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Top 3 Nutrition New Year’s Resolutions for 2019
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The best dietitian recommended healthy eating advice to look and feel your best

Calgary Media Dietitian Andrea Holwegner on Global Calgary

There is much debate over if setting a nutrition New Year’s resolution is even helpful.  As a Calgary Nutritionist and Registered Dietitian for almost two decades, I know first-hand just how impactful setting the right nutrition New year’s resolution can be to achieve the biggest shifts in your health, energy, and weight.

New Years Nutrition Resolution by Registered Dietitian

The Reason Many Nutrition New Year’s Resolutions Fail

Unfortunately many people set a well-intended nutrition New Year’s Resolutions that is either destined for failure since it was too extreme to sustain.  Others choose too many goals to try and focus on and lack enough clarity to specifically be able to measure success. 

I’ve also noticed a really common issue is that the nutrition resolution may be healthy but have little impact on the results they are trying to achieve.  In this case it can feel like you are working hard and not getting paid.

The Best Dietitian Approved Healthy Eating Strategies

There are hundreds of suggestions, healthy foods and eating changes I could have suggested for your New Year’s Resolution.  I contemplated the most important nutrition changes that could have the most profound influence on your overall health, energy levels and help you move towards your personal best weight.

Below you will find the top 3 nutrition New Year’s Resolutions I think are some of the most important nutrition changes to explore. Which one could you work on this year?

1. Feel More, Track Less

Your smart phone is not a nutrition expert on you.

You are not a robot and your hunger and fullness will change daily like the weather. If you are full it is OK to leave food on your plate. If you are still hungry give yourself permission to have a little more. Remember it can take time for your brain and your body to connect and determine fullness. Slow down and listen to what your body is saying. When you do, your body doesn’t let you down. No judgement. Honor your hunger. 

You don’t need to track calories on an app.

Many programs and apps irresponsibly provide a reward that you are allowed to eat more on days that you exercise and a punishment of less food if you have not exercised. This fundamentally goes against normal intuitive eating patterns. In fact, you may find your appetite is lowest on active days and your body will cure you to eat more to recover on days off. You are worthy of eating regardless of your physical activity patterns. Learning to identify the different kinds of hunger, trust your body and respond appropriately to your needs is key for success.

2. Time Block Meal Prep

You may not want to spend time in the kitchen but good health depends on it

If you really don’t enjoy cooking you may be hoping there is a way to totally eliminate all meal prep to instead go with convenience solutions.   While there are certainly time saving tips we teach our clients every day in our Calgary dietitian practice, eating well does take time and effort. It must be prioritized in your schedule.

Use the 5 minute time block solution

Constantly feeling stressed by meal planning? Grabbing too many convenience foods?  Tossing out fruits and veggies from your refrigerator that just didn’t get prepared?   You need a better system.  You don’t need to be a professional planner or devote your entire Sunday to meal prep for the week, but you do need to be intentional about time blocking meal prep.  Start by spending 5 minutes once per week to time block your calendar for grocery shopping and meal prep. Most people need at least 1/2 hour each day at supper or longer periods on the weekend blocked off to prepare and cook food.  Many people you may underestimate how long it takes to acquire, prepare and cook.  If it’s not on the calendar you will likely find it hard to fit in. 

3. Make Veggies Awesome & Abundant

The vast majority of people could benefit from increasing the number of vegetables they eat each day. While most people know this, knowledge often does not lead to action.  Some of the barriers is simply not understanding how to cook vegetables in a way that tastes good and adding enough variety throughout the day to hit your targets.

Let the vegetables drive dinner

When you are meal planning start with the veggies first for a little more love and attention.  Build your repertoire of tasty recipes and cooking methods so you will actually want to eat veggies.  Start with these two simple tips:

Learn how to roast veggies (my favorite way to eat just about any veggie)  – Watch this video on how to roast veggies

Learn how to make homemade vinaigrettes so your salads don’t suck – Watch this video on how to make a vinaigrette in under 1 minute

Use my “2 by 2” rule for veggies

To make the goal to eat more vegetables more actionable, use my “2 by 2 rule” which simply states “eat two different vegetables, twice per day.”

Give yourself more than one opportunity each day to eat vegetables. You likely won’t eat enough if you only have them at supper. Add raw veggies and dip, salad or vegetable soup as a daily snack or as part of lunch. At supper, instead of only having a cooked vegetable or a salad, focus on having both. As an adult, aim to have half of your supper plate full of vegetables. In order to do this, go for steamed, grilled, roasted vegetables as well as a few raw veggies or a salad.

The New Year is a great time to take action on a healthy eating goal.  Which one of the above 3 goals sounded like the best fit for you? 

Book an appointment for nutrition counseling by our top Calgary nutritionists and our virtual online Registered Dietitians. For more information visit Calgary Nutrition Counseling

Take our free online dietitian created nutrition assessment to find out how healthy you are eating here: Personal Nutrition Scorecard

For a more in-depth discussion on the top 3 nutrition New Year’s resolutions AND the top food and nutrition trends for 2019 watch the longer discussion that happened on Global TV Facebook Live here:

Nutrition Tips with Calgary Nutritionist and Media Dietitian Andrea Holwegner
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Success stories

"I am a psychologist in private practice and it is very important to me that my clients have the best care with other health care professionals. For that reason Health Stand Nutrition is my only source for exceptional Dietitians. Andrea and her team provide highly knowledgeable, compassionate, and real world support to my clients who require assistance with food lifestyle. I trust my clients to them and you would be in excellent hands making them part of your health care team."
Adele Fox, Psychologist
“This is the first time I feel satisfied; my cravings have diminished dramatically and I have a whole new relationship with food. I am eating guilt-free for the first time in my life. My energy has also dramatically increased and I feel great!
Rhonda Jenkins, Nutrition Counseling Client
“The Dieticians at Health Stand Nutrition help you to take action on the science behind eating well by making it practical, understandable, and fun. Their office is cozy and not at all clinical or intimidating. I felt like I was sitting down with a really smart, caring friend who wanted to help me make the best choices for my lifestyle and food preferences. They really are the best in the business.”
Marty Avery, Nutrition Counseling Client
“I have come to think of the program as a one stop shopping excursion for everything one needs to know about creating a joyous relationship with food and our bodies. In a single word, the course has gifted me with freedom from the punishing rigidity of disordered eating, old stories that never were true, and body dysmorphia that did nothing but make me lose sight of a body that has done everything I've asked, despite my careless dismissal of her needs. Now when I look in the mirror I find myself shifting from harsh criticism to gentle gratitude.”
Lynn Haley, Pursuit of Healthiness Online Course Participant
“I spent 3 hours when first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I learned more from my Dietitian about food in those 3 hours than I had learned in all the years of my life. I also love the newsletter, there is always something to learn.”
Peter Whitehead, Nutrition Counseling Client
“I didn’t realize how strong my “diet mentality” was, and all the rules I had in my head about food. I was in a cycle of reward/punish/binge/cringe. I booked with your business very reluctantly, on the repeated advice of my doctor, to get my slowly rising cholesterol levels in check. I thought I knew everything about food, and my behaviour with food, but I was definitely re-schooled. My weight is creeping down, I feel good about my diet, exercise, body image, and lifestyle.”
Amy Floyd, Nutrition Counseling Client
“Thanks Andrea for an amazing presentation, I have heard all positive remarks from attendees and the evaluations show the same sentiment. It is really gratifying when a speaker does their “homework” and weaves in our profession’s day to day challenges within their content, you did an awesome job of this! You truly took the “die” out of Dietician! Your information on healthy eating and simplifying how we can work towards this as we are all so busy really hit the mark. Andrea connects very well with her audience; she is energetic, funny, and very approachable.”
Carole Ann LaGrange, Transfusion Medicine Safety Officer

Event Planner for Laboratory Diagnostic Imaging Annual Event

I am a family physician who sees patients with a myriad of eating concerns – from wanting to know how to plan healthy meals for active families, to weight loss, to eating disorders, and so on. I cannot recommend the Health Stand team highly enough. I have worked with (and been to!) other Dieticians in the past and too often find that they just ask for food logs and make suggestions that are easily obtained online or in books. The Dieticians at Health Stand offer much more than just telling clients what they “should be eating.” In contrast, the team really does more of a counselling practice, and they work hard to help their clients learn more about why their eating habits may be off track and not optimal for them, as well as helping people to effect change at a deep level that, most importantly, is sustainable for lifetime health.”
Dr. Deb Putnam, Family Physician

Nutrition Counseling Client & Referring Physician

“I am a busy mom, with kids in high level sports, working full-time downtown, and running our home acreage outside the City. I now have the knowledge and tools I need to plan for and manage the chaos of meal planning.”
Gillian Gray, Pursuit of Healthiness Online Course Participant
“As a construction company, we select speakers who can relate to our industry and its employees. Andrea’s message was delivered with humor and empathy. She makes people feel as though they can make changes without leaving behind every favorite food. Andrea focused her presentation on healthy eating as a way to keep energy high throughout the day. This message and the way it was delivered resonated with our predominantly male, blue collar culture. I would highly recommend Andrea as a speaker for groups such as ours. She will get your message across without alienating anyone in your audience – which is a huge hurdle when trying to introduce a wellness program in the workplace!”
Stephanie Wood, HR and Safety Manager

Fisher Construction Group, Burlington, WA

I found my Dietitian warm, funny, and skilled at teaching nutrition concepts without the overwhelm. The general approach of each session was to mix science with emotion, which was exceedingly effective in helping me shift my perspective on food from one of anxiety to one of joy and curiosity.”
Erin Kronstedt, Nutrition Counseling Client
“Excellent presentation! What a refreshing change to have a speaker inspire rather than “lecture” about nutrition. Your captivating stories, tips and overall approach to healthy eating uplifts and puts people at ease. It was great to hear we don’t need to strive to be perfect eaters, and that small changes really can make a difference in how we feel and in our health. Thanks to Andrea, we have solutions to our everyday nutrition challenges that can actually work in real life!”
Tina Tamagi, Human Resources

ARC Resources Ltd.

“Had I not joined this course I would have struggled with no focus, low energy, and mindless eating. Excellent teaching and motivation. This is not just a course, it is a nutrition club with mentorship, support, and connections with other people with similar situations.”
Lorri Lawrence, Pursuit of Healthiness online course participant

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