With a brand new year just days away, resolutions are on the minds of a lot of people. Our resolutions often include weight loss, but those goals often lead to short term commitments and temporary changes that are bad for our bodies. If you really want to lose weight and improve your health, focus your resolution on changes to your lifestyle. The biggest battle is with nutrition. Apply these ten tips to your life starting January 1, and you’ll see big changes to your health, body, mood, and so much more!

1. Start every day with a glass of water.

Your body loses moisture all night long. When you wake, you need to replace that lost water. Drinking 8 ounces of water as soon as you wake helps your body get going for the day.

2. Eat breakfast.

You’ve heard it before. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” There is some serious truth to that statement!  Just like you need water in your system to start your day, you need calories, too. Giving your body something to burn gets your metabolism going early so your fire can burn all day. Always try to include protein at breakfast, such as eggs, lean meat, or a meal replacement shake.

3. Eat foods that come from nature.

The Paleo Diet. Clean Eating. No matter what you call it, eating natural foods is good for your body. As much as possible, choose fresh fruits and veggies, nuts, beans, and lean meats for your nutrition. If you’re not sure what counts as “clean eating,” be sure to grab a copy of my Clean Eating Grocery List.

4. Avoid processed grains.

Replace cereal with oatmeal. Pass on the hamburger bun, and eat your burger with a fork. Skip the taco shell, and use a lettuce leaf instead. Try zucchini noodles in place of pasta. You will not only cut calories but also cut out added sugar, salt, and preservatives that are used in the processing of cereal, bread, and pasta.

5. Focus on protein.

If you’re not eating three or more servings of a protein source each day, chances are you’re not getting enough protein for balanced nutrition. Great sources of protein include chicken breast, turkey breast, fish, eggs, yogurt, and protein shakes. Just remember, if you’re going to use a shake as a meal, it needs to be a true meal replacement shake, like the one I drink, not just protein powder.

6. Eat more green veggies.

It’s hard to overeat on green, leafy vegetables. They’re filling while being low in calories. A nice big salad with lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, baby carrots, etc., especially when topped with grilled chicken and a low calorie dressing, is a great way to fill your tummy at lunch and dinner.

7. Get your carbs from good sources.

Carb-filled foods are often full of sugar and little else. The best carbs come from natural foods, where they are paired with vitamins and minerals that help our bodies. Examples of good carbs include sweet potatoes, beans, lentils, peas, and whole grains such as wild rice and oatmeal.

8. Choose healthy fats.

Eating fats does not make you fat. (Eating too many calories and the wrong sources of calories does!)  Your body needs fats to function properly. The best choices for healthy fats include avocado, nuts, seeds, hummus, and cheese.

9. Break up with juice and soda.

They may have been a part of your life for a long, long time, but it’s time to say goodbye to soda and juice. Both have added sugar and preservatives that your body doesn’t need. Neither are a good source of calories. Coffee and tea are okay, if you stick to stevia for your sweetener and avoid creamers. The best choice to drink is always water. You need a minimum of 64 ounces of water every day and probably more. Take your body weight in pounds, divide that number by two, and the answer is the number of ounces of water your body needs every day.

10. Allow yourself an occasional treat.

If your plan for changing the way you eat is too strict, you won’t stick to it. Never tell yourself that you can’t eat something – that’s a sure fire way to make you crave it more! Instead, think of it as something you only have every now and then. It’s perfectly okay to have an occasional piece of chocolate or glass of wine – just not every day. Do limit your treats to no more than three per week, and avoid having all three on the same day.

If you found the advice in the post helpful, please share!

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