Your Health

Tips for sticking to the plan

Here are suggestions to help you stick with the long-term lifestyle changes you want to make. You can use these tips in making changes to become more active, too.

Start small

It's easier to stick with a change if it's a small one. Make it realistic and as easy as possible to fit into your routine. Keep working on it until it's become a habit before you incorporate another small change. For example, if you want to eat breakfast every day, and right now you never eat breakfast, start with once or twice a week and work your way up to every day.

If you don't know where to start, try writing down everything you eat for three days. Then have a look at Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide and see how you compare. Eatracker.ca is a handy online tool developed by the Dietitians of Canada that gives you a place to record your food and physical activity habits. It compares your record to Canada's Food Guide and Physical Activity Guide and gives you suggestions for changes you can make to work towards a healthier lifestyle.

Make a plan

If you rarely eat breakfast now, you won't become a breakfast eater overnight. Come up with a plan to make it easier for you to eat breakfast in the mornings. Brainstorm and buy some quick breakfast foods like yogurt or whole-grain bagels so you have them on hand. Plan to wake up a few minutes earlier to eat, or pack your breakfast the night before so it's ready in the morning for you to grab it and go. If you prefer to sit down and eat, set the table the night before and put the foods on the table that don't need to be refrigerated.

Tell someone . . . or two, or three!

Tell a friend or family member about your plan and give them permission to ask you how things are going. Make sure it's someone who won't forget and who will encourage you to keep on trying. Get them to ask you about your change often. If you slip up or forget, don't be hard on yourself. Start over again at the next meal or the next day.

Celebrate your successes

Give yourself a reward once the change you've made becomes a habit. Then move on to the next one.

Keep track and look back

Keep track of all the successful lifestyle changes you've made over time and you'll be amazed at how far you've come. Keep track of changes to your health too. Do you have more energy? Feel more confident? Sleep better at night? Are you more regular? Have your cholesterol levels or blood pressure improved?

If you're short on ideas for eating healthier, try one of these suggestions:

• Listen to your hunger cues - eat when you are hungry, stop when you are satisfied.
• Eat a vegetable or fruit at every snack or meal.
• Eat one green and one orange vegetable or fruit every day.
• Drink two glasses of milk or fortified soy beverage each day.
• Read nutrition labels to find out what is in the food you eat.
• Eat breakfast each morning.
• Pack a healthy lunch to bring to work or school one more day each week than you are currently doing.
• Eat one more meal together with your family than you are eating with them now. It could be breakfast, lunch or dinner.
• Try one new recipe each week or month.
• Learn how to cook - sign up for a class or ask a friend or family member to teach you.

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	About Wave Wave is published six times a year by the Winnipeg Health Region in cooperation with the Winnipeg Free Press. It is available at newsstands, hospitals and clinics throughout Winnipeg, as well as McNally Robinson Books. Read the January / February 2010 issue of Wave