As the New Year approaches, in a true Bridget Jones style you may have just set yourself a New Year’s resolution of “obviously will lose twenty pounds” and knowing the best diet for 2023 will help. Did you know the 14th January is known as quitter day? The New Year brings about hope and change, but those changes are often given up on in just 2 weeks. In fact, only 9% of people actually succeed to complete a New Year’s resolution (1,2).
Just researching the best diet for 2023, the front page of Google has phrases including “the best diet, we have tested them all” and clicking through links and pages there are so many suggested for the best diet for 2023:
Keto diet
Low carb diet
Mediterranean diet
DASH diet
Weight Watchers program
MIND diet
Flexitarian diet
There are so many right, surely the best is just, well one diet? There isn’t a one diet best for us all, it’s the same as there isn’t a best workout for us all. We all have different health needs, time and money. I would say the best one is actually the one that works for you, the one you manage to finally stick to and create a routine or habits and then it’s small tweaks from there to keep up with progression and reduce boredom.
You may have seen a lot of Nutritionists or Dietitians posting over the year about avoiding “diets” that make dramatic changes, food FADs and claims for superfoods etc. There has been a great shift in the nutrition and food world in recent years which positively moves away from the diet culture the media has so heavily instilled in us and actually why films like Bridget Jones have been so relatable to so many over the years.
Recently I worked with a client and we reframed the word food (or diet) to energy, explaining that your diet is actually just what you eat and drink in a day. It’s back to that diet culture that has changed it’s meaning to be restrictive. For 2023, instead of thinking what can’t I eat, think of how and why you are eating.
My Nutritionist top 5 tips for a healthier “diet” for 2023:
Think of your energy (food) requirements over 7 days - Not all days demand the same amount of energy, we may have different exercise, work or social demands, how does the week look like as a whole?
How much energy do I need for today? What demands does the day require of you? Think back to the work, social, exercise. For example, a Monday gym workout will require more energy (food) than a Sunday day on the sofa
Have I a minimum of 3 colours on my plate? This can help to achieve a balanced diet or plate of food and help to include a variety of nutrients
Are there fruit and or vegetables on my plate? Across all meals or snacks to help you achieve your minimum of 5 a day. E.g fresh berries added to your breakfast cereal, this helps and links to point 3 of colour
Make extra food when you cook (leftovers) - we are all busy people and often the biggest failure to success is lack of time. This can be a game changer for clients, 1 effort of cooking to make multiple meals to add to the fridge and freezer for lunch and dinners in the future. Don’t feel you need to keep coming up with a whole 7 new meal ideas each week. Pick your variety of protein sources and then add your staple carbs to it
Written by Jade Mottley - Human Nutrition MSc & Sport Science BSc
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