#LearnuaryNI challenge by 121 Dietitian

Top health and nutrition tips by Gillian Killiner – 121Dietitian Your #LearnuaryNI quest to learn one new thing each day throughout the month of January 2018 can take many forms. Learning is proven to boost your health and wellbeing and is 1 of 5 key steps recommended by mental health charities and no-one would doubt that taking care of your diet, fitness, medical issues and self-care are critical considerations for everyone. In this blog Dietitian Gillian Killiner has kindly shared her expertise to give us #LearnuaryNI challengers one bitesize health and nutrition tip a day:  

1. Plan your shopping list for the week in advance and stick to it
2. Don’t shop hungry
3. Drink ½ your weight in water ie 150lb person = 2.2 litres
4. Use online shopping to reduce temptation
5. Make your plate of food colourful
6. Eat 3 portions of fruit each day
7. Eat 6-7 vegetables/salad each day
8. Eat and chew slowly
9. Avoid low fat products
10. Avoid low sugar products
11. Don’t neglect exercise – Healthy eating = 80% and Exercise = 20%
12. Eat out as little as possible – enjoy other social outings: crazy golf, ice skating, tenpin bowling…
13. Cook from scratch
14. Dance and work out to music while cooking
15. Ensure you have working utensils like: peelers, sharp knives, colander, scales…
16. Make vegetables appealing with spices and herbs
17. Keep trigger foods out of your cupboards
18. Sleep is major – if insufficient your ghrelin hormone increases hunger
19. Avoid filling up on bread
20. Bored of boiling veg – roast it instead – add garlic/salt and enjoy
21. Sit at the table at each meal and smell, look, be aware and enjoy what you are eating
22. Don’t eat if not hungry – it may be dehydration or even boredom!
23. Use vanilla extract, cinnamon, mint, lemon, lime for flavourings
24. Dark chocolate x 2 squares a day is a tasty and nutritious treat
25. Avoid eating the leftovers – freeze instead or save for lunch the next day
26. Don’t pick at the kids foods
27. Alcohol = liquid calories – keep to a safe minimum
28. If eating out stick to sharing starters and desserts and enjoy a healthy main
29. Have a large glass of water 15 minutes before eating
30. Be careful if taking supplements, do you know how good the ingredients are?
31. Use a weighing scales once per week , weighing yourself at the same time of the day, to watch your weight

If your #LearnuaryNI challenge has whet your appetite to learn more – Gillian is available for one to one consultation and has also recently launched a Lean In Health and Wellbeing circle which you can join free at: https://leanincircles.org/circle/health-and-well-being. The Inaugural meet up of the Lean In Health and Wellbring circle will be held in the Greater Belfast area on 17 or 24 January 2018. Remember to share your #LearnuaryNI journey on social media. We’d gladly enjoy discovering your applied learning from 121 Dietitian Gillian – colourful plates of food, vegetables flavoured with spices and herbs, red cheeked evidence of exercise galore could very well inspire others to self-care too.