healthy goals

4 tips and strategies to help you achieve your health goals

We’re half way through the year and your new year’s resolution may have flown out the window a few months back already. But, there’s still time to get back on track!

We spoke to Dietician, Nompumelelo Nxumalo, and got some incredibly helpful tips to help YOU achieve your health goals.

Nompumelelo has been in the field of dietetics for 17 years and in her years of practice she’s seen countless patients come in with all the good intentions of changing their lifestyle but then not achieve their goal.  So, with her many years of vast experience, she’s got four big tips and strategies to put into place, to help you stay on track.

  1. BE SMART ABOUT YOUR GOALS

Goals must be SMART goals, in other words:

S – Specific
Be as specific as you can be when setting your goals. For example, is your goal to have wholesome family suppers together, every night of the week? Or, is your goal to lose 1kg every week?

M – Measurable.
Set measures in place so that you can identify your progress to meet your goals.  Think about what type of results do you expect to see along your way.  This can be likened to taking a trip and knowing what landmarks to look out for, to know that you’re heading in the right direction.

A – Attainable
Do you have everything that you need to achieve your goals? Time, funds, resources?

R – Realistic
Are you being realistic about your goals?  As an example are you planning to lose 1kg a week and is this realistic?  If you’re planning to lose 10kgs a month, how realistic and possible is this for you?

T – Time bound
Every goal should be time bound – set a date by when you would like to achieve your goals by.

Once your have worked through your goals and set them out in terms of SMART goals, write it down and place it somewhere visible so that you can be reminded of these every day

  1. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN

We all know the age old saying, ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’.  Nompumelelo says that preparation is absolutely key, especially when you are trying to make big lifestyle changes.

Planning will ensure that you eat a balanced diet, save you time, money, energy and most of all, it will save you much unnecessary stress and anxiety.

When you don’t plan and prepare properly, it leaves lots of room for you to fall back onto old habits when life gets busy. Planning and preparing also helps set you up for good eating habits such as, not skipping meals or not having healthy food on hand or grabbing something unhealthy ‘on the go’. Planning also gives you the opportunity to make sure you are getting in the right amounts of food from each food group and in the right quantities too.

When planning your meals, also take some time to go through what is in your cupboards to see what you have available, what foods you are going to make for the week ahead and what you need to put on your shopping list.

Very important, make sure you get rid of all the unhealthy foods in your cupboards and that you’re well stocked up on all the healthy foods, including your favourite Xcell shake, so that you make sure you are getting enough of your daily nutrients.

  1. SHOP LIKE A PRO

The first and most important rule – don’t shop on an empty stomach.

If you are feeling hungry, have a light snack before heading to the shops, such as a handful of nuts or low GI fruit and some water.

The second rule – stick to the shopping list.

Organise your list into sections based on the store’s layout. And don’t be distracted by ‘special offers’ which are not included on your list or part of your healthy eating plan.

And lastly – wherever possible, avoid the isles with foods you are eliminating from your diet. For example – the sweet isle should be avoided at all costs.  When it comes to getting tempted at the till queues, your best defense is to make a wise decision and to opt for a healthy treat and not a sugar-laden and empty calorie treats.  Nompumelelo suggests a small packet of unsalted roasted peanuts or a small packet of biltong to fill you between meals.

  1. GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR MEAL PLANS

Try different recipes or foods each week to keep things fresh and fun, while making sure you are including all the necessary foods. Our Xcell Food Science products are very versatile and can be added to smoothies, home-made protein balls, smoothie bowls and so much more.

Choose foods which are seasonal and fresh, as these are often readily available and cheaper in price.

Keep things light and fun when planning your meals so that it doesn’t feel like a ‘chore’ and gives you the space to get excited about the different foods you plan to eat and try during the week.

We’d love to hear from you – how do you keep yourself on track and avoid falling off the bandwagon when it comes to your health?