“The Best of the Nutrition Habit Challenge”

By Bruce Burke

We had many intelligent, original ideas submitted for this year’s Nutrition Habit Challenge (NHC). Some of these ideas might be perfect for you to try, but you simply haven’t thought of them. Accordingly, our Focus Point of the Week is “The Best of the Nutrition Habit Challenge.”

The NHC reflects One on One’s philosophy towards nutrition, weight management and health in general:

  • Connecting the short term with the long term: Making intelligent nutrition choices is about making your life better, not depriving yourself.
  • Less is more: small, manageable, commitments lead to success.
  • Maintaining an intelligent diet is done by developing sustainable habits.

Some of our NHC 2012 commitments include:

1. “No food after I brush my teeth at night” Reasonable enough, as long as you don’t brush your teeth too early! Having a healthy snack at night is consistent with One on One’s philosophy.

2. “Reduce dessert to twice per week” – Making simple changes like this can make a big difference…especially if you are eating dessert out of habit when you’re truly not hungry.

3. “Making one healthy modification at every meal” – Not too bad! What if we all did the same…one modification? Olive oil on our bread, a wider variety of veggies in our salad, water with dinner instead of wine or soda, a piece of fruit with our lunch…just one modification.

4. “Eat a nutritious breakfast each morning that includes protein” – Breakfast is called “the most important meal of the day” for a reason…it is! A balanced breakfast will kick-start your metabolism, increase your energy and help suppress your desire to overeat later.

5. “Intentional snacking with planned foods” GOOD ONE!!!!

6. “Keeping a food journal” – We hear about this one all the time. Why is that? Maybe it is because it works! We often are totally unaware of what, when and why we eat.

7. “Avoid mindless snacking while preparing dinner” – Definitely a good habit to develop. This individual should probably refer to commitment #5.

8. “Use “My Fitness Pal” (a phone app) to document my daily caloric intake” – You all know how we feel about accountability and keeping a food journal. This accomplishes both!

9. “Substitute water for coffee as every other beverage” – Good one. I bet there are many of us who could use the same strategy with our beer and wine consumption!

10. “No ice cream; no sweets” – We had several of these and all I have to say is “Thanks for the donation!” (Now that I said that, these individuals just might white knuckle it to the end!)

Remember, the NHC is about changing behaviors and developing habits that are consistent with your vision. One on One has the tools and desire to help you succeed…take advantage of them!

 

The teams for the NHC have been assembled!

Please refer to the score sheets to see what team you are on…Cool Cucumbers, Good Eggs, Hot Tamales, Spicy Meatballs, Whole Enchiladas, Gone Bananas, Spilled Beans, Butter Fingers, Big Cheese, Cherry Pickers.

Score sheets will be located at the front desk at One on One and on the Fitness Center bulletin board at Minitab.

 

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