With 2020 coming to an end, now is a good time as any to start coming up with New Year’s resolutions. If you’re planning to build any health-related habits for next year, we’ve got some ideas on how you can make 2021 a healthier year together with your family.

Making healthy New Year’s resolutions

No matter what your plans are for the New Year, one tradition that’s upheld around the world is making a New Year’s resolution. You don’t even need to wait for the first of January; even now you can already start reflecting and reprioritizing your life, setting your goals for the year ahead.

Good health is something we constantly strive for year after year, made more pressing now during the pandemic. After all, being energetic and free from sickness allows us to do what we need to do and enjoy each day with our families to the fullest. But as resolutions go, this is easier said than done.

A great tip to making – and keeping – New Year’s resolutions is to make them specific and to have a plan on how to achieve them. So, if you plan on keeping a healthy lifestyle next year, you need to break it down into actionable habits that you can do realistically. It also helps to ask yourself: why is this goal important to me and who am I doing it for? If you keep that in mind, it will be easier for you to stay motivated to stick to your plans.

To help you jumpstart your resolution-making, here are some health-related goals that you can set for yourself and even get the family involved in:
 

1. Cook more meals at home.
   It has been studied that people who cook more meals at home have better diet quality and less body fat compared to people who eat more take-out or fast food. A study has even shown that out of 11,396 adults, those who ate 5 or more home-cooked meals in a week were less likely to be overweight versus those who ate fewer than 3 home-cooked meals. As a mom, you may already be practicing this for regular meals but you can build on this habit by making your own snacks or desserts at home.
2. Add more vegetables and produce to your diet.
   Adding more cooked and raw vegetables and fruits to your diet can go a long way towards improving your health in the coming year. Aside from maintaining overall health, numerous studies have shown that eating a diet rich in produce helps protect against various illnesses, such as diabetes, heart diseases, obesity and even certain cancers.
   Start Your Day Right

   Prime Mom Tip: even canned vegetables like garbanzos can help you meet your daily veggie intake. Check out their amazing health benefits plus easy recipes you can make!

3. Eat together as a family.
   Even the simple act of enjoying meals together can benefit your health and well-being. Aside from being able to control and monitor what your family eats, research shows that there are many benefits to eating meals together, including improved self-esteem in children, better communication skills, teaching good eating habits and reduced risk for obesity later on in life. (Click to learn more about the benefits of masarap na ulam and family bonding.)
4. Focus on creating a sustainable, nourishing diet.
   Often when we think of healthy diets, we associate it with fad diets, eliminating entire food groups, or missing meals – all of which are short-term changes with no long-term benefits. Instead of a restrictive diet, it helps to focus on creating a nourishing eating pattern that works for you. Most nutrition experts recommend a diet that is rich in whole, nutrient-dense foods and low in heavily processed, high-sugar products. Portion control can also be helpful. What’s important is that you create a healthy diet that you can enjoy and stick with for the long term.

 

Need a healthy head start? Here’s a light, fast and easy recipe you can prepare!

Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad with Chicken

This refreshing, tasty rice noodle salad is a healthy dish that’s anything but bland or boring. With seared chicken and an assortment of crunchy vegetables, there is definitely zero guilt in enjoying this with your family!

Ingredients:

• 200g Mega Prime Choices Glass Noodles (Vermicelli)
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 calamansi, juiced
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 cucumber, julienned
• 6 leaves lettuce, finely julienned

For the sauce

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 calamansi, juiced
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 red chili, de-seeded and sliced
• ½ cup cold water

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken thighs with garlic, calamansi juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and oil, then set aside for 30 minutes to an hour while you prepare the other salad ingredients.
2. Combine all the sauce ingredients and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Taste and adjust as needed.
3. Cook the Mega Prime Choices Vermicelli for 5 minutes in rapidly boiling water. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Set aside.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
5. Sear the chicken for about 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Set aside.
6. To assemble the salad, combine the rice noodles with bean sprouts, carrots, cucumber and romaine lettuce. Slice the chicken thighs and add to the salad. Serve with sauce.

Looking to add more veggies to your diet? Learn about the health benefits of green peas, plus healthy recipes to try at home. Get more #pinaSARAP moments with all Mega Prime products available on Mega Global, Shopee and Lazada!