5 Ways to Get Healthy for National Nutrition Month

Quick reminder that March is National Nutrition Month – there’s still time to celebrate. Of course, you can continue any and all healthy habits way past March. Now, if you’re unfamiliar with this awareness month, I included some facts about it in addition to the five tips to help you – and me - participate.

National Nutrition Month

National Nutrition Month is a nutrition education and information campaign that centers on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. All things I know are important but struggle with.

The campaign was created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and is supported by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

2017’s Theme: Put Your Best Fork Forward

Each year they have a different them and this year’s is “Put Your Best Fork Forward“. It’s meant to be a reminder that each bite counts and that small shifts in our food choices can add up over time.

I guess you could say we each can make healthier food choices – one forkful at a time. I certainly want to try that as I’m about to become a new mom. I want to pass on healthy eating and living habits to my child.

Five Tips from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

1. Check out the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans – it suggests starting with small changes in order to make healthier lasting changes you can enjoy. The key themes from the guideline are: limiting sugar, eating good fats while limiting saturated fats, eating only a teaspoon of salt a day and eating lots of fruits and vegetables. You can find more on the guidelines here.
2. Practice cooking – cooking at home makes it easier to use healthy ingredients. Yes, I’m tired at the end of the day and the last thing I want to do is cook. Something I do to alleviate the burden of cooking during the week is to prep on the weekends.
3. Control portions – how much you eat is as important as what you eat. The USDA has a great resource called MyPlate, which breaks down the right amount of calories to consume based on age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level.
4. Get moving – find activities that you enjoy and be physically active most days of the week. If you can’t get out - I know it gets cold here on the east coast – try yoga or a workout video in your living room. YouTube has a lot of free workout content.
5. Consult a registered dietitian nutritionist or doctor – they can help you manage your weight or lower your health risks. In general prevention is always easier to manage than treatment later on (like I always say with sunscreen and skin aging: prevention is the best protection) based on everything I’ve read.

Even More Healthy Living Tips

Hopefully you will all be a little bit inspired this month to make small healthy changes. I’m definitely going to try.

For even more healthy living and skin care tips check out our Healthy Living and Skin Care Education blog series.