As the calendar flips to a new year, many families worldwide pause to reflect on the past and eagerly anticipate fresh beginnings. This period often brings a natural inclination to set New Year’s resolutions, especially concerning health and wellness. However, transforming aspirations into sustainable, healthy habits can be challenging, particularly when juggling the complexities of family life. To inspire and guide you, the Healthy Family Project has gathered invaluable insights from a diverse group of experts, all past guests of our podcast. This special compilation features their personal healthy New Year’s resolutions and practical, actionable tips designed specifically for families aiming to embrace a healthier lifestyle in the coming year and beyond. Join us as we explore expert strategies for making healthy living a joyful and achievable family endeavor.
Our esteemed past guests, whose wisdom we’ve cherished throughout the year, generously share their perspectives and proven methods. Their collective expertise covers a broad spectrum of health and wellness topics, from managing screen time to adopting plant-based eating, navigating grocery stores wisely, and fostering positive family dynamics. Prepare to be inspired by:
- Dr. Stephanie Smith, a renowned Psychologist, who previously offered profound insights in Episode 3: Managing Screen Time and Episode 8: Anxiety Around Back to School.
- Corey Warren, the driving force behind Lean Green DAD, who shared his journey and tips in Episode 4: Easing into a Plant-Based Life.
- Anne L’Heureux, a dedicated Registered Dietitian at Hannaford, whose expert shopping tips were featured in Episode 10: Shopping Tips from a Grocery Store Dietitian.
- Kiran Dodeja Smith of Real Easy Food, who empowered parents with advice in Episode 14: Why You Should Grocery Shop with Kids.
- Brenda Thompson of Meal Planning Magic, a true guru in efficient family eating, heard in Episode 1: Meal Planning for Beginners and Episode 7: Lunchbox Meal Prep.
- George Szczepanski from Prodcast Across the Produce Aisle, who enlightened us in Episode 15: Fruit & Veggie Trends and Shopping Hacks.
- Amy Roskelley of Super Healthy Kids, a source of brilliant ideas in Episode 11: Meal Planning Made Easy.
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For those eager to dive directly into specific discussions, we’ve provided time stamps below. However, for the complete experience and a holistic understanding of our experts’ advice, we wholeheartedly recommend listening to the entire episode!
- 1:29 Amanda Keefer
- 4:06 Dr. Stephanie Smith
- 5:51 Cory Warren
- 9:25 Anne L’Heureux
- 12:04 Kiran Dodeja Smith
- 14:12 Brenda Thompson
- 17:51 George Szczepanski
- 20:33 Amy Roskelley
Essential Resources: New Year’s Resolutions & Healthy Family Living
To further support your family’s journey toward a healthier new year, we’ve compiled a list of highly relevant articles and guides from the Healthy Family Project. These resources offer practical advice, delicious recipes, and actionable tips to help you kickstart and maintain your healthy living goals.
- 20 Healthy Snacks for Your New Year’s Eve Party
- 8 Products for a Healthy New Year
- 10 Easy Tips for a Healthy New Year
- Defining Diets: What Your Family Needs to Know About Popular Diets
- 14 Healthy Smoothies to Kick off the New Year
- Healthy Family New Year’s Resolutions
The Healthy Family Project Podcast: Your Guide to Healthier Living
Welcome to the Healthy Family Project Podcast, where we engage in lively and informative conversations covering the most relevant topics in the world of health, food, and family. Our mission is to infuse a dose of fun into your journey as we help families effortlessly transition into a fresh and healthy lifestyle. We believe that healthy living should be enjoyable, accessible, and integrated seamlessly into your daily routine.
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Episode 17: New Year’s Resolutions for Families – Full Transcript
This transcript has been produced by Otter.Ai. Please excuse any minor misspellings or grammatical inaccuracies.
00:13
Welcome to the Healthy Family Project, brought to you by Produce for Kids, where we delve into the hottest topics surrounding health, food, and family with a sprinkle of fun. As we rapidly approach a new year, it’s a perfect time to reflect and set intentions for healthier living. In this special episode, we’ve reached out to some of our incredible past guests to uncover their healthy New Year’s resolutions and gather their best advice for your family. We know everyone is incredibly busy at this time of year, so we’ve made it easy for you to get a concentrated dose of inspiration and practical tips. The New Year always feels like a fantastic opportunity for a fresh start – a chance to re-evaluate, set new goals, or refine existing habits. I truly believe any moment is a good moment for a fresh start, and the turning of the year provides that perfect natural bookmark.
Before we dive into the wisdom from our guests, I wanted to share my own resolutions and the strategies I plan to use to keep them. I’ve learned that for resolutions to truly stick, they need to be simple, realistic, and attainable, much like a well-crafted business plan. It’s also incredibly helpful to track your progress. My personal plan involves a monthly check-in – just 10 minutes to reflect on how things are going and make any necessary adjustments.
On a personal level, I’m committing to minimalizing my world. Whether it’s tackling the overflowing junk drawer in my kitchen, which seems to hoard countless pens, or decluttering my closet filled with dresses I rarely wear, my goal is to gradually reduce the excess. I want to cut through the ‘noise’ of material possessions to truly appreciate what I have and get rid of what no longer serves me.
As a parent, my resolution focuses on navigating the often-turbulent waters of family life. With a middle schooler (enough said!) and a fiercely independent eight-year-old, I’ve found myself in what feels like a constant state of “combat” lately, which is tough for my non-confrontational nature. My “yelling meter” has reached an all-time high, and while I’d love to simply resolve to yell less, I realize that wouldn’t address the underlying issues. So, my resolution is to actively seek and implement better strategies to deal with and work through the inevitable bumps and humps of parenting, aiming for genuine success and more peaceful interactions. I don’t have all the answers yet, but I am on a quest to tailor my current parenting style. If you have any ideas, book recommendations, or tips, especially for navigating those challenging middle school years, please tweet or email me – I welcome all the help I can get!
Now, let’s hear from our incredible guests and gather some fantastic ideas for making healthy changes.
First up, we have Dr. Stephanie Smith, our trusted psychologist at Produce for Kids. Dr. Smith is a frequent contributor to our blog, offering expert advice in our “Ask the Psychologist” series. She previously joined us on Episode 8, where she discussed managing back-to-school anxiety, and on Episode 3, providing invaluable guidance on managing screen time. Both are highly recommended listens if you’re looking for practical, psychological insights for your family.
Dr. Smith’s personal resolution for the New Year is to walk more, with a specific goal of achieving five miles per day. While this might seem ambitious if you’re starting from scratch, the core idea of incorporating more walking into your daily routine is incredibly powerful. Walking is a low-impact exercise that offers numerous physical and mental health benefits, and it’s something nearly everyone can do. You don’t need to run a marathon; simply getting outside for a stroll, perhaps while listening to a podcast, can make a significant difference. Dr. Smith suggests checking back with resolutions around March or April to assess progress. She’s even offered to do a follow-up episode on the Healthy Family Project around that time, focusing on strategies to get back on track if you’ve veered off course and ensuring your goals remain achievable. We are thrilled to take her up on that offer and look forward to that discussion!
05:06
Next, we hear from Cory Warren of Lean Green Dad. Cory joined us on Episode 4 to discuss easing into a plant-based diet, and he is the founder of LeanGreenDad.com, also hosting his own podcast, “Lean Green Dad.” Cory’s resolution for the upcoming year is both innovative and impactful: he aims to teach his children how to be entrepreneurs. His plan involves helping them launch a mini-business and educating them about money management. He’s particularly excited about this venture with his oldest, his smart 10-year-old daughter. This is an amazing initiative, providing kids with crucial life skills that are often overlooked in traditional education. Understanding financial management and entrepreneurial principles at a young age can be truly transformative.
Cory emphasizes that this isn’t a short-term resolution but rather a “life resolution” he intends to weave into his everyday parenting, making it a regular practice. We’re excited to check in with Cory to see what mini-businesses his children develop!
For an easy resolution that families can adopt, Cory suggests increasing water intake. His tip is to make it a family challenge: regularly check in with each other – “How many cups of water have you had today?” He also encourages family walks and making the best healthy choices possible for breakfast and lunch, focusing on lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. For dinner, however, Cory advises giving yourself a break. He believes that by prioritizing healthy habits earlier in the day, your dinners will naturally become healthier by default, reducing the pressure to make every meal perfect. His overarching advice for keeping resolutions is to stay flexible; if you fall off the wagon, it’s okay – just get back on. Looking ahead, Cory is excited about launching a new website in the new year and will continue to release new plant-based recipes weekly, all designed to be made in 15 minutes or less, available at LeanGreenDad.com.
Next on our resolution journey is Anne L’Heureux, a Registered Dietitian at Hannaford stores. Anne provided invaluable “Shopping Tips from a Grocery Store Dietitian” in Episode 10 of our podcast. We asked Anne about her New Year’s resolution for the upcoming year, and her answer resonated deeply: she aims to return to her passions. In the past, Anne would set ambitious goals, sign up for races, and push herself to excel. While she enjoyed that approach, this year, she wants to reconnect with the core “why” behind her pursuits. She wants to remind herself to “love the process as much as I do the event.” For Anne, the enjoyment lies in the day-to-day training, the journey itself, and how strong and healthy she feels, rather than solely focusing on race day outcomes.
To stay true to her goal, Anne plans to be more mindful in her practice, living in the moment. Specifically, she intends to keep a gratitude journal, utilize a meditation app, and attend yoga sessions, allowing herself the necessary timeouts to remain aligned with her overarching objective. This approach is something many of us can relate to – taking a moment to appreciate the journey, not just the destination.
For an easy, healthy family resolution, Anne recommends choosing one that the entire family values and can have fun doing. For instance, if the goal is to drink more water, make it an engaging activity. Start by letting everyone pick out a brand-new, unique water bottle. Then, each month, challenge family members to choose a new fruit to infuse their water, or create a list of high-water-content fruits and veggies (like watermelon or cucumbers) and make it a goal to incorporate one throughout the week. The key is to find something appealing that can evolve into a learning opportunity throughout the year, turning a simple resolution into a fun, ongoing family campaign. In 2019, Anne is deeply involved with the Spartan Race and Spartan Kids Nutrition programs, so keep an eye out for how you might get involved in your community.
10:05
Next, we have Kiran Dodeja Smith from RealEasyFood.com. Kiran joined us on Episode 14, sharing fantastic advice on “Why Grocery Shopping with Your Kids Doesn’t Have to Be Stressful”—a truly awesome episode worth revisiting. Kiran doesn’t subscribe to traditional New Year’s resolutions, believing instead in integrating healthy habits into her lifestyle. However, she fully embraces the New Year as a perfect time to refocus, which aligns with my own thinking. Her personal goals include refocusing, refining, and minimizing to be more effective in areas she deems important. This sounds like a wonderfully refined version of my own resolution!
For a family resolution, Kiran shares a practice already embedded in her household: every Sunday, they take a family walk together. She describes these walks as some of her favorite hours each week, providing a fantastic opportunity to catch up, have fun, and truly connect while also getting exercise. Often, they’ll have a destination in mind, which makes it more exciting for the kids. She’s even okay with a stop at Starbucks or giving each child $2 to spend at a store if they’ve walked a couple of miles, considering it a small price for the benefits of family connection and physical activity. Her suggestion for keeping this resolution is to communicate it clearly to your family, put it on the calendar, involve everyone in choosing destinations, and make it a shared commitment. Looking ahead, Kiran is finishing an e-book packed with creative ways to get kids cooking at home, so keep an eye out for that valuable resource!
On to Brenda Thompson of MealPlanningMagic.com. Brenda is a familiar voice, having shared her expertise on Episode 1, “Meal Planning for Beginners,” and Episode 7, “Lunchbox Meal Prep.” Both are essential listens for anyone looking to simplify their family’s meals. Brenda’s resolution is unique and highly effective: to learn three new skills each year. She started this last year and found it helped maintain her focus and commitment to specific goals, unlike generic resolutions like “eat more vegetables.”
Brenda intends to achieve her goals by being intentional and actively seeking help from others to learn. This is a brilliant strategy – recognizing the value of your community and leveraging their knowledge. For those of us who might be reluctant to ask for or accept help, this resolution offers a powerful lesson. For the upcoming year, her three skills include learning to make homemade pasta and ravioli using her grandmother’s recipe, mastering fondant for cake decorating, and delving into fun family video creation and editing. These are fantastic, diverse goals! She also shared that her 2018 goals included fancy sugar cookie baking and decorating (a skill many of us aspire to master!) and learning latte art without expensive machines, which she achieved through YouTube videos and local classes.
14:30
Brenda’s tip for an easy family resolution is to set a goal to eat meals together more often. She acknowledges that busy schedules, especially with teenagers, can make this challenging. However, dedicating time, even if it’s just once a week, is an invaluable way to connect. She suggests that it doesn’t always have to be dinner; it could be breakfast or lunch on a less hectic day. Recognizing that the chosen day might shift week to week is key to maintaining flexibility. Brenda stresses that as her kids grow older, even 30 minutes together for breakfast is incredibly precious. For 2019, Brenda is working on adding comprehensive nutritional information to all the recipes on her website, MealPlanningMagic.com, a fantastic resource for health-conscious families. She’s also launching a small Media Communications and consulting business, but first, she’s focusing on getting her daughter off to college. Stay tuned for more exciting developments from Brenda!
Next, we have George Szczepanski, host of “Prodcast Across the Produce Aisle.” George shared fascinating insights on “Fruit & Veggie Trends and Shopping Hacks” in Episode 15. For the new year, George’s personal resolution is to run more. He also aimed for this in 2018 but faced challenges, understandable given the arrival of a new baby! However, with a great running stroller now in hand, he feels confident he can make it happen. He knows running makes him feel good, both physically and mentally, and it’s something he genuinely loves. This year, with a clear path forward, he’s determined to get back on track. He humorously adds that he also wants to look good for his wife, which is a relatable motivator!
George shared a resolution he successfully kept in the past: trying a new fruit and a new vegetable each month. This is a straightforward and engaging way to expand your family’s palate. Simply head to your produce department, pick one unfamiliar fruit and vegetable, and explore them together as a family. The ease of this resolution can depend on your local market’s selection, but flexibility is key. He suggests trying new varieties of common produce, like different types of apples or tomatoes, or even a new salad mix or spiralized version of an old favorite. The real point, George emphasizes, is to make vegetables the star of your shopping and cooking, fostering excitement around finding, preparing, eating, and discussing the fresh produce on your plate. If you’re already adventurous, perhaps try a new veggie-focused recipe each month. To keep this resolution on track, George relies on recurring reminders in his notes app, Google Keep, or calendar, ensuring consistent engagement until the end of the year. This strategy of setting digital reminders can be incredibly effective for many!
Our final resolution comes from Amy Roskelley of SuperHealthyKids.com and the innovative Prepare app, which we explored in Episode 11 for its ability to simplify meal planning. Amy shared a wealth of amazing tips, and her goal for the upcoming year is to connect more deeply with people, specifically, “humans.” She acknowledges that with an online business, it’s easy to become an introvert, but she plans to actively engage with her community to work with more people on their health goals in person, and crucially, to forge genuine friendships. This focus on real-world connection is incredibly refreshing in our digitally-dominated age. Picking up the phone for a voice conversation or meeting face-to-face can truly revitalize our social lives.
Amy intends to keep this resolution by attending local events and immersing herself in community activities. She notes that her community is excellent at providing meetups and collaboration opportunities with people who share similar interests. By signing up for these events, she aims to meet local individuals, fostering connections and helping others with their health journeys.
For an easy, healthy family resolution, Amy believes the most effective approach is to talk about, write about, and discuss *why* we choose healthy living. Connecting to our “why” can lead to profound behavioral changes and help families stick to their goals. To maintain this resolution, she suggests reminding each other why healthy eating is important, keeping it top of mind, and even creating a family motto around it. She humorously suggests printing it on vinyl and displaying it on your wall, much like a vision board that constantly reinforces your objectives. For 2019, Amy is excited about her new website, HealthBeat.com, which will feature strategies, behaviors, tips, and interviews designed to inspire healthy changes in your life and for your loved ones and community. Be sure to check it out!
Well, what a truly inspiring roundup of tips and resolutions from our incredible guests! We’ve covered a wide range of simple, actionable strategies that families can easily integrate into their lives without excessive stress, helping you live your best and healthiest life. It’s also crucial to remember that it’s perfectly okay if you get off track – we’re all imperfect, and that’s alright. The key is flexibility and getting back on course when you stumble.
In closing, my final resolution for the year is to connect more deeply with all of you, our wonderful listeners. I see the downloads and subscriptions on the backend as I upload these episodes, so I know you’re out there! But I would absolutely love to hear from you directly. What topics are most important to you? What kind of content would truly help you and your family make healthy choices and live your best lives? You can always tweet me at @AmandaMKeefer (Kiefer is spelled K-E-F-E-R) or email us directly at [email protected]. Your input is invaluable, and we want to ensure we continue to provide content that truly resonates and helps you.
We have many exciting things planned for 2019 at Produce for Kids. Be sure to connect with us on all our social media outlets – you can find us as @ProduceforKids on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest. Wishing all of you a safe, happy, prosperous, and, of course, a very healthy 2019! Talk soon.