CHRISTMAS can leave us feeling tired and bloated as lots of our healthy habits get washed away by a wave of food that is high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS). It can be reassuring to think that it’s ok, the New Year is coming and you can fix all of it then. Lots of people will make New Year’s resolutions to give up on carbs (bread, rice, pasta, spaghetti, noodles etc), go sugar free or have a dry January. Some might even try vegan for the sake of it without even knowing anything about it. Vegan animal free diets in general aren’t any healthier than a mixed diet containing moderate amounts of animal foods despite what the wrong people tell you. By setting unrealistic goals you are setting yourself up to fail before the year has even started. Failing to achieve goals can lead to guilt, feelings of failure and ultimately giving up. That’s why you should set yourself small realistic goals. First, you don’t need to cut out carbs which would put you at risk of nutritional deficiency, especially with the B-group vitamins and fibre. If you eat very large portions try cutting them down, i.e. portion sizes are around 75g for most (pasta, spaghetti, noodles, rice etc) porridge and breakfast cereals are 40g, one round of bread at 40g and a potato at 220g. This is why you should get yourself a set of kitchen scales as eating way above portion sizes without the physical activity to match the intake will encourage an increase in body fat. Another goal could be if you eat too many chocolate bars why not cut down to one small one per day? For example, a small Dairy Milk bar would keep you under the 30g limit of free sugars per day. A wee bar of chocolate won’t do you any harm and in fact sometimes life demands a chocolate bar. Other goals could be to work towards five portions of fruit or veg per day or cut down to portion sizes of sauces from half a pint to just under to a quarter of a pint. You also don’t need to diet and some ones to avoid are Atkins, alkaline, detoxes, cabbage soup diet, blood type diet, ketogenic, maple syrup diet, paleo, juice cleanses, whole 30 diet, potato diet and of course celebrity endorsed diets with no scientific backing. Happy New Year to everyone and enjoy it! Lee McCusker (BA; MSc; MSc; MSc; ANutr; SENr) is a registered nutritionist from Belfast and can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Email: attentive nutrition@gmail.com
