to reduce your sugar intake, you will obviously want to avoid foods such as lollies, chocolate, soft drinks, commercial fruit juices, cordials and high sugar energy drinks. You can also try not adding that sugar to tea or coffee each day.

• Bio

AIF

The Australian Institute of Fitness

The Australian Institute of Fitness (AIF) is the largest and longest established fitness training organisation in Australia, with dynamic training methods and expert course coaches nationwide - spanning fitness, massage and nutrition. The AIF qualifies more fitness professionals than any other provider in Australia, as well as offering a broad range of continuing education courses (CEC), upskilling resources and partnership programs for existing industry.