Our Top 5 New Year Health Habits

Is “healthy eating” one of your New Years resolutions?  Our guess is that for a lot of people it is.  We all have the best intentions at the beginning of a New Year but often we aim too high so when it gets too hard its easier to go back to old habits.

One little trick that can work is being easy on yourself.  Start with small, realistic and achievable goals.  Find one or two things you would like to change AND think you can change about you or your family’s eating habits and work to build them into your lifestyle.  When you have those sorted swap another bad habit for a healthier one and you will be well on your way to making some long lasting healthy lifestyle changes and successfully realising your New Years resolution!

Here are 5 of our top health habits if you need help getting started, but do what best suits you and your family.

1. Eat together at the table for meal times.  Watching TV, reading the paper or using the computer can result in mindless eating leaving you unsatisfied after your meal and going back (unnecessarily for a second helping).  Taking the time to enjoying your food with your family will help you feel healthy and happy and help you raise good little eaters.

2.  Serve meals in the kitchen and keep the serving platters away from the table.  It’s easy to eat more than your realise and more than you need when you have the ability to easily serve yourself seconds.  Using smaller plates are a good idea too if your eyes are often bigger than your belly.

3. Avoid grocery shopping with the kids or when you are hungry.  Doing the shopping alone or online when you aren’t hungry helps cut down on those often unhealthy and unnecessary impulse buys.  If it’s not in the cupboards or the fridge you can’t eat it or offer it to the kids!

4. Choose to eat a healthy balanced breakfast every day.  Among many of the reasons why breakfast is so important, eating a healthy balanced breakfast in the morning leads to better food choices throughout the rest of the day.

5. Aim for 2 and 5.  Most people don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables.  They are packed full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and are high in fibre. Aiming for 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables that are in season each day will keep you on track for good health now and for years to come.  Whole or pieces of fruit are the best option rather than juice.

Oh, and one more… Only cook one meal.  If you find yourself cooking one meal for the baby, one meal for the older kids and another for the adults try just making the one meal for everyone.  You may need to make minor variations but cooking using the same ingredients that are suitable for all will have the whole family eating well.  Helps avoid fussy eating too! See our new Magazine for more information and 1 meal 3 ways recipe ideas.