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New Year’s Diet Resolutions

Hello 2020, it’s a new year and decade! It’s time to bid farewell to bad habits and set some new health goals. Perhaps you would like to lose some weight ready for your summer holiday or try out a fitness class.

After over-indulging at Christmas, we often feel like we need to immediately eat a salad or start a diet. Many of us jump on the bandwagon of the latest fad diets for a quick fix, particularly at this time of year. However, many of us don’t stick to them and a lot of these “celebrity” diets have not been medically studied.

Here are 10 top tips on sticking to your goals:
  1. According to psychologist Robert Cialdini’s book ‘Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion’1, if other people hear you commit to something, you’re more likely to follow through. So go ahead, post your goals on social media and talk to all your friends and family.
  2. Keep motivated. Find someone to complete the same goals as you and help keep each other motivated.
  3. Don’t cheat, you are only cheating yourself!
  4. Realise your body is the most important thing you own and learn about how to look after it.
  5. Diet, health and body image is a huge focus on social media but don’t take someone else’s word for it, always do your own research. There’s plenty of information online but make sure that any “studies” are medically recognised and backed up by scientific fact.
  6. Admitting your bad habits will help you stop them!
  7. Set realistic goals. try not to be over-ambitious because if you miss one target or goal, you may be easily tempted to slide back into old habits.
  8. Wave goodbye to your scales! Just because you’re frequently attending the gym, try to remember that fat converts into muscle which weighs more. Overall health is measured by energy levels, cardiovascular health and mental wellbeing – you don’t see these on a scale.
  9. Eat fresh. Fat-free snacks, breakfast bars, and protein bars are not a healthy alternative to a meal. They’re packed full of addictive, chemical and preservative-laden products that trick our brains into thinking we’re full. Bananas are a great source of energy and they’re 100% natural.
  10. Sleep will give you the energy you need to stay motivated, lack of sleep can cause weight gain because we feel hungry due to the rise in appetite-stimulating hormones such as cortisol.

1 Source: Robert B. Cialdini. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. (New York: Morrow, 1993)

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