If your new year’s resolution is to become more health conscious, I’d like to help you get a kick start by making 31 suggestions you can try during the month of January. You might not be able to make all the diet changes but even a few can help shed pounds or make a difference in your blood pressure or blood sugars.

1. Add one more vegetable into your daily routine.

2. Increase your intake of fresh fruit.

3. Drink only one half cup of juice per day, or none.

4. Switch from regular pop to diet beverages.

5. Wear a pedometer and track how many miles you put on in a day and then try beat that number the next day.

6. Drink only one to two servings of alcohol per day.

7. Remove skin from chicken and trim the fat off all other meats.

8. Keep fatty meats like prime rib, ribs, t-bone, and other high fat meats like salami, bologna, hot dogs, brats, for special occasions.

9. Avoid eating pre-breaded foods or packaged foods as they are high fat and sodium.

10. Choose light spreads and dressings instead of regular butter or margarines. Just one teaspoon (about 5 grams) of regular butter, margarine, oil, or mayonnaise is forty-five calories.

11. Keep foods in their most natural state and decrease the foods containing mayonnaise. For example, did you know that one half cup of boiled potatoes is about eighty calories but when you eat potato salad it is 250 calories for one half cup because of all the added fat and sugar?

12. Join a gym or take advantage of your company’s fitness program.

13. Buy an exercise video or exercise ball and work out in your own home.

14. Decrease time spent at the computer.

15. Watch less television.

16. Start buying foods higher in fiber. There are some great crackers now that have 2-5 grams of fiber per serving. Fiber is not only good for the bowels but soluble fiber also helps decrease cholesterol.

17. Choose and prepare more broth based soups. Cheesy/creamy soups are high in calories and fat.

18. Create a weekly menu to decrease the daily stress of trying to decide what to prepare.

19. Measure out snacks to the portion on the label.

20. Aim for fish in your diet three times per week.

21. Don’t add salt to food at the table.

22. Add beans to a lettuce salad.

23. Park further away from the store entrance or take the steps at work.

24. Wait twenty minutes before have second helpings. The desire for more may pass with time.

25. Skim fat off drippings before making gravy.

26. Choose low fat cheeses.

27. Consume eggs only three times per week.

28. Buy whole wheat breads and pasta, and brown rice.

29. Switch to skim or 1 percent milk.

30. If having a starchy vegetable like potatoes, add a non-starchy one like carrots or green beans on the side.

31. Create awareness in what you are eating by starting a food journal containing whatever information you want, such as calories, fat, sugar, sodium, exercise, weight, etc.

Denise Arnold is a registered and licensed dietitian at Albert Lea Medical Center — part of Mayo Health System.