If being healthy were truly as simple as eating an apple a day to keep the doctor away, then getting more nutritionally savvy in the new year would be a straightforward, one-size-fits-all task. 

But in reality, the definition of ‘nutritious eating’ may be at least somewhat different from person to person, according to some locals who work in the field of nutrition. 

Luckily, there is some general guidance that those walking the path toward better health can follow.

“It’s about the little choices that people make every day; that’s what counts,” said Beth Daniels of ‘I Choose This Me’ — a Brodhead-based nutrition response testing practice that helps clients find healthy living techniques tailored to their unique circumstances. 

Daniels got training to conduct nutrition response testing after she found that the practice — which involves applying light pressure to different areas of the body to help draw conclusions on what patients can do to feel better — led her to be able to alleviate some allergy-type symptoms she was facing while employed as a nurse. 

“The best thing you can possibly do is get a friend (to get healthier) with you, because then you have accountability,” Daniels said. “...Going it alone is like being in a desert with nobody around you — it’s so easy to turn back,” especially when it starts to feel challenging.

“A lot of it’s willpower” that helps a person get motivated to improve their eating habits and to stay motivated to continue with the healthful path, said Chris Isely, owner of Fitness Nutrition Center — a business with a location in Monroe that sells various health foods, supplements, sports nutrition items, ready-to-drink protein smoothies and more. 

“If you’re lacking something (nutrition-wise), you’ll feel it,” and your body will often nudge you to correct the issue, Isely said. 

The nutritional requirements to get back to good health and to stay in balance may vary from person to person, though.

“Everybody’s body is different,” Daniels said. “What works for you might not work for somebody else, because our bodies are different. We’re not cookie cutters, we’re individuals.”  

“Not everything’s for everybody,” added Isely, whose shops carry products for individuals who follow various lifestyles. They have keto options and plant-based protein for vegans, for instance. The Monroe location also has add-ins available for the protein smoothies its kitchen makes that range from vitamins to probiotics to MCT oil. 

“It’s hard to recommend one way of doing something” nutritional lifestyle-wise, Daniels said. 

“Maybe your body loves keto,” so that’s a good option — at least for a time, Daniels said. Certain bodies may crave grains, so incorporating more whole grains into eating patterns could benefit them. Some might fare better swapping one type of protein in the diet — such as red meat — with an alternate source. 

Daniels and Isely recommend that people seeking better health in the new year figure out what their individual bodies need as one of the first steps toward more nutritional living.

Fortunately, there are a lot of nutrition product options to pick from on the market, said Isely. The field is “constantly evolving” and expanding as new research comes out. 

Even as more options arise, there are some generally consistent pieces of advice for better nutritional health, according to Daniels, who has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a master’s degree in counseling. 

Staying hydrated and avoiding added sugars is key, Daniels said, since “sugar increases inflammation, (and) inflammation can cause all kinds of problems” — from worsening joint pain to contributing to blood pressure and cholesterol problems. 

“These things … sound so simple, but in actuality, they’re hard, because it’s training your body to do something” like drinking an extra glass of water or saying ‘no’ to a second cookie, Daniels said. “Those things, small as they are, can make such a huge difference in the way a person feels.”

Consuming something like a no-sugar-added protein smoothie — potentially from the drive-thru at the Fitness Nutrition Center in Monroe — instead of stopping by a fast food restaurant for an ice cream or a milkshake is an example of a small way people can change their daily routines to get better nutrition, Isely said. 

Daniels also recommends eating locally-produced food and purchasing organic items when possible. 

Eating wheat is one thing that Daniels recommends that her patients avoid. However, she added that “just being gluten free is not necessarily being healthy.” 

It’s important to carefully read food labels and to make decisions on what to buy based on all of the ingredients in a product — rather than putting anything that says ‘gluten free’ or ‘sugar free’ in the grocery cart, Daniels said.

Eating enough produce is also important, and introducing new kinds into a person’s diet is a worthwhile endeavor, she said, since “the body loves variety.” 

People may often be prone to eating the same things over and over again because “routine is easy,” Daniels said, but breaking away from that tendency can be beneficial for one’s health. 

Trying healthier brands of snack foods and lightening up classic recipes are some other simple steps that can feed into better nutrition, Daniels said, noting that it’s important to make small swaps and changes gradually to avoid feeling overwhelmed with the process.

Small strides add up over time, she noted, and weaning off of old habits bit-by-bit can make it easier to make improvements that are long-lasting. 

And if there are days during the new year when the new healthful eating habits go by the wayside, “don’t be hard on yourself,” Daniels added. Every day is a new day, so even if today’s diet wasn’t completely nutritional, that doesn’t mean that tomorrow’s can’t be better.