The energy and excitement of beginning a new year makes January a popular time for making New Year’s resolutions. Often, two of the most popular resolutions focus on health: to get fit and to lose weight.
As health professionals know all too well, many people establish lofty goals on January 1, only to drop their resolutions by June. One reason so many struggle may be that they incorporate extreme goals that may not be realistic. A more helpful strategy could be to start with small steps and celebrate milestones along the way. As nutrition and health professionals prepare to help their clients and patients meet their New Year’s health resolutions, MyPlate, MyWins is a great place to start. Let MyPlate, MyWins be a resource to help you assist your clients in turning resolutions into real solutions for a healthy new year.
Real solutions are small, practical changes that add up to a healthy lifestyle over time. Real solutions are not meant to have an end date; they are changes that can be incorporated into an individual’s current lifestyle to help develop a healthy eating style that can be maintained. MyPlate, MyWins meets people where they are and helps to build healthier eating habits, rather than setting unrealistic goals. MyPlate provides numerous resources to support individuals’ efforts to make small changes across a variety of behaviors. MyPlate, My Wins allows personalization of goals and eating habits to create real solutions that work.
Consumers often turn to nutritionists and health professionals for solutions to improve health and eating behaviors. To help prepare for this surge of attention on healthy eating that comes with the beginning of a new year, MyPlate has released a toolkit designed for health professionals. The toolkit contains resources to empower individuals to make healthy eating choices and turn their resolutions into real solutions.
For maximum impact, consumers need to hear messages from multiple sources in a variety of environments. The MyPlate Message Toolkit amplifies MyPlate messages through social media, creative graphics, and more. Health professionals can easily incorporate the ready-to-use resources into their existing nutrition education and client nutrition information.
This online toolkit includes the following tools for each MyPlate message:
- Tip sheets related to each MyPlate message
- Links to informational pages on ChooseMyPlate.gov
- Eye-catching graphics sized perfectly to share on social media
- Sample social media messages for Facebook and Twitter
MyPlate is a visual reminder to help consumers find a healthy eating style that fits their lifestyle. Our message is, “Everything you eat and drink matters, focus on variety, amount, and nutrition. The right mix can help create healthier lifestyles now and in the future.”
The MyPlate messages include:
- Find your healthy eating style and maintain it for a lifetime
- Make half your plate fruits and vegetables: Vary your veggies
- Make half your plate fruits and vegetables: Focus on whole fruits
- Make half your grains whole grains
- Move to low-fat or fat-free milk or yogurt
- Vary your protein routine
- Make small changes
Whether you are a nutritionist, health professional, or someone interested in tapping into the enthusiasm of creating a healthy lifestyle in January, turn to MyPlate for nutrition tools to help make a healthy eating style that will last throughout the entire year.
Find the toolkit at choosemyplate.gov/toolkit and visit ChooseMyPlate.gov for a variety of free online resources, such as tip sheets, infographics, and more. Also, be sure to follow @MyPlate on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and sign up for MyPlate email updates at ChooseMyPlate.gov/govdelivery.
