Do you set new years resolutions every year but fail to follow through? The best way to achieve your goals is to make them realistic. Here are my top 4 easy to implement resolutions:

  1. Sugar – instead of stripping every single bit of sugar out of your diet, why not aim to remove all added and hidden sugar. Aim for no more than 5g/100g in any packaged food and stop adding refined sugar to your coffee etc
  2. Stop eating take away – for this to come into reality, it means writing a menu plan, which is a very time saving and cost effective exercise. Imagine not having to think about what’s for dinner! Spend an hour on Saturday or Sunday mapping out your lunch and dinners, then do a batch cook or chop veggies up and store them in airtight containers, make your salad jars up for a 3 day run and simply add your dressing and protein at the time
  3. Weight loss – concentrate on small, consistent changes rather than radical overhaul type changes. Wear a pedometer and aim for a minimum of 8k steps daily, reduce your dinner portions by 20% and ensure you get 7-8hours sleep every night. Research also highlights the importance of gut health for weight loss. By increasing prebiotic foods such as chicory root, Jerusalem artichoke, dandelion greens, leeks, onions, garlic, asparagus, broccoli, bananas, pistachios, this increases gut bacteria that helps to regulate appetite hormones.
  4. Remove alcohol – instead ensure that you hit your water and hydration intake by getting in 33ml/kg body weight and using an alcohol points system. For example, a glass of wine is 1 point and you allocate 3 points a week. This avoids blowouts, binge drinking and learning moderation is a great skill.