We’re already in the fourth week of January, and it’s right about now that people start to fall off the bandwagon after making strict New Year’s resolutions. Every year, thousands of us resolve to try out the latest fad diet, detox, or cleanse. And every year, many of us ‘fail’ and are left feeling guilty and discouraged.

Fad diets and wellness plans are marketed using buzz words like ‘natural’ ‘detox’ ‘preservative free’ or ‘weight loss’, but this can be misleading. Diets can be very restrictive and hard to stick to, and sometimes they are just plain dangerous.

If you want to set yourself a food goal this year, why not try one that will definitely improve your health – I’m talking about salt! New Year’s resolutions are so often focused on the negative – cut out sugar, cut out carbs, no gluten, no dairy, no solids! – the list goes on! While reducing salt may sound like another one of these restrictions, this is certainly not the case.

In fact, the best way to reduce your salt is to think about eating MORE (of certain foods).

Instead of thinking about what you shouldn’t be eating, why not think about food in a positive way? What do you want to try to eat more of? If you focus on getting in as much fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole foods you won’t have room to fit in the processed stuff that is full of salt (not to mention sugar and saturated fat)!

When it comes to cooking, think about all the herbs and spices that you can experiment with. These will add so much flavour to your food that you won’t need to add the salt.

The start of a new year can be a great time to reflect and set yourself goals for the future, so be kind to yourself and make sure you are being realistic and positive. If you focus on the food you want to eat MORE of you are much more likely to stay on track and achieve your goals.

Make 2018 the year you start thinking about food positively. Make it the year you think about what you want to eat MORE of rather than what you are going to deprive yourself of. You will find yourself eating a much healthier diet overall, and your heart will thank you for it.