New Year resolutions, when you made them last week you felt empowered, re-energerised and ready to take on the world, right? Fast forward less than a fortnight into 2011 and they’re quite possibly feeling like yet another unachievable goal.

Whether it’s to lose weight, eat your 5 a day, get fit, stop smoking or simply live a healthier lifestyle, once the gloss of the New Year wears off and the reality of everyday life in January sets in, many of us fail.

With hectic lives we all tend to run around like mad folk trying to do everything at once. Often times it’s that one hour off at lunch break when our diet and good intentions suffer the most. This can often take the form of grabbing a pre-made sandwich which is eaten on the go whilst running to pick up the shopping. I don’t have a total downer on all pre prepared foods however they can often be expensive, high in calories, leave you feeling unsatisfied and reaching for crisps & biscuits which can be nutritionally depleted.

Where possible I encourage all of my client to bring their own food from home – it is inexpensive, you know what you are eating, it contains nutrients and in most cases its considerably less calorific. Whats more it also saves precious time within your working day as you don’t have to dash out to buy lunch.

Food from home can come in many forms;

• Left over dinner cooked from the night before. For example spaghetti bolognaise, left over roast dinner or curry/rice.

• Soup cooked at the weekend and frozen into single portions, this is a particularly great option now that the weather is so cold. If you don’t have a microwave in work a flask will always do. When making soup a great addition is red lentils and quiona, both are store cupboard items. When added to your soup at the beginning of the cooking process the combination becomes a complete protein so your soup now is now a complete meal containing vegetables, complex carbohydrates and protein!

• Salad box made up in the evening or morning; a great salad that is full of nutrients is a mixed bean with tuna, chopped peppers, tomatoes and other salad vegetables – this made up can even last a couple of days!

On the days when you just haven’t time to be organised, just grab a piece of fruit on the way out the door and this can make all the difference. Another great standby which can be left in work or in your hand bag is unsalted/unroasted mixed nuts which are just bursting with nutrients like essential fatty acids, zinc, magnesium and phosphorous; all of which are required for healthy skin, hair, nails and importantly at the moment immunity support!

Fruit and nuts will help ensure that you don’t get too hungry prior to walking up to the sandwich counter. When in your sandwich shop ask them to make up a fresh sandwich using wholemeal break and lean protein like ham, turkey, egg or salmon and ask for extra veggies on top like peppers, tomatoes, onions and lettuce – hence ensuring your getting one of your 8-10 a day! Be aware of sauces such as mayonnaise which is super high in calories. Opt instead for a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

It’s incorporating small changes like this which will help you achieve your overall bigger goals. Bon appetit!

By Andrea Murray of Total Nutrition, BSc (Hons) Nutrition Therapy