By Carin Clegg, Accredited Practising Dietitian
At this time of year, almost everyone makes New Year’s resolutions in one form or another, but more often than not, most people do not achieve what they set out to achieve.
If your New Year’s resolutions involve becoming healthier, losing weight or being fitter, you need to understand that:
- These big goals are broken down into lots of smaller lifestyle changes
- Making lifestyle changes a reality is actually really difficult
- You will need more support than what you realise.
Now in order to achieve these big goals there are some evidence based principles and processes that, as a Dietitian, I use for all my clients to help them reach their goals.
Unfortunately, the weight loss and ‘dieting’ industry is a multi–billion–dollar industry that essentially sells us a lie. All those ‘magic’ quick fix diet books, pills, and shakes do not work long term, and often make us worse off physically, emotionally, nutritionally and health–wise.
Because our diets are such an integral part of our health and everyone is an individual with different health needs and lifestyles, the best thing you can do for your health is to work with a Dietitian to successfully achieve your goals.
Unfortunately, seeing a Dietitian often comes with some resistance. This may be because people think we are the ‘diet police,’ or eating is such a personal thing to talk about and can be too difficult to address, people often think they know what to do but can’t actually do it or people just do not knowing how we can help.
I want everyone to be clever about their eating and health so they can live life to the fullest. So, I do recommend everyone at some point in their life engage with a Dietitian they feel they get along with to keep their healthy eating in check regularly which might be every 6–12 months just like your dental or skin check.
If you have not seen a Dietitian before here is a brief summary of how we can help.
First, we need to assess your whole situation – diet, medical and social factors to see if you are meeting your body’s nutritional needs and what areas you will need to work on to achieve your goals. Then we break down the issues and focus on one area at a time. All these changes will add up to affect your overall diet and then health. Each session or two will often focus on different topics such as:
- Keeping a food diary and learning about food portions
- Being mindful of your eating
- Making better food choices and reading labels
- Being aware and getting back in control of your natural hunger signals
- Tackling emotional eating and
- sugar cravings
- Increasing metabolic rate to burn fat
- Meal planning and organisation
- Managing eating away from home.
There is a great amount of education, planning and problem solving to work through the barrage of barriers and also finding your motivators and staying motivated.
It may seem like a long, slow process but this is what works and it is definitely possible for anyone who has the commitment to see results. Slow and steady wins the race!
Little by little, all these small changes will add up and by the end of 2023 you will have achieved so much, made new habits more normal and feel so much better and even be quite proud of yourself.
So here’s to you this 2023!
Carin Clegg is an Accredited Practising Dietitian, (BSc Nutrition, Hons) and a Personal Trainer (Cert III, IV in Fitness) who is the Director of Bright Diets. Carin loves helping people be clever about their eating so they can feel happy, healthy and vibrant, living life to the fullest. Carin specialises in paediatric nutrition, food allergies and intolerances and intellectual disability (ASD, ADHD). You can contact Carin on Ph: 0407 492 278, via her website: www.brightdiets.com.au or on the Bright Diets Facebook page.