Marika Day: 6 tips to kickstart a healthy-eating New Year’s resolution

ARTICLE

01 January 2024

4 min read

Worried about flopping on your ‘fresh start, fresh veggies’ mantra? AIA Eat Well Expert and Accredited Practising Dietitian Marika Day shares six simple steps to help your healthy-eating New Year’s resolution succeed all year long.

The start of every new year brings a fresh opportunity to make positive health changes.

For many of us, this means setting ambitious New Year’s resolutions to eat more healthily and improve our everyday nutrition. Unfortunately, research shows that about 80% of us tend to ditch these big commitments sometime in January¹, meaning we could quickly fall back into old, potentially less healthy habits.

Whatever your ultimate motivation, here are my tips to make sure your healthy-eating resolution is manageable and sustainable for the year ahead.

Decide on clear nutrition goals

Before diving into your resolution head-first, it’s important to identify the areas of your diet you want to focus on.

Simply stating that you want to eat healthier is often too vague to know where to start. A specific, clear goal allows you to picture what you’re working towards and see what small, manageable changes you might consider making to help the new habit stick.

Whether you want to consume more fruits and vegetables, reduce your sugar intake, eat more plant-based protein or cook more meals at home, a well-defined goal will help you stay focused.

Keep a food journal

A food journal can be a helpful tool for tracking your dietary habits and the progress of your resolution², no matter your specific goals. It can help you spot patterns, identify areas for improvement, and hold yourself accountable.

Write down everything you eat, including portion sizes and the time of day. You could also add how you’re feeling or what you’re doing while you eat. And remember, it isn’t about judging yourself or beating yourself up. It’s about understanding your food habits and finding where you can make positive changes.

Consider mindful eating

The practice of ‘eating mindfully’ involves paying full attention to your meals³. Just as mindfulness is about being aware in the moment, mindful eating means sitting down at the table without distractions, noticing the textures and smells of your meal, savouring each small bite and chewing slowly.

Not only does mindful eating enhance your enjoyment of food, but it also helps you recognise when you’re full, which can prevent overeating⁴.

It’s a great way to make sure you’re in tune with your everyday diet and how it makes you feel.

Plan and prep your meals

A great way to prevent impulsive, less healthy food choices is by knowing that you have nutritious options readily available in the pantry or fridge.

Not only can planning meals ahead of time help you make sure you’re getting a balanced share of all five food groups in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating every day⁵, but preparing meals at home has also been shown to help save money, save time, and ensure you’re consuming higher-quality ingredients⁶.

At the start of the week, plan the meals and snacks you’ll make (and remember it doesn’t need to be every day or every meal, if that’s not realistic for you), write shopping lists to keep yourself supermarket savvy, and try to prepare ingredients in advance. That way, all you’ll need to do is combine or cook them when it’s time to eat.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

Don’t forget how important hydration is for a healthy diet. Water plays a crucial role in how our bodies work, helping everything from digestion and metabolism to temperature regulation and mood⁷. Without good water intake, we can become tired, weak, confused, and headachy.

Aim to drink around two litres of water throughout each day. Australia’s tap water is fantastic for holistic health.

Go slow and steady

Finally, remember that change takes time. Instead of committing to drastic, unsustainable adjustments, focus on small, gradual changes that become habits over time⁸. These small wins will likely lead to a healthier, more balanced diet in the long run.

All or something

New Year’s resolutions can often fail when they’re trying to change too much all at once. Instead of saying you’ll overhaul your eating habits entirely, choose one or two areas of your diet to focus on. We’re all about the All or Something mindset.

All: Plan and prepare a week’s worth of lunches and dinners every Sunday.

Something: Meal-prep two work lunches a week.

Looking for quick, delicious and commute-ready meals full of all the good stuff? We’ve got your covered: check out these three simple recipes Marika prepared earlier.

Footnotes

¹ https://www.finder.com.au/new-years-resolutions-statistics#how-many-people-stick-to-their-resolutions

²https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-keep-a-food-diary-2019013115855

³https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/mindful-eating/

⁴ https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mindfulness

⁵ https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/eating-well/tips-eating-well/meal-planning

⁶ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8728746/

⁷ https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/water-a-vital-nutrient

⁸ https://jamesclear.com/habit-guide

Marika Day

Marika Day is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Nutritionist with over 10 years' experience in a variety of clinical and non-clinical areas. Her expertise and interests include gastrointestinal nutrition, which is influenced by her personal experience with coeliac disease. Additionally, she focuses on women’s health and the complexities of disordered and emotional eating. In addition to her clinical expertise, Marika regularly works in recipe development, helping people make nutritious choices every day. Her approach to nutrition is balanced, practical and empathetic and aims to help people enjoy food and live a healthy balanced life.

Disclaimer:
Copyright © 2024 AIA Australia Limited (ABN 79 004 837 861 AFSL 230043). This is general information only, without taking into account factors like the objectives, financial situation, needs or personal circumstances of any individual and is not intended to be financial, legal, tax, medical, nutritional, health, fitness or other advice. The source information of the articles is current as of the date of publication and may be subject to change. While the information contained herein is believed to be accurate, AIA Australia expressly disclaims any and all liability for representations or warranties, expressed or implied, contained in, or for omissions from, the information.

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