Often a time of reflection on the year past, the holiday season brings us into a new year full of exciting possibilities. With all of these possibilities at your feet, setting a New Years resolution (or resolutions, if youre feeling ambitious) is a great way to set the pace for the year ahead. However, if youve ever set a New Years resolution, you know just how hard it can be to keep up the momentum and see it through the entire year. More often than not, we hit the ground running with them on January 1 and fizzle out after a couple of weeks. If youve decided to pursue a healthier you in 2017, we have some helpful tips for setting yourself up for success from the get-go. Before jumping into an insanely strict diet plan, start off by identifying why you want to make the change in the first place. Do you want to lose weight? Need more energy to get you through your busy day? Regardless of your answer, use this as your motivation to stick with your healthy eating resolutions. Having goals that you can visualize will help you stay on target and will better your chances of achieving your objective. Once you can successfully target the purpose of your resolution, the next move is to educate yourself on how to live a healthier lifestyle. The more educated you are on a subject, the more committed you will be. Having a strong knowledge base on ways to improve your overall health will provide you with a solid foundation to mentally prepare yourself for making permanent improvements. Now that you are mentally prepared and motivated for this new way of life, try sticking with these five healthy eating resolutions to bring in the new year.

Cook More at Home

One easy habit to break in the New Year is eating out at restaurants. While this may be a convenient alternative to spending hours in your kitchen every night, stop and think about what kind of food you choose when dining out. The majority of the time its calorie dense and contains very little nutritional value. Cooking at home allows you to know exactly what you are eating. Try to work your way up to cooking at least five dinners at home a week. If this sound unreasonable from the get-go, aim for three or four and see where you land. This will motivate you to experiment with healthy new recipes, and who knows, maybe you will even improve your cooking skills in the process!

Stick to Natural Foods

This area in your diet is crucial for your body's nutrient and fiber requirements. Make sure your purchasing lots of fresh fruits and vegetables to add to every meal or snack time. Swap out processed food products that fill your kitchen pantries and replace them with foods that are as natural as possible. This will set you up to make healthier food choices throughout the week.

Pick Your Protein Wisely

You dont need to set a strict vegan diet from day one. Gaining healthier eating habits should be done in stages. An easy adjustment to start with is limiting your red and fatty meat consumption. If you consider yourself a big meat eater, try swapping out one red meat meal with fresh fish instead. You might also try to experiment with different proteins like tofu and beans, both of which will keep your hunger satisfied and your body feeling energized.

Change Your Cravings

We are all guilty of it; overindulging on desserts seems to happen more than wed like to admit. If giving up sugary treats cold turkey seems like a daunting task, try limiting your weekly intake by allowing yourself one cheat day a week. This will prevent you from routinely treating yourself to that candy bar in the checkout line that you never intended on purchasing in the first place.

Prepare Your Snacks

A few hours have passed since your lunch break at work, and youre beginning to feel bored and tired. Then you realize you must be hungry. You reach for that bag of chips or cookies, and before you know it, you have just consumed food with little, if any, nutritional value. Dont fall victim to boredom snacking! Always come prepared with nuts, protein bars, or fresh produce to satisfy your afternoon craving. Plus, healthier snacks will keep you feeling energized throughout the afternoon giving you that extra boost to get through the day. Turn the page to a healthier new beginning by practicing these five eating resolutions these next few weeks and see which ones come easier and which you have to put more of a focus on. By setting yourself up for success with the right motivation and game plan, you will be able to have a victorious New Years resolution. These simple eating resolutions are just what you need to bring in a healthier new year!