Every January, Americans are bombarded with information about New Year’s resolutions. While many of us set our hopes high on January 1st, our commitment to our lofty resolutions tends to dwindle over time. In fact, by June, less than half of us are still committed to accomplishing our New Year’s resolutions! One reason for this waning interest is that our resolutions often are unrealistic, incorporating extreme goals and expecting immediate perfection. We sabotage ourselves with these strategies. Instead, starting with small steps and celebrating milestones along the way are shown to be more helpful strategies in keeping resolutions. As you begin thinking about your resolutions for 2017, I encourage you to start with MyPlate, MyWins.
Let MyPlate, My Wins be a resource to help you turn your resolutions into real solutions for a healthy new year.
Real solutions are small, practical changes that add up to a healthier lifestyle over time. Real solutions do not have an end date; they are changes that can be incorporated into Americans’ lifestyles to help maintain a healthy eating style long term. USDA’s MyPlate, MyWins meets Americans where they are and helps to build healthier eating habits from there, rather than setting unrealistic goals at the start. MyPlate, My Wins allows Americans to personalize their goals and eating habits to fit their needs.
If you are committed to making healthy changes in 2017, USDA is committed to providing you with resources to help you begin the new year in a healthy way. An updated MyPlate, MyWins page launched today will help guide Americans through the process of finding a healthier eating style. The Stories from Families and Individuals page has videos from relatable families about their healthy eating solutions. The page also features tips and solutions from our own MyPlate staff!
To motivate and guide you to achieve attainable nutrition goals, SuperTracker, USDA’s free online food and activity tracker, is hosting a 5-week MyPlate New Year’s Challenge. The Challenge will focus on the 5 MyPlate food groups and incorporating a healthier eating style into your life. I encourage you to get involved in this MyPlate New Year’s Challenge, and continue to use SuperTracker as a tool to track your progress into the future. The Challenge will start on January 2nd; log in or create an account in SuperTracker and join the MyPlate New Year’s Challenge!
I am also happy to announce the launch of a new, animated MyPlate, MyWins video series. These videos give examples of simple changes you can make to your typical meals to decrease sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars. Do you need to grab breakfast at the local convenience store? Do you often order takeout after a long day at work? These videos provide solutions that can actually fit in to your busy life and could make a difference for you.
MyPlate, MyWins will be launching one video per week for the next 5 weeks; visit the Make Small Changes webpage every week to view the latest video, and find ideas and tools to support you in the MyPlate New Year’s Challenge. To supplement these videos, meal-focused webpages will have additional nutrition information and tip sheets for more ways you can incorporate these small changes into your lifestyle.
MyPlate, MyWins will help guide you in your journey towards a healthier lifestyle in the new year. For more healthy eating tips and resources, visit ChooseMyPlate.gov, follow MyPlate on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for email updates.
