2026 Health Goals: Where Nutritionists Want You to Start

Transcript:

Hello, and welcome to our last Dishing Up Nutrition episode of 2025. As we step into 2026, have you made any New Year's resolutions when it comes to your health? Most of us have probably made resolutions in the past that we weren't able to stick with super long term. Think about what got in the way of those resolutions.

Most of the time it's due to overcommitting to an unrealistic goal. So that's why on today's episode we'll be offering a different approach and a different mindset to help set attainable goals for the new year that you can actually accomplish and feel good about it. Let's take a minute. We're going to introduce ourselves.

I am Leah Kleinschrodt, Registered and Licensed Dietitian, and I have my copilot with me today, Teresa Wagner. So I feel like this type of episode is your wheelhouse because you like habit change. It feels like very James Clear Atomic Habits surrounded. So I'm glad you're in the co-pilot seat with me today.

Teresa: Yeah, I do really like this topic actually. Even though I am not huge on New Year's resolutions, I really do love the idea of a clean slate. At this time of year, it's the opportunity for change. You know, the, the future seems promising.

Leah: Yeah.

Teresa: It's like, and I'll put it in terms of the Midwest, it's like a fresh blanket of snow.

Leah: Oh, there you go.

Teresa: Everything is perfectly smooth and beautiful. Unlike the end of the year, that might be trampled over covered with dirt. In this new year, we get to have a fresh start and so yes, I really do like this topic. I think it's a really fun way of thinking about behavior change and what we can do in this new year to become that person that we're always aspiring to be.

Small, realistic goals lead to success

Like that, just that improvement side of things. So in that line of thinking, when I am working with clients, whether it's for the new year or not, just in the regular parts of the year, I like to focus on small steps because I want the clients to be successful. I may ask, which small habits could make the biggest difference in your health? Are there one to two small changes that might have a really big impact?

Leah: Mm-hmm.

Teresa: Is there a goal you're ready to commit to? Not perfectly, but just consistently because making sweeping changes may not be as effective as changing these small habits that we can do consistently. There is a concept called habit stacking that can be really effective in making these small but impactful changes. It's taking a habit you already do and then adding something to it. This way you remember to do the extra habit because it's paired with a habit you've already done or that you already consistently do.

For example, and this is an example we've shared a few times, but it's impactful. Leah, you and I have both done this habit stack for years, which shows its simplicity, effectiveness, and how it turns an idea about change into a consistent habit that is on autopilot. And that's setting a glass of water by the coffee pot and drinking that cup of water before having our coffee in the morning. It's a simple way to start the day. It gets us hydrated as we're going into the day, and it's easy enough where we can get it done day after day.

Leah: Yep. Yeah, that's a, that's a great example. And it also, part of it is it makes it obvious, right? When it's sitting out there and it's the first thing that you see, it's kind of in the way of the coffee mug or like getting to the machine. So like you, you make it obvious, but you also, it, it's connected to that coffee habit already, and most people don't skip their coffee, so we're not skipping the water either.  

Teresa: Doesn’t matter where you are.

Leah: Yep. Doesn't matter where you are. This example of habit stacking, I mean, we also do this, like one example of how we do it all the time with our clients is like, if we're starting a new supplement or we're adding something into the regimen there, you know, some supplements do need to be taken at a specific time and like there's some specificity around it.

Some are just like general, like get it in when you can. So then we work with our clients to say, okay, where's the best chance that we're going to have success of getting this in? You know? Is it like every day when you eat your breakfast, you're taking your multivitamin? Or is it like, do we set the magnesium glycinate by your toothbrush?

So every night when you brush your teeth, you're taking your magnesium also. That's like another basic example of how you would stack one habit or like attach one habit to another.

Teresa: Yeah. It's just, it's simple and it works. You're about to brush your teeth. You're like, oh, my magnesium. If I don't take my magnesium, I won't sleep well. Take the magnesium, brush the teeth. It's simple.

Leah: Yep.

Teresa: Simple, simple. You know, another one that we, I talk about just on the physical side of things is, you know, while you're brushing your teeth, you can do some simple exercises. Right? You take your magnesium, you're brushing your teeth, you can do some calf raises, while you're brushing your teeth.

It's just a simple move. And if you would do just 10 each time that you brushed your teeth, which theoretically that would be twice a day. That's 7,300 calf raises in one year.

Leah: You're going to have some good looking calves.

Teresa: That's right. Yes, you would. And strong. And it helps with that strength. It also helps with balance, right? Because when you're doing calf raises, you have to balance. And so, I mean, it's just simple things like that that can have a lasting, impactful effect and easy to do in the moment.

Leah: Yeah. Great examples. A common example, going back to that idea of New Year's resolution, like a one big theme or one kind of idea that gets lit up at this time of year is the new year, new me idea, that mentality where we ride that wave of like a fresh start, but then we want to totally transform into a completely different person, something that's 180 degrees from where we're at. A common example is, okay, we buy that gym membership January one. Maybe January two, and we set the goal.

We want to hit the gym five days a week and do our stretching, do our workouts, and okay, we're off to the races in January and that first week, or those first couple of weeks in January, most gyms, they're super busy. And then by mid-February, around that six-week mark or so, the gym starts to look pretty empty and it's just we've bitten off more than we can chew oftentimes.

We have those big goals. They just weren't sustainable or kind of thought through, how does this fit into my day-to-day life? After that, you know, that four week, the five week, the six week mark, it kind of just falls off. A more realistic goal: so again, like making it a little bit more bite sized or a little bit more digestible, a more realistic goal if you're new to exercise, would be all right. Let's take a walk. Let's take a five minute walk once a day. Maybe twice a day. Do it at the same time every day. Start to rewire those brain pathways.

Maybe it's doing a 10-minute YouTube yoga video every night before you sit down to watch TV or before you sit down and open up your phone and open up your social media apps. Some of these are just, they're ways to break it down into small, attainable steps that, like you were saying, Teresa, it does add up over time.

It might not seem like something that's going to be earth shattering in the moment, but 7,000 and some calf raises by the end of the year. Like you, it's like, whoa, that adds up to a lot.

Teresa: Yes, it sure does. And you know, Leah, we both have been counseling clients for many years, and we see who is successful with these kinds of things. And what we see with our successful clients is that same concept, small specific goals stick better than sweeping overhauls. Part of that is because our brains love wins. That dopamine hit that we get when we check the “I did it box” or cross something off the list.

When we set goals we can't maintain, we feel like we've failed. But when we set these smaller, more realistic goals, success builds momentum. You may have heard of or possibly use the acronym, SMART, for goal setting. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound.

Perhaps the most important part of that acronym is the attainable piece. Get yourself some of that dopamine hit, right? You know, it feels so good to have it, so make those goals attainable so you can check that box.

Leah: Yep.

Examples of SMART goals (#1: make a meal plan for success)

Teresa: So we're going to give a few examples that we can start using come January 1st.

Leah: Yep. Yeah, as dietitians, we're always trying to get our clients to eat more real food as the big overarching goal. I mean, that's what this company was built on, is eat real food to have real health, right?

Teresa: Yes.

Leah: So how do we do that? I recommend setting aside a time that will consistently work each week to plan out your meals. I just wrapped up week 12 with our Nutrition for Weight Loss Foundations class, and it reminds me of how much we hammer this concept home of like, we have to plan to have success during the week or for the next couple of days, like setting even a couple minutes aside to really set yourself up for success during the week just goes such a long way with achieving even those small goals throughout the week. I mean, and this is something that should only take maybe 15 minutes, 20 minutes, somewhere in that realm.

You can even do it while you're watching TV or again, like, so attaching it to another habit, like doing it while you're doing something else. Sometimes I'll bring some of my materials into the car if we have a 20-minute drive somewhere, I'm like, I'm going to use this time where I'm not doing anything else productive.

And do some meal planning in the car. I find that meal planning is the foundation to staying on that healthy eating plan. We want to think about, all right, what nights of the week are realistic for us to actually take 30 minutes, 45 minutes, maybe an hour to cook a meal? Can we double that recipe?

Can we triple that batch? Can we make sure that when we cook, we're eating multiple times? And then think about which nights in your week are you going to be scrambling a little bit more? Is there going to be a tight turnaround in terms of schedules or getting to activities or bridging that gap.

So we want to have that plan for what are we doing on those nights where we need some shortcuts or we need ready to heat and eat types of foods; hopefully still minimally processed. You know, things like, some, some things that we can keep on hand is like nitrate free chicken sausages or some pre-cooked meatballs, some rotisserie chicken, frozen vegetables that can just be popped into the microwave quick, pre-chopped veggies, so getting a veggie tray, frozen riced cauliflower to mix in with regular rice, et cetera, et cetera.

Having, just having some of those staples that are ready to heat and eat, they're going to reduce that, what are we going to do for dinner tonight question. They're going to take some of the winging it piece of the week out so that we're not then leaving it up to chance or like, now the easy option seems like it's the drive through option or it's the, like, we're just going to get, you know, Grubhub and order something in. So that all starts with thinking through what does that week look like? Where do we have the time and where do we not have the time?

Teresa: Yeah. And I would love to say that I have mastered this habit, but alas, like many, I find this to be a chore.

Leah: So maybe we use the term practice instead of habit.

Teresa: Maybe.

Leah: I don't know.

Teresa: Maybe. Yeah. But I do have a family to feed. So that creates that external motivation to get it done. So a lot of the habits that we talk about require a lot of internal motivation. This, that sort of pressure from having family and feeling the obligation to feed them is that external pressure that actually we can use very effectively for habit change. Yeah.

So like you were saying, and this is just really sort of reiterating some of the things you say. Each week I sit with my calendar and I figure out how many nights I need to plan for.

Leah: Mm-hmm.

Teresa: And thankfully that usually lands somewhere around four, for my, I would say average around four. And this step is actually very crucial. Because number one, it makes the goal less than what I'm sort of anticipating. It lowers the overwhelm because I'm not planning seven meals. I'm just doing the things that I know, and I have a clear idea of what's going to happen during this week. And number two why it's crucial is because of waste.

I'm not planning and buying unnecessary food. So that step is really very helpful for the, the project seems so much bigger as you're thinking about it versus actually sitting down and doing it.

Leah: Yep.

Teresa: So here's an example of this week's meal plan. I might be missing a few things here, but I do feel like it was a good week for me to use as an example for this idea. So on Mondays on my schedule, I work past dinner time. So for my family, I plan tacos, and this is easy because I can make the taco meat ahead of time so when dinner rolls around, they just reheat the taco meat and put the rest of the meal together.

Leah: Yeah.

Teresa: It's a pretty simple one to throw together. This is a hit at my house, so I usually make enough for leftovers for another night. My girls are both in volleyball and their practices are at varying times. And so dinner isn't the same time for everyone, so that allows them to do that same thing again.

Leah: Yep.

Teresa: My son has a job, same thing. He can just reheat it and make leftovers for himself on another night. For me, I can use that taco meat for lunch. But rather than a taco salad like I typically do for dinner, I love that viral cottage cheese taco bowl.

Leah: Mm; mm-hmm.

Teresa: So it's so easy and I already have the meat done for it.

Leah: Yep.

Teresa: All I do is buy the frozen pre-cooked and cut sweet potatoes, so I'm not even cooking sweet potatoes.

Leah: Okay.

Teresa: Cottage cheese, obviously there's no work. The avocado, there's really no work. I do a drizzle of the honey and I do a good shake of the red peppers, the red pepper flakes. Right?

Leah: There you go.

Teresa: And there we go. There's the viral bowl. Sometimes for a little more veggie, I'll put it over a bed of greens, but not always.

Leah: Yeah.

Teresa: But therefore I have something easy for lunch from a dinner that I made before. So when I'm, when I say I'm, I make this for several nights, this is like three pounds, maybe more of that ground beef. So it can last for all of us multiple times.

Leah: Yeah, that's a great example of that. The foundation of that meal is the same, but then you can take it in different directions. Again, your family, kids might take it a different direction. Husband might take it a different direction. You can take it a different direction, but it like the core of it is the same.

Teresa: Yeah. In fact, last night actually I used that and I had a bell pepper. I just sliced the bell pepper in half. And I heated the bell pepper with the taco meat on top of it. And then I sprinkled a little cheese on it and there we go. It was super fast.

Leah: Yeah. It's stuff pepper type thing.

Teresa: And didn't even need a fork. Right? I could just pick it up.

Leah: Yeah. It's a perfect vehicle.

Teresa: On Tuesday and Wednesday, we were home this week. So, we actually took advantage that the weather was fairly nice. It was 35 degrees. So we decided to grill. Right? That's barbecue weather. So everybody was going to be home, which is not usual. And so I was like, well, this is a great night to have steak. Everybody likes steak. For sure, they'll be there.

So we grilled some steak. We had some baked potatoes and green beans. Easy peasy. It’s delicious and it is easy. There was some leftover steak. So therefore, once again, for the girls for practice, before my son's work, we have it available. On Thursday, this is a day where I work a little bit late or I work up until about dinner time.

So, but I'm going to be home. I did our autumn sheet pan chicken, which I can pre-make the whole thing. Put it on a sheet pan, and then once it's set and ready, I just take an empty sheet pan, flip it over and use it as a cover.

Leah: Oh yeah.

Teresa: Stick it in the refrigerator so that when I get home I just preheat the oven and take off that top. And stick that sheet pan in the oven and it's ready to go. While it's cooking, I make a side salad and off to the races. Super easy.

Leah: Yeah. So that's something you could put together the night before or the morning just to again, shortcut it a little bit by the time you get home.

Teresa: Yep.

Leah: Cool.

Teresa: And then Friday once again, I am not home for dinner. It sounds like I'm never home, but I am actually. It's just Monday and Friday. This is a day where I'm doing a chuck roast. The easiest of the easy. I, crockpot, cut up an onion into large chunks, put it at the bottom of the crockpot. I open the package that has the chuck roast in it.

I very heavily season it with Montreal seasoning. Flip it over into the crockpot, season the other side. So I'm not even getting my hands dirty on this thing. And I'll throw in a, a bag of baby red potatoes and some carrots. Put the top on. Eight hours later, it's done. Once again, we could add a salad or something to that meal.

But it's, it's easy peasy. The, the grocery shopping requirement is pretty light for all of this, and the workload is pretty light. So, that's kind of how I do that meal planning.

Leah: Yeah.

Teresa: Examples of ways to really simplify your life, but still have that real food that we advocate for.

Leah: Yeah. Great real life examples of figuring out where do I have that time to cook? How can I give myself some shortcuts? How do I feed a family that's going in multiple directions? I think that was a great, just real life example of how we can still make real food work in that scenario. We do need to take a quick break. We're going to come back on the other side, just do some more talking about realistic habits. How does that fit in with real food and just like what do we want that 2026 year to look like for us? And we'll be right back.

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We are back from break. So we were, Teresa gave us a great example of like how meal planning might look like in, in a week where we're feeding a busy family. If you are listening to this and you are, maybe you're at that point where you're just not used to cooking at home yet. Bringing it down into smaller goals or smaller action steps.

Tips on recipes or meal ideas to try

Maybe the first goal is try one new recipe this first week of the new year and see how it goes. We've got a whole website full of wonderful, easy, like no frills types of recipes out there. Pick one from there that sounds good. Give it a shot. Once you get the hang of that, increase it to two recipes a week or whatever is realistic for you.

Again, our weightandwellness.com website has a lot of great free recipes. We've got a Weight & Wellness cookbook also. These are great places to start, and that's something I would say that would be one tip I would offer as well is like, okay, we don't need to spend an hour googling or looking up all these recipes every single week.

Have like your two or three or four go-to places where you look for recipe inspiration or keep a catalog or something and make that your first go-to when you are thinking about what you're doing for recipes for the week. We don't need to, the internet is great, but when you're faced with 2 billion recipes to look for, it's a lot easier to kind of condense that and say, okay, out of these typical 50 recipes that I make, what sounds good this week? And pick from that Rolodex.

Teresa: Yeah, I would say even with that idea, Leah, sometimes when I'm talking with clients, especially when they have families, is I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, we always put the school lunch calendar on the refrigerator. So we knew what we were having for lunch the next day. And if you noticed, it was on like a six-week rotation almost.

Leah: Yep.

Teresa: And so if you start to build that Rolodex of recipes like you're talking about, you could have every four to six weeks, you can just rotate some things through. Where it's like, you know, you know how people do like Taco Tuesday and Fish Friday and you know, just keeping things very simple. So you're not always recreating the wheel.

Leah: Yeah. That's a great example too. Because yeah, like I've, my son is in first grade and I've noticed too with the school lunch rotation, every four to five weeks, it's just the same thing over again. And like, when you are building out a meal program to scale like that where you have to feed hundreds of people, like yep.

You're going to have to have a system in place. Like why is your family, or why is like you and your spouse or like your kiddos, why is that any different? It just, it might be scaled down a little bit, but the idea is the same. We still want that structure in there.

Start the day out with a protein forward breakfast (& some breakfast ideas)

Teresa: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And you know, a lot of meal prepping and cooking focuses on dinner, but we do like to emphasize the importance of starting our day with a strong protein forward breakfast.

Leah: Definitely.

Teresa: I find so many people skip breakfast. I mean, it just saves on time. Right? Just the energy that you have to spend on that, and even the planning, otherwise, people a lot of times have a very light breakfast and then they battle the low energy throughout the day.

So if you've been skipping on breakfast, maybe a New Year's goal is to eat a more balanced breakfast during the week. Make sure you include at least three to four ounces of a protein, a healthy fat, and having a carb from fruit or vegetables. And I've got to put a plug in for one of the new recipes that we have on our website. It is called Noats Seedmeal, I believe.

Leah: Yep.

Teresa: It is so good. And if you, this time of year are looking for a warm breakfast, but you don't have time to maybe cook eggs, this one is great because you can pre-prep it. It's hemp seeds and chia seeds and flax seeds, and you use your milk of choice. You put a little stevia in it. And then just let it set overnight. And you can have several servings there at a time. This recipe is not protein forward, though. It is a great fiber recipe. It's a great fat recipe.

Leah: Yep.

Teresa: If you add some fruit to it, it's a great carb recipe. So what we're missing is protein and easy. So if you're going for ease on this one, generally what I tell people is just add some chicken sausages on the side.

Leah: Mm-hmm.

Teresa: This is a place where you can bump up the protein and then you get that warm “oatmealy” kind of breakfast.

Leah: Yeah.

Teresa: And it's great. And it's something different and it's fun and it's easy. So that one I've really been enjoying lately. Also making the pumpkin muffins. That could be the replacement for the notes where you get that “carby” kind of feeling. You get a, a good fat source. And then once again, the chicken sausages for me is just such an easy protein on the side when I'm on the go. Greek yogurt with our nut and seed granola recipe is great. Also, I like to put it with a high fiber fruit.

Leah: Yep.

Teresa: Kiwi is great on it. Golden kiwi is amazing for your gut microbiome. So that's a great combination. It can be fast and easy. And of course we like eggs, right?

Leah: Yeah. For people who have listened to us or specifically me for a long time, just know, like I'm still going strong with my, my couple of eggs and my cabbage salad in the morning. It still is a go-to no matter what the season, no matter what we're doing. I did not make it this week, so I have been doing more of like just quick egg scramble type of thing where it's like two or three eggs in the pan, scramble it up with some butter.

It's sun dried tomatoes, some mushrooms, some arugula. Because that's been a big thing at Costco. So it's just like, boom, easy, simple, kind of little breakfast scramble and yeah, throw some, throw some berries on the side. And so that's been kind of my quick easy breakfast. But typically I do have that cabbage salad made.

And then, my, I, I should have my husband try the, the, the “Noats”, recipe. But we try to stay on top of getting egg bakes for him. He's the, he is the person where it's like, he's not going to take the time to put something together in the morning. It's got to be like, ready to come out of the fridge. So we really try to stay in a good rotation of getting an egg bake or like, some people like to do egg bites or the, the quiche recipe that's on our website, like getting those, getting that made and just staying ahead of those breakfasts with him. That's our easy kind of shortcut for the breakfast.

Teresa: Yeah, and I think that efficiency is the key.

Leah: Mm-hmm.

Teresa: Going for the things that you like and put it on repeat. And if you don't require a lot of variation there, just go with it. If it's working for you, just go with it. Like the eggs and cabbage salad. That's great. And as long as you like it, you don't have to worry about variety until it's time to worry about variety. And then we can put it in, but efficiency, especially at breakfast and lunch, if we're putting the work more into dinners.

Leah: Yeah.

Teresa: And that's how a lot of, I would find for myself personally and for my clients. The work really is more in the dinner meal. And then the efficiency is key for lunch and breakfast because I can't be cooking all day long. You know?

Leah: Yeah. Probably not cooking all three meals every single day type of thing. Yeah, exactly. Like we tend to get a little bit more variety when we get to the dinners and sometimes the lunches, the breakfast. For the most part, I think people are a little more okay with the efficiency, like you said, a little bit less variation, kind of hit the same one or two things on repeat.

Teresa: Yeah.

Leah: I'm happy about this protein focused movement, especially at breakfast. I think it's becoming more aware, especially for women, more aware, just that the importance of this protein, it's so hugely helpful when it comes to healthy aging, and I find it that, especially with breakfast, that protein piece tends to either fall short or it takes a little bit more planning or forethought.

It's convenient, it's easy to have a piece of toast, like pour that bowl of cereal, grab the muffin, microwave the oatmeal. So this would be one goal if you think you've kind of struggled in the protein department at breakfast, set a goal. Can we get 20 grams of protein in at breakfast?

Can we get 30 grams of protein in at breakfast and kind of march it up from there. Protein is so important for that metabolism, keeping strong bone, strong muscles as we age, keeping our energy high and our cravings low. When clients are meeting that breakfast protein goal, the cravings, the snacking throughout the day, or even that energy dip in the mid-afternoon, tends to really diminish.

And then bonus is, usually we lose a couple of pounds on top of that. So that may be a new way of thinking for some people. This is not a restriction type of mindset. We're, we're just trying to tailor into, we're just trying to change the quality and like the balance of what you're eating.

So when we choose the right kinds of foods in the right balance, you naturally have that good energy, the cravings dissipate throughout the day and you should be getting, you know, a little bit hungry before meals or snacks. But we're not, we're not to the, we never get to that point of we want to gnaw our arm off or like rip the fridge door off its hinges kind of thing.

That's where every eating, every three to four hours keeps us a little bit more even keel, keeps us a little bit more balanced, because when we get to that gnaw the arm off stage, we're typically not making good decisions in that mindset.

Teresa: That's right.

Leah: So in terms of protein, again, like could we hit maybe 20 to 30 grams of protein, you know, somewhere in the ballpark of three to four ounces of protein at breakfast. And then when we get to more of that lunch or dinner timeframe, when the appetite tends, we tend to like be willing or, or able to eat a little bit more protein at those meals. Could we hit at least four ounces around that, 30 grams or so of protein and maybe even upwards of like 40 grams of protein, more like six ounces of protein. Somewhere in that ballpark is usually a good range for people.

Protein is important for maintaining strength as we age

Teresa: And we know, as we've been talking about, protein is so important for maintaining strength as we age, which as we've said is becoming more top of mind than ever, especially for women. Muscle strength is one of the biggest determinants of our overall health as we age.

A lot of people's New Year's resolution is going to the gym. But I think an important part of goal setting is to focus on the why. It's not just for physical aesthetics; it's about maintaining physical strength. We want to be able to get up from the couch or the floor without assistance as we age.

Physically train the body in some way

We want to be able to pick up our grandkids and our pets. We want to be able to keep up with our physically demanding activities. So it's important that we keep our bodies strong. When you work out, think about how you were training, not just for right now, but how you want to live in the last decade of your life.

Do you want to be dancing, hiking, golfing, gardening, playing with the grandkids, walking the dog? We want to train our body for what we want it to be able to do.

Leah: Mm-hmm.

Teresa: So if you want to be playing pickleball in your nineties, you need endurance, right? Yeah. You're going to be able to need to be able to move around for a significant amount of time. Our hips need to be strong. We need flexibility. We have to be able to twist our back in order to swing that racket, and we need to be able to bend down low or reach up high, possibly even jump. So if you're not doing these things now, if you're not working for that strength, if you're not looking for endurance, flexibility, if you're not ever jumping, don't take for granted that you're going to be able to do it in the future.

Leah: Yeah, exactly. Pickleball, that's a big sport. And it's one that I hear my clients talk about a lot. So that's a great example of like, let's try to think about, yeah, where do we want to be? And then reverse engineer it those years or those decades from there and say, all right, how do I need to train?

How do I need to move? What do I need to be thinking about now so that this is a possibility down the road? Yeah, I'm glad the focus for women is shifting from restricting food in order to be thin, to instead, we're adding in the right foods in a good balance, quality proteins and lifting weights to maintain muscle mass.

If you're someone who's new to lifting weights, you can start small. You start with body weight or just pick up something that is heavy to you and do three reps, five reps, build up from there. Maybe, and I recommend this for a lot for clients too, is like, if you really, truly have no idea what you're doing, this might be a great investment to go talk to somebody 2, 3, 4 times and get an idea of what to do.

Go get a trainer, even like grab a friend and split the cost and like have somebody like walk you through how to do this safely and how to do it with what your body is able to do now, and also how to progress it. If you're that independent person, like you can find YouTube videos for weightlifting for beginners, and you can do it at home for free.

But even joining something like the YMCA, getting a trainer or finding a class for your ability level, all of these are just, they're, they're a different approach to trying to get, you know, to the same means. Whatever activity you do for exercise, it has to be something that you enjoy or you won't stick with it.

And one, I mean, I've got, I have a client right now who I've been seeing for years now, 2019 I think is when I saw her first. And she has really gotten into a lot of walking. She is that lady like you see her trucking through the neighborhood all the time and she loves it and part of why she loves it is she has a walking partner that she does.

Her neighbor around the corner joins her more often than not for these walks or constantly texting each other, like kind of figuring out the weather. How long can we go for, what days work for you this week, and things like that. I now see her neighbor as a client as well. So it's just fun to have them.

Teresa: So fun.

Leah: Yeah. So fun to have them both as clients, but they get out and moving. They get that fresh air, they get some sun in their eyes, they get their steps in, they get some girl time, some girl talk. And so it's just, it's a great experience and a great connection for them. So that's one example of how we can make that exercise piece fun.

Teresa: Yes. I mean, I have clients who are on Moms on the Run. I think when you work out with people, it increases the joy. And then it also has that accountability piece. If it's raining outside and your walking partner says, hey, I'm going, you're going too. You’re not going to let them down.

More critical lifestyle habits to have on board

Well, let's talk about some other lifestyle habits. As dietitians, these are just as important as your diet when it comes to your health. Sleep: the absolute foundation of everything, right? If we are not well rested, everything is hard. Eating right, moving our bodies, managing our stress, organizing our lives is so hard.

So stress and how you spend your time, including screen time, either supports or sabotages your goals. So let's take just a minute to talk about screen time. Americans spend an average of four to seven hours on their phone, depending on the age group, with teens being on the higher end to the older, older adults being on the lower end.

And when I'm saying that. I looked up the statistic. Baby boomers are spending an average of four hours on their phones. So it's not like, you know, if you're a little bit older, you're off the hook. So maybe in the new year, it's really time to start paying attention to your screen time.

Is it holding you back from making home cooked meals happen more often? Is it holding you back from being more physically active? Is it keeping you from that extra hour of sleep because you can't put down your phone at night. You can't turn off the TV at night. You can look at your average screen time in the settings on your phone, and maybe you need to set a screen time timer for yourself, just like you can set up for your kids.

Think about how you would feel, how much better you may feel when you wake up in the morning if you had an extra hour of sleep. I bet you wouldn't be thinking, gee, I wish I would've scrolled on my phone for an extra hour last night instead of falling asleep. I just feel too good. I just feel too well rested.

Leah: Yeah. Not doing that again.

Teresa: And I think, and this is one thing that I have, said with my kids is take some time to think about how many hours of screen do I actually require?

Leah: Mm-hmm.

Teresa: You know, like, what would make me happy? Do I really require three to four hours of just sitting and staring at a screen? Is that really the requirement for relaxation that I need? And for some of us, that screen time is happening after a day of sitting and staring at a screen. I know not everybody has a sedentary job, but many of us do sit and stare at screens all day, followed up by sitting and staring at screens.

Leah: Yep.

Teresa: So with the idea in mind of, maybe it's just turning it off just a half hour earlier and getting into bed a half hour earlier. If that seems like too much, just start with 15 minutes. Even if you don't feel tired, just give it a shot. You can put on a meditation podcast to relax your mind. And I bet you will start falling asleep faster than you think and waking up feeling much more refreshed.

More tips on goal setting

Leah: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. With these ideas in mind that we've talked about so far, let's break it down like we would if we were working one-on-one with a client. I, I like to recommend when setting goals the first step is look at where you're at now. Before you can say, I want to cook at home more, check in with how many nights a week you realistically currently cook.

Then try increasing by just one night a week or one recipe a week to start. If you're cooking one night a week, try two. If your goal is to exercise more and you're currently not exercising at all, start with five minutes a day. Start with 10 minutes a day. Anything extra from there is just a bonus. But it's unrealistic to expect yourself to cook five nights a week and hit the gym five days a week if you're starting from nothing or, or very minimal at best.

Teresa: And it needs to be specific. If your goal is to eat more vegetables, what would that goal be more specifically? Is it to include one vegetable in one meal per day? Is it to add pre-chopped veggies to your weekly grocery list to save you time on prepping? What would be an actionable goal that you can check off yes or no?

You can't easily measure a vague goal of eat more vegetables, but you can check off a goal of three vegetables per day, three days a week. This could be peppers and onions with your eggs, carrot sticks at lunch, a small salad or a roasted veggie with dinner. There's your three a day. Or cook three dinners at home this week, for example. Pick the day. Be very specific. I'm going to cook on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, or try one new recipe this week for Saturday dinner. Those check off the smart goals of specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound, meaning you set a specific day and time to do them.

Leah: Yep. I always encourage clients to ask themselves, does this goal fit into my real life? Not your idealized, perfectly organized fantasy life that you're, you're trying to get to one day. This is like, does this fit into your actual Tuesday at 6:00 PM when you're tired and have a list of chores and extracurricular activities to get to and don't feel like cooking?

That's what you need to plan for. And if you set a goal that isn't fitting or try it on for size, and it's just not working, don't abandon it. Edit it. Goals should be flexible, not set in stone. Editing a goal is not quitting. It's adapting. It's actually a sign that you are committed rather than completely giving up.

Teresa: That’s a great thought. I love the idea of editing is not quitting.

Leah: Yeah.

Teresa: Well, before we wrap up today, let's talk mindset for the new year. No one reaches health goals by being perfect. They reach them by being persistent. So as you set your New Year's goals, remember small, realistic, persistent efforts win over time.

Leah: Yes, so thank you so much for everyone joining us today. If you're wanting extra help with setting and sticking with your New Year's goals for 2026, come in and see us for a set of individual appointments to help you be successful with your goals. Give us a call at (651) 699-3438 or visit our website, weightandwellness.com to learn more.

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Our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to teach people the power of real food and how life changing it can be. It's a simple, yet powerful message. Thank you for listening today.