Simple and sustainable ways to become a healthier you in 2019
By Jennifer Bucko Lamplough and Lara Rondinelli Hamilton
Around the new year, most of us vow to make drastic changes to our diets or lifestyles. For some, that means adopting a strict (and joyless) diet or signing up for hardcore fitness classes that meet at 5 a.m. despite the fact that you’re horribly out of shape. It’s no wonder that these resolutions are often short-lived. When it comes to making lasting changes to your diet and lifestyle habits, slow and steady wins the race.
There’s no doubt that committing to eat healthier and get more exercise are great new year’s resolutions. But unless your new practices are sustainable, any progress you make could be short-lived. Small diet and lifestyle changes over time that aren’t too disruptive stand a better shot at becoming permanent healthy habits. Whether you want to lose 30 pounds, get better control of your diabetes, or achieve a similar health goal, it’s best to make small but powerful changes. Eventually, you’ll see results.
If you’re ready to take some small yet mighty steps toward better health, give these tips for simple and sustainable ways to become a healthier you in 2019 a try.
Cut out sugary drinks immediately
Sugary drinks like regular soda, fruit drinks, energy drinks, and sweet tea raise your blood glucose and add empty calories to your daily intake. Even though it can be a hard habit to kick, do all you can to eliminate these drinks from your diet. Replace them with fresh water, nondairy milk, flavored carbonated water, and unsweetened teas and coffee.
Purge the junk food
Cookies, chips, sweets, and other snacks are hard to resist when they are an arm’s length away. The best way to avoid them is by removing them from your home. But don’t worry. When you’re craving a snack, you can try a healthier whole food option, like slices of avocado, a handful of nuts, kale chips, a small serving of nondairy yogurt, a piece of fruit, or veggies with hummus or nut butter. These snacks are more satisfying and pack more nutrition than your processed favorites.
Do some research and identify an eating pattern you can live with
Studies show that there are many different eating patterns that can be helpful in managing diabetes. That means that if you’re trying to get your health in order, you don’t have to stick to a rigid plan that restricts many of your favorite foods. Some effective eating patterns include vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, Mediterranean, low-carbohydrate, and low-glycemic.
Plan your meal around veggies instead of making them the afterthought
At mealtimes, try to fill at least half of your plate with nonstarchy vegetables like spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, and eggplant. Veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and Brussels sprouts are delicious when roasted in the oven, and sautéing cabbage, bell peppers, and eggplant brings out their natural flavors. Finally, start any meal with a simple salad of mixed greens to help you meet your veggie quota.
Try lettuce wraps instead of bread
Iceberg, green leaf, or butter lettuce make a surprisingly delicious bread substitute. Use them in place of bread for your next sandwich. Nestle veggie burgers inside a lettuce “cup” in place of hamburger buns, and carefully wrap them and toppings into a low-carb lettuce sub sandwich and secure it with wax paper and a piece of tape. Then tear the paper away as you eat.
Eat veggie noodles in place of pasta
For a great pasta substitute, sample the veggie noodles trend. Veggie noodles are a delicious, lower-carb option that can be eaten in place of grain-based pastas. A kitchen tool called a “spiralizer” quickly and easily turns vegetables into “noodles,” or you can use a standard vegetable peeler for a similar result. For even more convenience, you can now find these spiralized veggies in the freezer or produce section of many grocery stores. Try noodles made from zucchini, sweet potato, carrot, or spaghetti squash. Top them with chili or Bolognese sauce, or use them to make a cold “pasta salad” or noodle dishes like Pad Thai. You can also try cauliflower, butternut, or broccoli “rice” in place of regular rice for a lower-carb option.
Schedule in exercise five days a week
What you write on your calendar and allot time for is more likely to get done. Your workouts don’t have to be extra rigorous to be effective. Just taking a brisk 30-minute walk each day or at least five times a week is a great way to get your heart rate up and kickstart weight loss and improved health. Of course, if you’d like to take up running or sign up for a cardio class, go for it! But if you are sedentary, it’s important to start slowly and build up your endurance so you can maintain your new routine!
But don’t do only cardio
Get in some strength training too, even if you’re watching TV at the same time. Strength or resistance training makes your body more sensitive to insulin and can lower blood glucose. It also helps to maintain and build strong muscles and bones. The American Diabetes Association recommends doing some type of strength training at least two times per week. Activities include using weight machines, or free weights, or resistance bands as well as exercises that use your body weight to work your muscles like squats, lunges, planks, wall-sits, and push-ups or activities that build and keep muscle like heavy gardening.
Do at least some of your exercise outdoors
There’s nothing wrong with going to the gym, but if you’re feeling unmotivated to do your normal indoor routine, take your workout outside. The fresh air is invigorating, and studies show that being in nature decreases stress and promotes positive emotions. So be sure to trade out some of your time on a treadmill for a walk or jog in a local park. Or do lunges, push-ups, and other strength training in your backyard for a change of scenery.
Shake up your sedentary workday every chance you get
Sitting at a desk all day can negatively impact your health. If the nature of your work causes you to be sedentary for eight hours a day, look for chances to build more movement into your day. For example, take a 10-minute walk after lunch, get up and move a little each hour (even if it’s just a walk to the water fountain or restroom), park farther away than you normally would, or take the stairs instead of the elevator.
There’s no reason your new year’s resolutions have to be painful, punishing, and ultimately unsustainable. Making more manageable changes that you will actually enjoy is a better game plan for success. Make 2019 the year when you finally shift into a healthier lifestyle and start moving toward building a better you.
Lara Rondinelli-Hamilton counsels a wide variety of people from those wanting to lose weight to others trying to better control their diabetes or cholesterol. Her role is to educate people on the importance of a healthy lifestyle, but also to help them incorporate it into real life with healthy eating and cooking. Jennifer Bucko Lamplough is working to help solve hunger by working with food pantries, soup kitchens, and meal programs in northern Illinois to not only distribute meals but to provide nutrition education in those settings. She continues to work as a cooking demonstrator, teaching people how to cook healthy and showing that it can be delicious and easy.
