Making a commitment to eat better is one of the most popular New Years resolutions, but it's also one of the most challenging to keep. Leigh Finney, Healthy Living Coordinator with Southern Health-Sante Sud, says it's important to set realistic and achievable goals and to create an action plan to help in meeting those goals.

"Whether you set a goal now or another time of the year, it's really important to plan ahead and get support. It's also important to set a goal or a resolution and make sure it's something that you want to do. And lastly, to focus on the change that makes you feel good."

Finney says one area people can look at, is eating mindfully.

"It might be a nice time of year to slow down and to look at focusing on the present moment on the food we're eating, taking time...to pause and acknowledge how you're feeling before and after the meal and enjoy the food that we're eating."

She adds people may also want to examine their relationship with food, noting often we focus on what we are eating and leave out other aspects such as how we are eating. Asking yourself if you're taking time to eat regularly throughout the day and considering the setting in which you're eating are a few suggestions. Finney says another idea is to pay attention to our internal cues.

"Intuitive eating refers to eating when we are hungry and stopping when we are satisfied. Overall, it means eating a wide variety of foods regularly throughout the day at meals and snacks, it also means being flexible and enjoying the foods we eat."

Finney goes on to say that taking small steps are important in meeting these new goals, and suggests rather than eliminating any one food you could always add a new food or try and new recipe. She also suggests signing up for a cooking class. Finney adds the best thing we can do for our health is cook and eat together as a family.

"Preparing food with others is a great way to start conversation (and) share stories."

She adds more information on making changes to your diet can be found by talking with a dietician. Anyone in Manitoba can access a free telephone service that will put them in contact with a registered dietician, just call 1-877-830-2892.