Top 5 Nutrition Tips For 2017

Get your nutrition plan off to a great start in 2017 by following Precision Athletica & South Sydney Rabbitohs Dietician Ryan Pinto’s handy tips:

1 – Don’t waste your time with crash diets

January is the time we all make New Year’s resolutions but what most of us are really looking for is long-term change that will last all year. We might say we want to lose weight quickly, but what we really want is to lose weight permanently. The truth is that many dieting companies want you to get it wrong. They want to set you up for drastic weight loss, which you can’t sustain. The idea is that your weight undergoes a yo-yo effect, so you quickly lose weight, put in back on, then come back and use the diet plan again. So forget the crash diet routine and focus on making sustainable, long-term changes to your daily diet. That means three healthy, balanced meals a day, a wide variety of food types, and a regular intake of nutrient-rich vegetables and fruit.

2. Change your environment as well as your diet

The key to enjoying a healthy diet is to build an environment that allows you to achieve that. That means keeping your cupboards stocked with healthy ingredients, making smart choices in the supermarket, preparing your lunches in advance if you’re going to be at work in the day, or packing a healthy snack – like nuts or Greek yoghurt – if you have a long journey to make. It’s easy to let your environment dictate what you eat – by filling your cupboards with unhealthy snacks or grabbing sandwiches from cafes at lunchtime – so the more control you can exert over your environment, the easier things will be.

3. Don’t try to change too much, too quickly

It’s better to try to change three or four things a week – like experimenting with different types of carbs, or cooking with different types of vegetables – than trying to trigger a dramatic overhaul in the first week of January. You’ll find it much easier to introduce healthy changes this way and you’ll also enjoy a natural sense of progress and a positive momentum every week, instead of taking on the huge challenge of trying to revolutionise your diet in seven days.

4. Keep a food diary to stay on track

These days it’s so easy to keep track of exactly what you eat and how much exercise you do. By monitoring your activity and diet you are taking away the guesswork and reducing your chances of getting things wrong. It can be helpful to keep an old-fashioned written diary in which you make notes on your mood and mindset as well. You can flick back through and see how your body reacts to different meals. Maybe you feel sluggish after a particular meal, or exercise really well after a certain lunch? You can learn a whole host of useful things about yourself this way.

5. Don’t be afraid of fat

Fat can seem like a dirty word but healthy fats are vital for good health and body composition. For example, there is a wide range of health benefits associated with the Omega 3 found in oily fish. It is linked to everything from boosting immunity and supporting metabolism to aiding recovery from exercise. It’s important to educate yourself about what is healthy so you don’t make rash decisions and eliminate the wrong fats from your diet.   If you would like to speak to Ryan Pinto in person about your nutrition plan and how it can be tailored to achieve your 2017 goals, please call us on (02) 9764 5787 to book an appointment.