Raise your hand if you have made a New Year’s resolution in the past and not achieved it? (My hand is up) Better yet, raise your hand if you have made a resolution for this year and have already fallen off the wagon? (My hand is also up) It is not too late to jump back on that wagon.

I invite you to join the staff at MacArthur OB/GYN in a resolution to make healthy dietary changes for 2010. Many of the staff have expressed a desire to either lose weight or to learn how to eat healthier. It is not too late to join us. I will keep you all posted of our progress.

Trying to LOSE weight during the holiday season can set you up for failure. Focus instead on MAINTAINING your current weight. This can be hard especially since everywhere you look there are all kinds of wonderful food and snacks. If you are diabetic (gestational, Type 1, Type 2) it is an even larger challenge to keep your blood sugars normal. Hopefully, by following some of these tips we can get through this season and maintain our current weight.

Use a small plate

As Americans, two of the biggest mistakes we make in the way we eat are portion size and type of carbohydrate we consume. Carbohydrates are an important part of a healthy diet and our body needs carbohydrates in order to function properly. Carbohydrates provide the body’s immediate energy needs and are easier and faster to break down than proteins or fats. There are 2 types of carbohydrates; simple (or bad) and complex (or good). We will talk about complex carbohydrates later.

Simple carbohydrates:

Today we are going to talk a little about whole grains. We all hear about how important whole grains are, but how do we know we are getting a whole grain product when we buy it? Why are whole grains so important?

You must look at the package label or nutritional label and to see what the ingredients are. What you should not see in that ingredient list is “enriched flour”. Enriched flour is not the whole grain. What happens in the processing of the grain is the outer covering of the grain is removed. Then in the processing of the product the manufacturer “enriches” that grain with the vitamins and minerals that were removed with the outer covering.

Let’s start with the most important meal of the day, breakfast. About one out of four women skip this meal. There are several reasons for this including that hectic morning rush attempting to get children dressed, fed and off to school as well as getting ourselves prepared for our day. Another reason is the belief that there is not enough time or it is too “complicated” to prepare this meal. I think the main reason is our desire to cut calories with the belief that this will help us to avoid gaining excess weight. However, studies show that women who do not eat breakfast have a harder time not only losing weight, but may actually gain weight instead.