January Tasks: Improve Nutrition

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Drink a glass of water within 30 minutes of waking up.
About 60% of your body is water, which helps keep everything functioning properly. Even mild dehydration can affect your energy, mood, memory, and performance. After drinking water, these issues usually disappear.
Staying hydrated is linked to better overall health and a lower risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes. People who drink enough water also tend to live longer.
Adults should aim for about 9 cups of fluids per day for women and 13 cups for men, though this varies by age, activity, and health. A simple way to check hydration is by looking at your urine—pale yellow means you’re good to go.
So, drink a glass of water in the morning and give yourself a boost of energy to start the day!
Eat breakfast & add protein.
Eating a healthy breakfast starts your day with energy and helps keep your hunger levels regulated throughout the day.
Some good breakfast sources of protein include lean proteins like chicken and seafood, eggs, yogurt, nuts, and seeds. Adding protein to your breakfast is important because it helps you feel full longer, which helps you avoid feeling overly hungry later on.
Protein does more than just rebuild muscles—it also helps build and repair tissues, makes important enzymes and hormones, and supports your immune system. So, try adding protein to your morning meal like with an egg scramble or Greek yogurt parfait for a boost in both energy and health!
Add a serving of vegetables to your lunch.
Eating more fruits and vegetables has many health benefits, including protecting against heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, inflammation, and some cancers. They can also boost your mood and well-being!
Fruits and vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants, which help with digestion, blood sugar control, and reducing the risk of chronic diseases.
You don’t always need to eat them fresh. Frozen, canned, cooked, or dried options are also great. Start by adding one extra serving to a meal, and work up to 5+ servings a day. Simple options like carrots, cucumbers, or stir-fried veggies work well!
Add a plant-based protein to a meal.
Adding more plant-based protein to your diet can boost your health, protect against disease, and help you live longer. These proteins also provide vitamins, minerals, fiber, complex carbs, and healthy fats, all of which support overall body functions and well-being.
Good sources include soy (edamame, tempeh, tofu), beans, lentils, quinoa, nuts, and seeds. Try adding them to meals you already eat, like beans with rice, a handful of mixed nuts with your snack, or veggies with hummus. Over time, these small changes can become a natural part of your routine.
Add a serving of whole grains to a meal.
Whole grains include all parts of the grain—bran, germ, and endosperm—like whole wheat, brown rice, and masa flour. Refined grains, like white bread and white rice, have had the bran and germ removed, losing fiber, iron, and B vitamins.
It’s recommended that at least half of the grains we eat be whole grains. They can help lower cholesterol, improve blood sugar, and reduce inflammation, and may lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and some cancers.
Whole grains have great flavor, so start slow if it needs getting used to. Try mixing brown rice with white rice, whole wheat bread, or corn tortillas. Over time, you may prefer the taste of whole grains over refined grains!
Track your healthy habits
Habit tracking can be a helpful tool to measure your progress when starting new habits. They can help you visualize when what you are doing is working or give you some insight when you might want to make modifications to your current routine.
A habit tracker might be something as simple as checking off boxes on your calendar on a Google Sheet (make a copy and fill the sheet in with your own habit goals), or it can even be an app that you download on your phone.
If you would like to try tacking for yourself, consider trying out the options below.
Google Sheets
If you have an account with Google, you can make a copy of this Sheet and save it in your Google Drive. From there, you can add as many habits that you want and track them by checking off the boxes on the days you complete them. You can add more check boxes by going to Insert > Checkbox.
Habit tracking apps
Tangerine (free version available on Apple App Store, Spanish version available)
HabitNow (free version available on Google Play, Spanish version available)