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Christmas season is a great excuse to indulge. Indulge in gifts, indulge in spending and most specially indulge in eating. Guilty as charged! For the purpose of being fair, to you and to my diet, I am going to enumerate the food that I ate during the holidays.

I had lechon, grilled liempo, pork BBQ to start with, that’s after promising that I would stop eating pork. And for some reason, I decided to bake pineapple carrot cake during our Noche Buena, which basically ends up in my tummy (because I am the only who likes to eat this cake). It is frosted with cream cheese frosting, so just imagine the calories.

I will skip the chocolates because that was too many to count. And then there’s ham! That ham is the culprit. My mother even prepared Mechado for Media Noche. If there’s any consolation, I didn’t eat that much macaroni salad and rice.

Good thing, right after this season is the start of the year. A very good motivation to reflect and try to be better. Aren’t you glad that we celebrate Christmas one week before New Year? Oh boy, I am so glad! New Year gives us a chance to reflect and strive to be better than last year. Dapat lang kasama ang health to be better this New Year. New Year is the best time to start being mindful about our health and have a better nutrition.

I am going to share with you 5 New Year’s resolutions for better nutrition. Let’s hope that come March, we are all healthier and our bodies are beach ready!

5 New Year’s Resolutions for Better Nutrition

1. Drink less colored drinks and drink more water. What are colored drinks? Anything that is not water, Yes, coffee included. I know, I know. I didn’t say do not drink colored drinks. Just lessen it. If you’re used to drinking 3 cups of coffee a day, try doing just one. When dinning out, opt for service water instead of the bottomless iced tea (which looks very temping because it really is cheap). Honestly, you will save a lot if you’ll just skip that colored drinks when dinning out. Drink water, drink water, drink water.

TIP: Increase your water intake by having a water jug/bottle with you. You can easily keep track of your water intake using this method. A 2 Liter water bottle is good for a day. Adding a slice or two of lemon is a healthy option. 

2. Never skip breakfast. Never ever skip breakfast. And if I have to say it again, I will. NEVER. SKIP. BREAKFAST. Let me explain a bit why. Eating breakfast gives you energy during the day and also prevents you from being sleepy before lunch time. Eating breakfast makes you more alert and less grouchy. In terms of weight loss, eating breakfast makes you less hungrier during the day and gives your metabolism a good start.

TIP: A good breakfast meal includes carbohydrates, protein and fiber. If you’re on the go, a veggie smoothie is a good breakfast alternative. Add peanut butter or milk for protein and munch on a piece of wheat bread for your carbohydrates source

3. Eat less rice and more vegetables and fruits. As mentioned above, a good meal should include carbohydrates, protein and fiber in equal proportions of course. It should be 1/4 of your plate is carbohydrates, 1/4 is protein and 1/2 is fiber. Looks really hard but it gets better everyday. The key is start eating less rice. If your usual consumption is 1 cup of rice, try doing 1/2 for a while until you can do 1/4 rice. It’s easier than you think, I have been there. I know how it feels. To prevent that empty feeling (that’s how exactly I feel when I tried lessening my rice intake without alternative), add vegetables on your plate. Decrease rice, increase veggies. In just a week, you will see the difference.

TIP: If you are not a veggie person like me, try steamed veggies and cut it into small pieces. Kangkong with garlic works well with any ulam. 

4. Stay away from fried food as much as you can. Put that fried chicken down! At work, try ordering menudo or nilaga instead of your usual fried chicken or pork chop. Subukan mo din mag gulay huwag lang tuwing Biyernes.

TIP: Mixed rice works for me. When I am swamped with blogging duties and mommy duties, I usually cook mixed rice with lots of vegetables, some shrimp (sometimes chicken) and just reheat it in microwave when I need to eat. If you want to test your cooking skills, you can try cooking mixed rice good for 3 to 5 days and stack it on microwavable containers and put it in the fridge. 

5. Don’t forget to snack. Alam mo ba na dapat lang you eat your snacks aside from your meal? That you should eat every 4 hours to boost your metabolism and gives you better nutrition. Snack on healthy food such as whole grain products. Cheese and wheat bread is a good snack, as well as carrot sticks. Low fat milk and bread is a good option too.

TIP: Prepare/ buy a sandwich during your morning break and divide in two. Eat the other half as your morning snack and the other half as your afternoon snack. 

As the New Year unfolds, commit to do the right thing. Dapat lang you take care of your health. Dapat lang start the year right by being healthier for yourself and for your family. For more Dapat Lang tips visit the Solane website, www.solane.com.ph,  and Solane Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/solane.ph.