We can all make New Year’s resolutions, but the trick is keeping those resolutions throughout the year. This is not easy to do, which many of us already know if we have managed to keep them over the last few weeks. These goals that we set for ourselves can be powerful, even life changing, but only if we stay committed.

Sticking to any goal is easier when you make small changes every day that add up over time. Are you still going for walks after dinner three times a week like you were at the beginning of January? Is your meal planning more than planning what route to drive home so you can stop and pick up take out food for dinner? Or, are you making meals at home with lots of fruits, vegetables, dairy and whole grains, and other healthy, functional foods? Small changes in what you eat will likely become habits as you begin to stick with them from week to week -- and they can make a big difference in your overall health and well being in the long run.

Another reason many of us don’t reach our goal is because we are trying to do things that we simply don’t enjoy. There is no reason that eating healthy and staying fit should be a chore. If it starts to feel like one, this is a sign that it’s time to make a few adjustments. Instead of continuing to drag yourself to the gym, try something different such as swimming or Pilates. Pick up an exercise video that you can do before work. If you struggle to decide what to eat for dinner, browse our Meal Recipes and Suggestions for ideas or even try a cooking class. All of these will help to keep things interesting and provide you with the opportunity to meet new people (your social support).

Be flexible throughout the year with yourself and your goals. If there is an overarching goal don’t forget to celebrate the small accomplishments as well. These are just as important. After all, small steps are necessary to reach the larger goal.

How often do you come home from a hectic day at work and struggle to determine what to do for dinner? More than likely you are all too familiar with this feeling.

One of the best ways to avoid racking your brain every evening to come up with an answer is through meal planning. By planning a few meals for the upcoming week, you will alleviate this unnecessary stress and have more time to spend with your family.

Family meals are especially important when you have children. Research has also shown that children and teens that eat regular meals with their families are nearly 5 times less likely to use drugs or smoke than those who do not eat family meals on a regular basis. Dinner is often the best time to have meals together as this is when everyone is winding down from a busy day. This can also be a time to learn about your children, how their day has been, and simply reconnect with one another

Meal planning can be very beneficial for your health. It allows you to have more control over portion sizes and helps to avoid spur-of-the-moment purchasing of fast food as a last resort. Ensuring that you and your family are eating nutrient-rich foods is a lot easier when planning in advance and making meals at home. When you can eliminate last minute trips to the store, you’ll have more time to prepare meals and side dishes full of functional foods, which are excellent for you and your family’s health.

Meal planning can also help you save money. When you have a plan of what you will need to purchase for the week ahead, you will be able to reduce the number of random purchases you make while you’re shopping and you’ll save gas by making one trip to the store instead of multiple trips each week.

Part of meal planning is having an idea of what ingredients you will need in the coming week, and creating a shopping list containing those ingredients. When you arrive at the store you’ll know exactly what you need, so that you can avoid the uncertainty of what to purchase, which can often lead to impulse spending.

Making the commitment to a meal planning routine is just the first step. The next question is where to find the meals that you will make. We offer hundreds of recipes and meal ideas for you to browse, so that you can find the perfect recipes for you and your family. Once you have found the recipes that you want to try, be sure to make use of our shopping list and meal planner to get you started on the right track.

How often do you exercise? It is not a secret to anyone that regular exercise has numerous health benefits. Even though we are all aware of this, many of us do not take the time to incorporate physical activity into our daily schedules.

One of the most common excuses for a lack of exercise is, “I don’t have time to work out”, and this is often why we fail to keep our goals at the beginning of each New Year. In reality, physical activities can be incorporated in almost anyone’s daily schedule with ease; you may just need to be creative with when, where, and how you will do it. It is not always true that those who exercise regularly have more time for physical activity; it is that they make the time. Putting a little extra effort to ensure that you are active each and everyday will help you to look and feel great.

Exercise does not have to be achieved through attending a fitness class or purchasing a gym membership. Many of us live hectic lifestyles and finding a gym nearby may be difficult. The gym hours may also not coincide with the times that we have available to go to the gym. Instead, try to think of other ways throughout your day that you can move a little more, increase your heart rate, and strengthen your muscles.

Below are a few ideas that may work for you. Try incorporating some of these into your routine. Remember that the key to attaining health benefits is by sticking with a routine.

1) Take the stairs. Whether it is to your office or at the mall, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Climbing stairs increases your heart rate and strengthens your calf muscles, thighs, buttocks as well as helps to strengthen your bones.

2) Play with the kids. Kids are full of energy and keeping up with them as they play around the yard or at the park can be fun as well as a good exercise. It can increase your heart rate and you can burn the same number of calories as going for a brisk walk.

3) Gardening, mowing the lawn, and raking leaves can be physical activity. This applies to chores around the house as well. Keep this in mind and you may end up enjoying these tasks.

4) Go for a walk during lunch. Getting outside for exercise during a hectic day at work can release endorphins that can help reduce your stress levels and can burn calories. If you don’t have a lot of time, pick up the pace to increase your heart rate and burn calories quicker.

5) Sign up for a community sports team. This can provide a little fun and friendly competition. There are often local leagues for adults as well as for kids. Find a sport that you enjoy. This will help you to meet new people and get in shape.

6) Do a few strength-building exercises in the morning while you are getting ready for your day. Take 5 or 10 minutes to do crunches, push ups, or even just to stretch. This gets your blood moving which can help you to start your day off right.

7) Go for a walk in the evening. Invite a friend to join you for a walk instead of a grabbing dinner or a cup of coffee together. You are likely to walk longer when you have someone to talk with.

8) Take the kids on a bike ride on the weekend. This is a great way to help your kids get the exercise they need as well.

Exercising is not fun for everyone, so it is important to do activities that you enjoy. Try to avoid boredom by varying the times and locations for a change of scenery. Once you figure out what works best for you, set aside some time each day that you will devote to doing this activity. This will help you to establish exercise as part of your routine, making it much easier to fit in. Don’t underestimate how even doing a little each day can add up. Over time, you will be doing your body and your health a big favor.

Do you ever find yourself making excuses or talking yourself out of exercising? It can be extremely difficult to stay on track with your fitness goals, but what if you had someone to help encourage you along the way?

A friend or fitness partner can be a powerful motivator to help you stick to your goals. This person can encourage, challenge, and motivate you. They can be there to push you to work harder than you would when working out alone and they can lift you up when you’re feeling discouraged. This social support can boost your confidence, providing you with the enthusiasm that you need to keep going.

We all have days when we would rather do anything other than go to the gym or go for a walk or jog after a long day at work. If you exercise alone it is easy to make excuses and skip your workout one day, however, if someone is counting on you, it is more likely that you will stay committed to the original plan to exercise.

Attending a new fitness class, joining a gym, or trying a new sport may be a goal that you have established for yourself, but these can be intimidating to do alone. Someone trying these new activities with you may help you to take the next step to finding something that you really enjoy.

The company of another person can also make exercising more fun. This can be a great opportunity for you to establish friendships with those who have similar interests. When you have someone to socialize with, you may actually find yourself looking forward to the time that you spend exercising together.

When looking for a fitness partner, there are a few things that you’ll want to keep in mind. First, make sure that the other person has similar fitness goals and is at a comparable fitness level. This way you will both be able to get the most out of your workouts. Also consider the types of activities that you both enjoy. It will be best to choose someone who enjoys similar activities, so that you both take pleasure in the workouts that you do together.

Let a fitness partner help to make your workout an enjoyable part of your day!

New research suggests that a healthier, more physically active lifestyle is just a few clicks away with Dairy Council of California's MyFitness Planner.

Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer, yet less than half of all American women (47.7 percent) engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity or greater physical activity on most days of the week. To help, Dairy Council of California developed MyFitness Planner, formerly called the Women's Fitness Planner.

A randomized control trial of 150 healthy adult women showed that MyFitness Planner's individually tailored Internet-plus-email physical activity intervention resulted in 37 minutes of increased walking and 48 minutes of increased total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week compared to a control group. Study results were published in the December issue of Preventive Medicine.

A study led by Genevieve Fridlund Dunton, Ph.D., M.P.H., a Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, indicated that Dairy Council of California's online tool can positively impact women's physical activity levels. Results further showed that participants who clicked more links in the update emails trended toward greater activity by 10-20 minutes per week, regardless of socio-economic or education status.

MyFitness Planner produces individualized physical activity feedback based on an online assessment. Participants receive weekly follow-up email newsletters to support the information on the website and encourage further learning. Read full study results.

To increase your physical activity level, go to MyFitness Planner. Take the quick assessment questionnaire, view your personal activity graph and start improving your activity level. Be sure to read and explore weekly emails for further benefit.

Who do you turn to for support during the journey to reach your goals?

Social support, as defined by Wikipedia, is the “physical and emotional comfort given to us by our family, friends, co-workers and others. It is knowing that we are part of a community of people who love and care for us, and value and think well of us.”

Evidence has shown that when a person feels that they have support from those around them, they often experience reduced stress, a greater sense of emotional health and well-being, and are more likely to accomplish the goals or tasks that they want to achieve. Surrounding yourself with people who are supportive and provide encouragement is critical. Through a supportive network of friends, you’ll have others to turn to when you are in need of tips or advice or simply want to celebrate a small accomplishment.

This is exceptionally important when you are trying to make lifestyle or behavioral changes such as losing weight or establishing healthy eating habits. Anyone who has tried to lose weight is familiar with just how difficult this can be, so where do you look to begin building your supportive network?

We all have our close friends and family that we can turn to, but don’t forget about the opportunities outside of your current everyday contacts. The Internet, particularly social networking sites, blogs or discussion boards have become increasingly popular as a means of social support. There are hundreds of sites and groups for almost any interest, all of which are supported by people who interact with one another.

Share your updates on Twitter or write about your accomplishments in a community on LiveJournal. Leverage channels such as these to locate others who have similar aspirations. Use them to build your supportive network and offer encouragement to others as they pursue their own journey to a healthier life. After all, that is what many of these channels and groups are about - engaging users, encouraging participation, and providing relevant information. Share your accomplishments. Those around you will feed off of your successes and vice versa and even express the difficult times or obstacles that you are being faced with.

Knowing that others are going through the same thing or have likely experienced something similar can be helpful. Embrace the support provided and let this help you to become a happier healthier you.

Functional foods are foods and food components that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Functional foods do more than just provide nutrients – they may play a role in reducing your risk of disease or in improving your health. These foods include health-promoting ingredients or natural components found in conventional, fortified, enriched or enhanced foods.

As we learn about them, it becomes apparent that it's impossible to duplicate Mother Nature's unique combination of vitamins, minerals and other components found in whole food - especially since many of their health promoting components are still being discovered.

Here are just some examples of functional foods and why they may be beneficial:

Avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol. Avocados are also a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure and guard against heart disease.

Beans may help lower cholesterol, combat heart disease, stabilize blood sugar, reduce obesity and cancer risk, and relieve hypertension. Beans are a good source of insoluble fiber, which promotes digestive health and relieves constipation. Beans also provide soluble fiber, which can help reduce fat levels in the blood.

Milk provides calcium, vitamin D, protein and other essential vitamins and minerals, including potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A and B12, riboflavin and niacin that work together to build strong bones and help prevent osteoporosis. Milk also contains - Components in milk, such as sphingomyelin, bioactive peptides, whey and lactoferrin are being studied for their cancer-fighting and immune-boosting properties.

Oats are naturally low in fat and the soluble fiber from oat products, when added to a low-saturated fat, low-cholesterol diet, may help reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering LDL cholesterol.

Spinach is rich in a number of essential nutrients, including folate, magnesium, vitamins C and A, and lutein. Each of these nutrients plays a crucial role in our health, from preventing neural tube defects, to fighting free radicals and nourishing good eyesight.

Strawberries are naturally high in fiber, vitamin C, folate, potassium and antioxidants -- anti-disease and anti-aging nutrients that work by destroying "free radicals" -- making them a food that promotes heart health, reduces the risk of certain types of cancer and gives a boost to total body wellness.

Tuna is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which can help lower the risk of heart disease. In fact, the American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least two times a week because of its heart healthy benefits.

Walnuts have many potential health benefits. They may enhance mental function, lower total and LDL cholesterol and reduce risk of heart disease. Walnuts exert a number of positive effects on arteries, including decreasing inflammation and reducing levels of substances that promote clogged arteries. The American Heart Association recommends eating walnuts for heart health.

Yogurt is created by adding special bacteria, called “cultures,” to milk. Some of these bacteria are called "healthy bacteria" or "probiotics". Probiotics may also help strengthen the immune system, and prevent some cancers and high blood pressure.

There are many potential health benefits of consuming functional foods –- only some of which are listed above. Nutritional research has shown that eating functional foods on a regular basis, as part of a balanced and varied diet, can enhance health and reduce the risk of many acute and chronic diseases.

Functional foods can be found in your grocery store and you may even have some of them in your refrigerator and pantry already! Our functional foods list contains more examples of functional foods, as well as their health benefits and active components.

There are several long-term benefits of getting enough calcium, such as strengthening your bones, reducing blood pressure and minimizing your risk of certain cancers. And, people with higher calcium intakes generally weigh less and have less body fat than people with lower calcium intakes. There is also scientific evidence that people with high blood pressure can reduce their blood pressure by eating a diet high in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products, also know as the DASH diet.

Calcium is best known as the major mineral responsible for building strong bones, especially during childhood and young adult years, but it is also used by the body for other purposes. When you don’t consume enough calcium, your body starts to take it from your bones for other jobs, such as muscle contractions, blood clotting and proper nerve functioning. This removal of calcium from the bones to other parts of the body leaves your bones weak and fragile. If this continues over time, you could develop osteoporosis.

Contrary to popular belief, osteoporosis is not a natural part of aging and is preventable in most people. Yet, calcium is one of the nutrients most likely to be lacking in the American diet. According to government statistics, nine out of ten women and seven out of ten men fall short of calcium recommendations. Keeping your bones healthy and strong is a lifelong task that requires a balance of healthy foods, such calcium-rich dairy foods, and weight-bearing activities, such as walking or strength training.

Calculate your calcium intake to determine if you’re getting enough calcium in your diet with the Calcium Quiz. This tool will evaluate your intake of calcium-rich foods to determine if you need more calcium. It will also offer suggestions for how to improve your calcium intake and help you set goals to reach your daily calcium needs.

Also, check out our article on preventing osteoporosis to learn more about the importance of calcium!

Keeping a food diary helps you keep track of and be accountable for what you eat. If your goal is to lose weight research has shown that the more food records someone keeps the more weight they lose. But keeping a food diary can also help you improve the overall quality of your diet. By keeping track of what and how much you eat you begin to see patterns that could lead to overeating, skipped meals or times of day when you are more likely to eat something less nutritious. When you see your eating behavior on paper it holds you accountable to yourself and makes you aware of your habits.

If you’ve ever created a budget to manage your spending habits it’s the same logic with a food diary. For example, you may be surprised to find out that on days you skip breakfast you eat much more than you do on days when you eat something before 10am. Or that on days when you workout you need an additional snack in the afternoon. If you have a nutritious snack or breakfast planned you are less likely to grab something unhealthy at the last minute when you get hungry.

Awareness is the first step in changing your behavior so the food diary is a valuable tool in assessing what you are currently doing. The better your food diary, the better chance you will have to find places to make improvements. Here are some tips for keeping a food diary:

• Use whatever tool works for you – you can print the Meals Matter Food Diary or use a notebook or scratch paper.
• Write down everything you eat for seven days and estimate the amounts using cups, teaspoons, etc. for measurements. You can also use this chart for relating portion sizes to everyday items
• Record what you eat immediately so that you don’t forget later. Carrying your food diary with you at all times makes it easier to do this.
• Remember to include all beverages, sauces, gravies, as well as fruit, vegetables or cheese, etc… that might be part of a sandwich or salad.
• Don’t alter your behavior while keeping the diary. You want to accurately assess your current food intake.
• Don’t skip a day because you don’t think of it as a typical day. Special occasions are an important part of the big picture when managing your habits and tracking your behavior. Just make a note that it was a special occasion in your food diary.

When keeping a food diary it is also useful to include additional information such as whether you ate alone or with someone else, the mood you were in when you ate and your physical activity for the day. These things can also impact the amount and types of food you consume on any given day.

Keeping a food diary is an important tool in learning what behaviors you may want to change as you strive to meet your goals for improved health. It’s the process of reflecting on what you eat that helps you understand yourself and your behaviors in order to make the positive changes that will make you healthier!

Goal setting is powerful and important psychologically as goals help us to outline what we want to achieve. Studies have shown that not only is there a significant correlation between those who establish goals and those who are successful in seeing results, but also those who set goals typically have a higher level of self-confidence. Goal setting is at the basis of understanding that one’s own actions can greatly impact their life as well as the lives of others. It can increase your self-esteem, encouraging you to work toward something that will make you feel good about yourself.

The beginning of every year is a time to establish resolutions, defining what we want to accomplish in the coming year. Quite often, however, these goals do not have the necessary components for success. Below are a few tips to help you be successful with your goals or resolutions during 2009.

Write your goals down. This is an essential first step. Take the time to write down what it is that you want to accomplish. The simple act of writing something down makes it more concrete and subconsciously creates a commitment. This should be written in a place where you will review it on a regular basis to serve as a reminder. It can be in a personal diary, in a Google doc, or even in an online journal such as LiveJournal. Either way, it needs to be some place where you are reminded of your commitment.

Establish specific goals. This is your opportunity to clearly define exactly what it is that you want to achieve. If you want to lose weight or become more physically fit, determine how much weight you will lose or how often and when you will exercise. Once the goal is defined, you can establish an action plan or a roadmap to follow to help you realize your goal. Part of this is ensuring that your goals are realistic. They should be challenging, yet attainable.

Think positively. Positive thoughts and visualizing the result will keep you motivated during times when you feel like you want to give up. Negative thoughts affect our motivation, dampening our self-confidence.

Reward yourself. It is beneficial to measure your progress along the way. Even accomplishing a minor feat is a reason to reward yourself. You may still have a long way to go to before you reach the ultimate goal, but celebrate the small steps along the way. This will keep you looking forward to the end result and will increase the joy from the journey of getting there.

Setting and achieving goals is one of the most fulfilling parts of life. Goals reveal your priorities and when they are accomplished, you’ll not only feel proud, but you will also likely see a boost in your self-confidence and self-esteem which can be reflected in all areas of your life, including your career or family life.

Take a few moments to revisit your resolutions for 2009 and make sure that they have these necessary components for success. You may also want to go back and revise your goals for nutrition in the Personal Nutrition Planner. Good luck!

This blog posting is part of the Meals Matter Nutrition and Fitness Challenge 2009. Go to Nutrition and Fitness Challenge.