Blog post written by,
Yaneth Beltran, RD/LDN, CEDRD
At the beginning of the year, we all think about renewing our life plan, resolutions, expectations and goals for the new year. At the same time, we evaluate our success from the previous year by looking at our achievements and feel some pressure when we see that we could not keep up with the resolutions. Some overwhelming thoughts could arise and affect our self-esteem and level of determination to take the necessary steps to achieve our goals. This is when we need to separate two important concepts: resolution and intention.
Having resolutions will help us visualize where we want to get in a period of time. Being intentional is the commitment to take the necessary steps to achieve our resolutions.
Some of the top ten new year resolutions are losing weight, eating healthier, and exercising more, and that is great! The challenge is being consistent with the activities that will get us to those goals. This is when being intentional is helpful and at some point, it is also the best way to be able to achieve and maintain our resolutions.
Here are some ways in which we can be intentional about achieving a normal body weight:
Improve your eating patterns - It is easy to have a disorganized schedule for meals during these days due to the changes in our life styles. Organizing meals and eating with certain frequency could help us have enough energy during the day to perform activities easily. Having food every 3-4 hours could help improve our metabolism.
Eat balanced meals - All foods have different types and amounts of nutrients. Eating a variety of food choices will allow our bodies to achieve a state of health. Please remember that after dieting, you could get out of control when eating certain food choices that you did not allow yourself to have because they were not part of the diet. In addition, people cannot stay on a diet forever so sooner rather than later, you will go back to old patterns and gain the weight back.
Be more active - We all are aware of the benefits of practicing physical activity frequently. Walking for 40 minutes, using the stairs, watching an exercise video, taking a yoga class, stretching during the day, taking your dog to the park, etc.
Manage stress - Dieting and limiting the intake of nutrients to lose weight at a fast pace could actually increase social anxiety and engage in obsessive behaviors which increases distress.
Since losing weight is one of the most broken resolutions, I want to invite you to try use these tips, have a different approach, learn how to achieve a normal body weight while being intentional and improving your relationship with food.
YANETH BELTRAN, RD/LDN, CEDRD
Eating Disorder and OCD Registered Dietitian
I take a holistic approach to wellness by providing nutritional counseling to clients that want to establish a healthy relationship with food. I am a compassionate person, who believes in the power of the therapeutic relationship between clients and professionals. For a FREE phone consultation and more information about nutritional counseling, please call me directly at 954.773.3139.
Services available in English/Spanish and Online
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