Good-bye, 2012. Hello, 2013. Many people look at the starting of a new year as a metaphor for a new beginning. With what would you like a fresh start in the New Year? Are you going to make “resolutions” like everyone else? Have you made resolutions in the past, only to find that you didn’t or couldn’t achieve them? Been there, done that. It doesn’t work. This year, resolve not to make any resolutions.

We all start out the year with the best intentions. Lose weight. Eat healthier. Manage stress better. Exercise more. Save money. Improve our relationships. Sound familiar?

So why, by February 1st, have we slipped back into our old habits?

When you make a resolution, it’s usually a very large, over-reaching goal. Lose 30 pounds. How can you expect to lose 30 pounds as quickly as you want to, especially when it didn’t get put on overnight? Big goals with no game plan equal big failure. And when we fail, we beat ourselves up over it. After many years of setting up unattainable resolutions, and failing to achieve them, we’ve labeled ourselves as failures and thus have little hope for actually succeeding when we set out to try again. And yet we continue to try again. I give an “A” for effort, but unfortunately the outcome is the same because we haven’t changed the game plan and the results are the same.

Another reason we are doomed to failure is that we are very impatient. We want results and we want it NOW! That’s normal for a society of instant gratification. So, waiting for results is very difficult.

The solution? Take it slowly, be patient, and break those lofty goals into smaller, more achievable goals. Try U Rock Girl’s “Goal A Day” challenge.

You want to make changes that will last. This year will be different. You will succeed. All you need is a game plan. Here are the tools you need:

• Give yourself specific directions. Vague resolutions like “Lose weight” are doomed for failure. How are you going to do it? How many pounds? Over what time period? Do not give yourself too many options. Set focused goals, like “I will eat breakfast every day,” “Walk 20 minutes at lunchtime every day,” or “Only one glass of wine at dinner.”

• Give yourself inspiration. If your goal is to increase your strength, then find a picture of yourself when you were in better shape and tape it to the refrigerator as motivation. Make the inspiration reasonable – don’t put a picture of an elite athlete as your screen saver or you will set yourself up for frustration.

• Get motivated (and stay motivated). Take a look at the larger goal (Losing weight). Now break it down into little, attainable goals, i.e., bring lunch to work every day; drink 8 oz. water first thing in the morning; have a fruit or vegetable at every mini meal. When your goals are smaller and more easily achieved, you will feel successful. This feeling will encourage you to make more changes that will get you closer to your next mini-goal, and ultimately your big-picture goal.

• Make your environments supportive of your goals. Your home and work or school are the two environments in which you spend the most time, so make sure they support the healthy changes you are trying to make. Get rid of your trigger foods and stock the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry full of fruit, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, beans, lean protein, and healthy snacks, like NuGo bars. If you know you always crave sweets at 3 p.m., then have a healthy snack of some sweet berries and a protein, like Greek yogurt, to satisfy your craving and keep your hunger in check. Or try a NuGo Slim bar (I love the Roasted peanut flavor) which satisfies the sweet and savory craving. Other environments, like social, travel, and commuting are also situations in which you can make changes to keep you successful. If you know you’re going out for dinner, look at the restaurant menu on-line before you go out and decide what you’ll be ordering. Also, having a light and healthy snack before you go out to eat or to a party will help you from making a poor food decision or overeating.

Remember, change doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that takes time and practice. You may occasionally fail or have a set-back. That’s ok and you should even expect that to happen. It’s how you deal with that set-back. Accept it, own it, figure out why it happened, and what you can do to prevent it from happening again in the future. By taking the time to assess your progress – what’s working and what’s not – you will be able to make the necessary changes to allow you to be successful in achieving your health and wellness goals.

About the Author:

Erin Macdonald, R.D. is a Nutrition, Fitness, and Wellness Coach in southern California where she has a private practice and teaches cooking classes. She is the co-founder of U Rock Girl, a web site full of nutrition, fitness, and wellness information and recipes to nourish the mind, body, and spirit. She also writes a regular column for Oxygen Magazine, called “Easy Does It” and will have a new column in Clean Eating magazine called, “Ask the dietitians.” Follow her on Facebook and Twitter. 

This fascinating segment from 60 Minutes with Sanjay Gupta shows why sugar may be classified as a toxin and linked to heart disease, cancer, hypertension, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist, started the anti-sugar campaign in 2009 with his YouTube video, Sugar: The Bitter Truth.  While Dr. Lustig’s views about sugar were previously considered controversial, there is now new scientific research supporting him.

“But now, studies done by Kimber Stanhope, a nutritional biologist at the University of California, Davis are starting to back him up. She’s in the middle of a groundbreaking, five-year study which has already shown strong evidence linking excess high fructose corn syrup consumption to an increase in risk factors for heart disease and stroke. That suggests calories from added sugars are different than calories from other foods.”

“Stanhope’s conclusions weren’t easy to come by. Nutrition studies are expensive and difficult. Stanhope has paid groups of research subjects to live in this hospital wing for weeks at a time, under a sort of 24-hour lockdown. They undergo scans and blood tests – every calorie they ingest, meticulously weighed and prepared.”

Surprisingly, Stanhope found that after only two weeks of drinking sugary drinks with high fructose corn syrup, they had increased risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including higher LDL cholesterol levels. After seeing the powerful data, Stanhope decided to drastically reduce the sugar in her own diet!

“So imagine, for these healthy young people, drinking a sweetened drink might be just as bad for their hearts as the fatty cheeseburgers we’ve all been warned about since the 1970s.”

A Harvard professor, Lewis Cantley, explained how sugar is a catalyst in some common types of cancer, actually causing the tumors to grow! While his team is working on a drug to prevent the tumors from growing, Cantley advises to avoid eating sugar. Eric Stice, a neuroscientist at the Oregon Research Institute, has shown through MRI scans that sugar is addictive like cocaine.

“Eric Stice says by scanning hundreds of volunteers, he’s learned that people who frequently drink sodas or eat ice cream or other sweet foods may be building up a tolerance, much like drug users do. As strange as it sounds, that means the more you eat, the less you feel the reward. The result: you eat more than ever.”

The good news is that NuGo Nutrition has many options to help you reduce sugar. All NuGo bars are 100% natural and free of high fructose corn syrup. Since NuGo bars are high quality protein coated in only a small amount of luscious real dark or milk chocolate, they contain significantly less sugar and fat than other brands of protein bars. Additionally, NuGO Slim contains only 2 grams of sugar from REAL Dark Chocolate and chicory root. NuGO Slim is the first low sugar protein bar without sugar alcohols or maltitol, which can cause gastric distress and a bad aftertaste. NuGo Family is certified low glycemic.

Click here to watch the 60 Minutes video, Is Sugar Toxic?, and watch the informative extras, including a segment about kids and sugar. Sanjay Gupta recommends eating real food to avoid added sugars and reading labels to cut down on sugar. How many calories of added sugars should a woman consume in a day? Less than the amount in one can of soda!

Happy Registered Dietitian Day! March 14th celebrates all of the hard work and dedication that registered dietitians throughout the country do to make our society a healthier place. Registered Dietitians are the nutrition experts, specializing in many different areas such as weight loss, pediatrics, food allergies, and chronic diseases. Although I have experience counseling patients for a variety of conditions, my true passion in nutrition lies in sports nutrition. The Board Certification as a Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) credential is the premier professional sports nutrition credential in the United States. CSSDs are registered dietitians who provide safe, effective, evidence-based nutrition services for health, fitness and athletic performance. The best way to locate a sports dietitian closest to you is to contact the Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition (SCAN) group at www.scandpg.org.

Therefore, in honor of RD Day, I have compiled the “Top 14” reasons to consult a sports dietitian, whether you are a weekend warrior, daily gym rat, or competitive athlete.

1. You want to improve exercise or sports performance.

2. You desire to gain muscle mass or lose body fat.

3. You want to gain muscular strength and power.

4. You want to increase stamina and endurance in your sport.

5. You want ideas for food to eat before, during, and after exercise or sporting event.

6. You want to choose the best fluids to drink before, during, and after exercise and sport to stay adequately hydrated.

7. You want to make better food choices and need ideas for buying and preparing food.

8. You have food allergies and intolerances and want to know the best choices for your condition and how food and medicine interact.

9. You experience gastrointestinal problems that keep you from performing at your best and you want solutions.

10. You are an athlete or active individual who has a medical condition, for instance, diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors, compromised bone health, abnormal iron status food allergies, or gastrointestinal problems such as gluten sensitivity, and need nutrition guidance and a personalized meal plan.

11. You want to speed your recovery following intense training, competition, surgery, illness, or injury.

12. You want to develop lifelong nutrition strategies to complement annual preparation, competition, and off-season plans.

13. You want to learn how to choose, store, and prepare healthy foods to fuel your body.

14. You feel the need to have someone assist you in the management of your body weight and body composition.

The key to optimal meal planning for athletes is individualization. Contact a registered dietitian for personalized nutrition plans and advice. Remember to demand experience, demand excellence, and demand a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics!

About the Author: 

Ashley Acornley, MS, RD, LDN is a clinical and sports dietitian, certified personal trainer, and blogger/writer originally from Philadelphia, PA. Ashley earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences with a minor in Kinesiology from Penn State University in August 2008. She completed her Dietetic Internship and received her Masters of Science degree in Nutrition from Meredith College in December 2011. Ashley is an AFAA certified personal trainer and has been motivating clients since 2007.

She is very sports-minded and stays active by participating in 5Ks, triathlons, half marathons, and other competitive events. She also practices boxing, yoga, tennis, and strength training at her local gym. Besides physical activity, she has found a new interest for cooking and baking and writes about it in her food blog, “Fresh From the Farm.” Ashley is currently a private practice dietitian at Triangle Nutrition Therapy in Raleigh, NC. Triangle Nutrition specializes in individualized counseling for a variety of populations and health conditions. Ashley enjoys teaching her clients how to stay healthy, motivated, and physically active!  

Ashley can be found by visiting Triangle Diet or by checking out her blog.

Making healthy food choices and controlling portions are difficult when you are starving. However, when you eat healthy snacks, they actually prevent you from overeating and may help with weight management. Snacks also help you get essential nutrients in your diet. Even the new MyPlate guidelines recommend eating healthy snacks.

Here is some important advice on choosing healthy snacks from Fit Sugar.

“Snacking on the right combination of protein and complex carbs can beat an afternoon slump and help get you through the day. Snacking regulates your blood sugar to combat a drop in energy, which can be the difference between skipping an evening workout or powering through one before dinner.”

“One of the most important things to remember with keeping snacking healthy is to make sure that you are prepared. You should plan on eating two snacks a day, says nutritionist Alexa Fishback — one should be under 100 calories and one should be more substantial, 100-200 calories. And, as celebrity trainer Valerie Waters adds, it’s important to time snacks correctly so they help you get from meal to meal.”

NuGo protein bars have between 170 and 200 calories, so you can feel good about eating one each day as a substantial healthy snack. Or, eat half a NuGo bar for a snack that is less than 100 calories. Share the other half with a friend or family member or save it for later. Thank goodness snack time isn’t just for kids!

With all the research coming out about the health benefits of REAL dark chocolate, we’re big proponents of eating some every day. Not only will you be helping your health (heart, cholesterol, eyesight, etc.) and beauty (skin), but you’ll also be satisfying that sweet craving you likely get at some point during your day.  Not a bad deal, right?

Trying to fit more dark chocolate into your diet is a pretty fabulous problem to have.  Just make sure you’re eating dark chocolate, as the processing in milk chocolate destroys the flavonols. And make certain you’re eating REAL dark chocolate, as opposed to palm kernel oil or other vegetable fats. We coat our NuGo bars in REAL dark chocolate, but you’ll find most other nutriton bars coated in some type of vegetable fat (it doesn’t melt as easily and it’s cheaper to make). Not only does this mean you’re not getting the health benefits of dark chocolate, but it also means you’ll get that icky waxy taste.

Here are a few of our favorite ways to fit more REAL dark chocolate into your diet:

-Make hot chocolate with real dark chocolate, using skim milk.

-Mix a little melted dark chocolate into a container of Greek yogurt (or crumble a NuGo bar into the yogurt).

-Mix a little dark chocolate into your morning bowl of oatmeal (or mix a NuGo bar into oatmeal!)

-Cover fruit in melted dark chocolate… We like strawberries, cherries, and orange slices best.

-Cover nuts in dark chocolate.

-Eat a REAL dark chocolate NuGo bar!

We recommend keeping a NuGo bar in your desk drawer, so you can easily and nutritiously satisfy your craving when it hits. Many of our bars contain REAL dark chocolate, including our brand new Slim bars. Slim bars only have 2 grams of sugar (they’re sweetened by the dark chocolate and chicory root) and are packed with protein (15 grams!) and fiber (9 grams!). We also have an entire line of NuGo Dark bars, including flavors like Peanut Butter Cup and Pretzel with Sea Salt. Our Organic and FREE bars also contain REAL dark chocolate. Trying to stay healthy has never been so fun or delicious!

(Dark chocolate photo courtesy of flickr.com/johnloo)