New Years Resolutions: Nutrition Tips To Live Healthier

ST. CLOUD - For many of us the new year is the time we plan on making a change to improve our lives. According to recent polls, nearly 40 percent of Americans annually have the resolution to live healthier.

A proper nutrition is the building block of living healthier. Coborns Registered Dietician, Ashley Kibutha, has a few tips to help you start the year off right.

"The first thing we like to talk about is sustainable goals you can keep all year long. We don't want diet goals that are only going to last two weeks because they are so difficult. So we also need to talk about smart goals. The goals need to be specific, measurable, actionable and realistic."

A specific goal would be saying I am going to have three servings of vegetables today, or instead of pop, I am going to drink more water.

Kibutha also says that a good way to make sure you succeed in your resolutions is to make small steps and not big ones.

"You don't need to quit things like pop cold turkey. Try and take small steps for a more sustainable approach."

Outside of cutting down on pop she also suggests trying whole grains instead of refined grains and limiting your added sugars.

Building a healthy nutrition can be confusing with all the information around these days. Every week there seems to be a new diet or foolproof way to "get fit". Kibutha says when building a smart goal you should be aware of fad diets.

"We need to be really cautious of fad diets. This is a really popular time of year for fad diets so it is really important you know what to look for when hear about them. If it is promising quick results like losing 20 pounds in a week or two that's just not realistic."

Even though losing a lot of weight really fast may satisfy our need for immediate results, it may not be sustainable in the long term.

"At the most, you want to lose three pounds a week, 1.5 pounds to 2 pounds is ideal. If you lose more than three pounds you're actually just losing water weight and you're also losing muscle no matter how much protein you're adding."

To help with all of your nutrition questions and concerns, Coborns has come up with their new Dietitians Choice program. The program helps you find healthier options all around their stores. The items chosen are lower in saturated fat, sodium and added sugars, and are good sources of lean protein, heart-healthy fats, whole grains, and fiber.

You can also schedule an appointment to meet with one of the dieticians and learn more about how you can make the best plan for 2018.