Nutrition Know-How

Its official, the holiday season is over. We made allowances for the Twelve Days of Christmas (Day 12 was January 5), and the big Ukrainian Christmas feast on January 6. But that’s it—game over. It’s time to purge the fridge of eggnog and get healthy again. 

So we contacted local dietician and nutritionist Katie McCulloch to get some advice on feeding our family in 2011. Here are her top five tips for a healthy and happy New Year. 

Eat Breakfast
Kick start your metabolism and increase your energy level by eating a healthy breakfast (the most important meal of the day) within one hour of waking. Skip this meal and you will likely face fatigue, distraction and cravings later in the day.

Balance
Make sure each meal contains a source of protein, grain or starch, fruit and/or vegetable.

Eat More Fruits and Veggies
Eat more colourful foods. Fruits and veggies are packed full of essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and health-promoting phytochemicals as well as fibre which promotes healthy digestion.

Eat Simply
Choose real food with few ingredients (so you know what’s going in your body). Packaged convenience foods are significantly higher in fat, sugar, sodium, and preservatives.

Get Organized
Organizing snacks, meals, and menus ahead of time can really help decrease the stress around eating and allows you to stick to a plan. Without one, you can fall victim to last-minute convenience meals. Planning meals (check out EatSavvy for some family meal ideas) for the upcoming week will give you time to shop in advance.

Looking for some guidance in the nutrition department beyond our top five tips? McCullough works with children and families to set up healthy meal plans that work for every member including one-on-one counselling, calorie calculators and menus. Visit her site, www.healthstandnutrition.com, for more information.

A simple plan, a few recipes and more colour on your plate. It’s that easy to be healthy. Remember, the next holiday season is only 11 months away.

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