21 Food and Nutrition Resolutions for 2021

New Year’s resolutions about healthier eating are among the most common. Here are 21 resolutions to help you stay healthy and enjoy your food all year.

1. Eat more plants. Period.
2. Throw away your diet mentality. Diets don’t work. Focus on eating things rich in nutrients rather than skipping meals or food groups.
3. Eat fish and seafood two times per week.
4. Eat three servings of calcium-rich foods or take a supplement to get 1,000 mg/day.
5. Find ways to season, cook, and eat vegetables you’ve avoided in the past (roasted Brussels sprouts!).
6. Start a food journal or just journal in general. You’ll increase your awareness of what you’re eating and the emotions that lead to your food and beverage choices.
7. Explore a new cuisine every month.
8. Find a recipe source that inspires you, whether it’s from a website, blog, magazine, or friend.
9. Spice things up. Besides amazing flavors, herbs and spices have powerful anti-inflammatory effects. Some to consider include cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.
10. Go orange. Carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, and pumpkin speed recovery from injury and training.
11. Green up by including spinach, kale, arugula, and leaf lettuce or other dark leafy greens at least two to three times per week in your meals.
12. See red more often. Strawberries, tomatoes, pomegranate, and beets all offer benefits far beyond a pretty plate.
13. Find a way to eat broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage two or three times per week. These foods are anti-constipating and anti-cancer.
14. Go nuts for snacks. Almonds, pistachios, peanuts, walnuts, and others have beneficial protein, healthy fats, and some fiber.
15. Be grateful for grains. Oatmeal, whole wheat, and other whole grains are more cardio-protective than fruits and vegetables and contain a huge number of bioactive compounds.
16. Lighten up by going high volume. The high water content of fruits and vegetables (think soups, salads, and whole fruits) may have a slimming effect due to their low caloric density.
17. Stinky breath may be good for you. Onions, garlic, shallots, and their cousins are rich in inulin and other important compounds that may help fight cancer and boost immune function.
18. Benefit from beans, a powerful plant protein source and higher in fiber than any vegetable.
19. Micro-manage. Fiber is the new weight management of choice due to it many healthful effects on the microbiome (gut bacteria).
20. Get out of “food jail.” There are no perfect foods or diets. If your don’t-eat list is longer than your do-eat list, you’re setting yourself up for problems.
21. Slow down to stress less. Taste, savor, and notice what you’re eating. You’ll enjoy it more, eat less, and might find that your digestive system thanks you.