Below are some health tips to help make your Healthy New Year Challenge successful. If you have a tip of your own you would like to share, please email Heidi at hcarney@grandbrands.us.

1) Start with small changes.
The True Lemon Healthy Challenge is all about making small (but important) changes in your lifestyle and then as these changes are incorporated into your life, adding other healthy changes. Too often we set ourselves up for failure by deciding we are going to make many big changes all at once. Set realistic goals for yourself based on where you are today so you can build success gradually and permanently.

2) Foods aren't good or bad.
The goal is to establish a healthy eating style which consists of many different foods so try to avoid thinking of foods as good or bad. Some foods may have more vitamins or fiber while other foods may have more sugar or salt. In a balanced diet, there is a place for all these foods. What matters most, and what makes a diet good or bad, is how the foods you are eating fit together. Balancing choices is important. Aiming for moderation is important and….

3) Avoid the “all or nothing” mentality.
Eating cookies or french fries does not mean your entire day of food intake is ruined. Don’t fall into the trap of saying, “Well since I’ve eaten this, I’ll eat whatever I want for the rest of the day” or “I’m entirely on a diet or I’m entirely off a diet.” Focus on being “pretty good” most of the time.

4) Eat any food you want as long as you’re hungry.
Again, don’t think that certain foods are “off-limits”. Just try to eat when you’re hungry, eat slowly, try to really enjoy what you’re eating and stop when you are full.

5) Practice the 1:3 ratio to healthy eating.
If you eat one high fat, less healthy food, try to balance it by eating three healthy foods. If you have one very high fat, less healthy meal, try to balance it by making your next three meals lower in fat and fairly healthy. If you have an entire day of poor eating choices, try to make the next three days full of healthy foods.

6) Eat something for breakfast everyday.
The sooner you eat after waking up, the sooner you will begin burning calories. Good choices include oatmeal, yogurt with fruit, whole grain bread with peanut butter and even a slice of cold pizza.

7) Sit down to eat.
Try to eat all your meals and snacks at a table. Eating while standing up often leads to mindless eating.

8) Don’t eat out of the box or container.
Again, just like eating when you’re standing up, eating out of a box or container makes it very easy to eat too much, too quickly. Try to put a portion onto a plate or in a bowl and then put the serving container away.

9) Sprinkle True Lemon on food instead of salt.
True Lemon is a great way to help reduce salt consumption in your diet. True Lemon sprinkled on meats, chicken, fish and vegetables provides a refreshing and flavorful zing so much so you probably won’t even miss the salt.

10) Try using toddler bowls for snacks.
When using a bowl or plate for eating (see above), try using a toddler bowl or plate. They are obviously smaller than adult dishes and help moderate how much you are eating.

11) Practice really listening to your body.
Are you eating because you are really hungry or are you just bored, stressed or sad? Is your body in need of some movement? Fresh air? First, practice listening to your body and then you can practice responding to your body.

12) Take healthy snacks with you to work and on-the-go.
Try bringing an apple with you to work to eat when hunger hits. Also try keeping some nuts (which are rich in healthy monounsaturated fats, vitamin E and magnesium) on hand or carrot sticks (but to best absorb carrot’s cancer-fighting carotenoids, make sure you eat them with some fat such as a small cube of cheese or a dab of dip).

13) Rinse your browned, ground meat.
After you have browned ground meat, rinse it under hot water to decrease the fat content by up to 50%. The taste will not be altered.

14) Use a straw to drink water faster.
A great way to help increase your water consumption is by drinking your water through a straw.

15) Use the 1:1 ratio for caffeinated beverages.
For every cup of a caffeinated beverage you drink, try to drink an equivalent amount of water. Caffeine is a diuretic and depletes the body of its water.

16) Find an exercise partner.
Make a date with a friend to walk, go to an exercise class or do a work-out video. Having a friend to exercise with can help to keep you both motivated.

17) Try taking the stairs.
You’ve heard it before but every time you take the stairs instead of an elevator or you park your car a little further away from the store or you walk the two blocks instead of driving, you do yourself and your body a favor by moving.

Many of these health tips were supplied by Jill Fleming and are a part of her program, Thin Choices. For more information, visit www.thinchoices.com.