The beginning of any new year is a great time to make weight loss and wellness goals, but many people don’t succeed with their efforts. The San Diego Union-Tribune spoke with clinical nutritionist Tara Coleman about how critical nutrition is to a healthy lifestyle, why many people fail to change their eating habits, and suggestions for upholding resolutions with breakfast and water.
How critical is nutrition?
When we think about weight loss and getting into shape, many of us choose to buy gym memberships. Although regular exercise is incredibly important for health, according to Coleman, 4/5 of the puzzle is related to what you consume.
If you think that you can achieve your weight loss goals without changing your diet, you may realize after months that you haven’t accomplished much fitness progress even though you’ve spent hours sweating through running and weightlifting.
Why do so many people fail at their weight loss goals?
Typically people don’t succeed when they are excessively impatient with their health improvement plans.”I can’t tell you how many people have come into my office telling me they have no willpower because they can’t stick to their diet,” said Coleman. After looking over the strategies and expectations these people have in place, Coleman says it’s clear why they failed: they were undereating, not getting proper nutrition, and the foods they were eating were tasteless.
Of course you need to be ready to make some adjustments, but it’s also incredibly common for people with weight loss goals to set themselves up for failure. Be realistic.
How breakfast and water can help
If you want this new year to be healthier, resolve to stop skipping breakfast, says Coleman. Using the pragmatic approach advised above, keep the breakfast simple so that you can eat it daily. Coleman notes that eating that ultra-important first meal of the day “will have [the] single greatest impact on your health, weight and mood.” Be sure to include protein with each meal too. That way your blood sugar won’t spike, and your energy levels will be more consistent.
Also make sure you pay attention to how much water you are drinking. Water is fundamental to the human body.
Get help from professionals
Although Tara Coleman provides this advice openly, she also knows that her professional expertise is most valuable when she can directly assist individual patients with their wellness goals. The same philosophy guides our custom weight loss programs which can help you lose up to 30 pounds in 30 days.
Sources:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/jan/06/tara-coleman-greenbee/