Food Pyramid New Year's Resolutions

People have more success with changing their food habits if they make small changes in a sequential pattern. For example, if you want to eat less sugary foods, begin by taking only one food out of your diet, such as ice-cream.

During your first month without ice-cream, educate yourself about all the different sugars that are contained in our foods: glucose, sucrose, corn syrup, invert syrup, honey etc. so that you’re better informed about where sugar lurks in your diet. Then, in month two, decide if you want to remove another sugary food altogether, or just reduce your consumption by about half.

As your palate adjusts to having less sugar, and as you become more aware of hidden sugars, you will probably change your diet naturally to be healthier.

Good Resolutions You Can Enjoy

The food pyramid emphasises a healthy diet, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a boring one. You should try to eat more fruit and veg and whole grain foods, but you can still have lean meat and poultry, lots of fish, some eggs and nuts and even some healthier sugars. What you need to avoid is saturated fats, salt and too many sugars. There are ways to do this that can be pleasurable and the resolutions below help you find the fun in good resolutions.

• Eat locally – Many people think that consuming locally-grown foods actually keeps your body healthier because it keeps your body in tune with seasonal changes. Of course this means not eating strawberries in winter or Brussels sprouts in midsummer, but that’s a sacrifice that can save you money too because out of season crops are more expensive. And you’ll find you enjoy locally seasonal fruits and vegetables more they are in the shops because they are full of flavour and have a higher level of vitamins and minerals.

• Cook like a professional – If you’re the cook in your family and you also work, like most of us, take one day every couple of weekends and cook several meals at once, freezing the excess to provide healthy meals that save you time in the evenings. This is a great way to eat better because you’ll be much more focused on getting the nutrition right when you’re cooking six or seven lots of food – you’re not doing anything else for several hours and your attention will be on the ingredients and preparation so that you’re very aware of adding sugar and salt, for example.

  When you cook in a hurry, after work, it’s easier to tell yourself that you’re rushed today, so something a bit less healthy is okay, you’ll eat a salad tomorrow. But tomorrow never comes and your family eats three or four thrown-together and less healthy meals in a row.

• Cook with the family – If you encourage children and partners to contribute to cooking by choosing favourite dishes and helping to prepare them, you get company in the kitchen and you get to share your knowledge about good nutrition, giving your loved ones a better basis to make good food choices for themselves in the future.