Food in February…stay on track with these tips

It’s February, by now most New Year’s Resolutions will have been broken but it’s by no means a reason to give up.

Every year millions of people like you and I promise to themselves that this year is it.

This is the year they are going to get fit, lose all their excess weight and feel good about themselves.

But by now the vast majority have given up and bought into the belief that they are no good, that they don’t deserve to be happy in their skin and all because they had one or two slip-ups.

These one or two slip-ups then led to days of bingeing, well if you’ve already had one “bad” meal why not keep going, right?

Just because you have perhaps fallen behind, it doesn’t mean you have lost the chance to make 2017 a great year. After all, there are 12 months to the year, 365 days. One or two less than perfect days does not make for a terrible year.

So if you have already given up here are five steps you can take to get back on track.

Start with your next meal, don’t leave it until Monday. You don’t have to aim to be perfect, but start making small, perfect, choices. If you’re next meal is dinner aim to serve a meal made with 50% vegetables, reduce the starchy carb portion (potatoes, pasta, rice etc) by half. If you must have dessert, eat less than you would have done.

Track your food and spending at the same time. When we give up on eating healthily we tend to spend more money on treats. A coffee and muffin here, a chocolate bar there, before you know it most of your spare change is being spent on food that we do not eat. When you see how much you are spending you are more likely to stop – what else could that money be used for?

Set small goals. If you’re a hardcore meat-eater who loves to eat takeaways, don’t expect to be able to become vegan overnight. Likewise, if you want to cut out sugar, or become vegetarian, start small, one meal at a time. Start with breakfast, once you have mastered breakfast for a week then move onto lunch. Over the weeks you will eventually conquer your full food intake – and have hopefully learned a few new go-to recipes at the same time.

Measure yourself – the scales don’t always reflect the truth. Losing weight and gaining muscle may result in the same weight but you will likely have changed shape and your clothes will reflect that.

Celebrate or commiserate with non-food choices. Save £10 for every lb lost, or splurge on a spa day for each stone, and if you’ve had a bad day enjoy a long soak in the bath, dance it off or go for a run. Food should not be a reward and it should also not be used as a comforter (no matter how much we think a tub of ice cream will make us feel better, it won’t, trust me).

Need some help? Make an appointment with me for nutrition coaching to help you set some good habits with food.

AlisonKing thefitkiwi@gmail.com