by Stefanie Rosser RD

Welcome to February!

If you’re losing steam on those New Year’s resolutions, why not focus on small nudges to get you on track? Fact is, you don’t need to give your life a 180 to see results. At MN, we strongly believe in the power of small changes because over time, they can have a big impact on your health and lifestyle. To get you inspired, I’m going to share five small tweaks to your usual routines that will act as healthy reminders and keep you on track towards your goals this 2017.

1. Choose an inspiring calendar

It’s important to stay inspired to cook fresh, healthy and seasonal meals all year round and an inspiring calendar is a great way to do this (while also jazzing up your walls). Whether it’s a calendar providing a new monthly recipe or this calendar from cooksmarts that shares seasonal produce and tips for preparing them, this is a simple way to keep health top of mind in the kitchen. 

2. Put your fruit on display

This means in with the fruit bowl, out with the cookie jar. You may have heard this before, but it really does work because we are inclined to eat what we see. By keeping a beautiful bowl of fresh, colourful fruit on the counter or a container of ready to eat chopped veggies at eye level in the fridge and tucking away sweets and treats in harder to reach areas, you are putting the odds in your favour of turning to nutrient-dense foods.

3. Stay inspired through social media

Those Tasty videos do look delicious, but more often than not, they have me craving cheesy bacon-filled recipes before lunch. Do a run-through of your digital landscape and create an environment that inspires you. Follow dietitians, healthy food bloggers and other positive accounts while unsubscribing to unhealthy cues or accounts that make you fall off track with your healthy habits or make you feel self-conscious about your body image. BTW, Motive Nutrition is all over social media so common’ over to Instagram and Facebook for some daily inspiration!

4. Keep a running grocery list

This may sound simplistic, but it can make a big difference. Keeping a running grocery list pad in your kitchen allows you to jot down items as soon as you’ve run out, but also ingredients for recipes you may feel inspired by in the moment. Preparing whole food meals begins by having a kitchen stocked with the basics. Of course, you can do this on your phone but I’m a pen and paper gal myself and this also allows anyone else in the household to participate. Here’s a fun pad I found while shopping at Chapters.

5. Download a pedometer app on your phone

Did you know that Canadian activity guidelines recommend taking 10 000 steps daily? If you aren’t doing regular exercise, then achieving this goal on a daily basis is a great place to start.  A simple way to find out where you stand is by keeping track with a pedometer. Most apps are free and will automatically add up all the steps you’ve taken in a day. So tell me, how many steps are you taking?