Let's bring in the new year with hope and optimism. Although, are your reflections overcast with feelings of guilt after overindulging during the holiday season? Use that guilt to plan a healthier life with good food and a better balance. It doesn't mean you have to say no to everything but, for example, choose natural gourmet popcorn over caramel popcorn.
Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions
New Year's resolutions are a great way to help you reflect on your goals for this year and to give you something to work towards. Although, they can also force you into perfectionism thinking such that if you don't quite reach your goals, you tell yourself you're a failure.
The key to developing new habits, which is, after all, what New Year's resolutions are all about, is to take baby steps. So, don't cut everything out of your life that you enjoy but find a way to get the right balance.
For example, if you want to focus on healthy eating, it's tough to go from eating cakes and sweets one day to nothing to indulge in the next. That's why we have gourmet popcorn.
Those little balls of popped corn are full of good fiber and are low in calories. Moreover, they have lots of good nutrients such as vitamin B, zinc, potassium, iron and more. Most interestingly, popcorn also has antioxidants in the shape of polyphenols which helps your digestive system and might even reduce the chances of cancer.
Of course, we need a bit more to help us than just popcorn when we're planning New Year's resolutions.
Follow these tips to give you a better head start with setting your resolutions:
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Visualize your future self:
A great way to motivate yourself is to actually imagine yourself having achieved your goal. This isn't about faking it until you make it. It's about being realistic about what you need to get there whilst believing in yourself.
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Compare yourself to yesterday:
Many of us set high goals and keep pitching ourselves against superhuman prowess. A more motivating method is to measure your progress against your past self.
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Plan manageable goals:
A bowl of lightly salted gourmet popcorn is always a great aid when sitting down to write our goals. Then, remember to give yourself flexibility when achieving those goals whilst making them realistic and time-bound.
Top Healthy Gourmet Popcorn Snacks
Everything in life is about balance. Even a healthy snack like popcorn can become unhealthy. Consider the difference between plain popcorn and caramel popcorn. Ultimately, caramel is pure sugar.
Although, sometimes caramel is made with milk that contains healthy nutrients. And who said we can't indulge a little bit every now and again?
If caramel popcorn is your kryptonite, try to balance it out with any of the other options from this list of healthy gourmet popcorn:
1- Salty air-popped
As mentioned, one of the healthiest options after plain-flavored is lightly salted. Try not to put too much salt but just enough to enhance the popcorn's natural flavors.
This is a great option if you're trying to cut down on sugar although, remember that your mind will reject this at first. It will be screaming at you that you need to go for caramel popcorn. That's just the sugar craving talking.
Instead, reflect on what life will be like when you're eating less sugar. Then, try to be mindful of the popcorn. Surprise your mind with the new experience and really focus on the crunchiness, the fluffiness and even the bumpiness of the texture.
2- Peppered gourmet pink popcorn
Taste isn't just about the mouth, it's also about the eyes. They influence our perception of what we're eating and with the right colors, you can add some zing into your snack.
Smell is also a key part of taste and just like paprika, thyme, curry and oregano, all of which can be added to popcorn, pepper is a great enhancer for flavors. Moreover, it contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatories that can improve your overall digestion and blood sugar levels.
A great combination is to pepper our pink gourmet popcorn. Moreover, it's great for parties as it looks fun and lively on any table.
3- Avocado gourmet kettle corn
If you haven't discovered avocado with popcorn, make it one of your resolutions for this year now. You won't regret your caramel popcorn as you tuck into this healthy snack.
Avocados are packed with nutrients and antioxidants and they can also keep hunger away. Simply mix your kettle corn with olive oil if you want to start with a foundation. Then, add your avocado slices with a very light touch of lemon or lime juice, depending on your preference.
4- Sour cream & onion
Yes, there is a healthy way to eat sour cream. It's less concentrated when it's used as flavoring for popcorn which overall, has less fat content than sour cream and onion crisps.
With our 1 or 2 gallon tins, you can also choose two other flavors to go with it. So, you can combine plain or lightly salted with peppered gourmet pink popcorn, as an example.
The flavors go well together and your one indulgence is nicely balanced with two healthier options. If you feel you need more indulgence, why not add caramel popcorn in there also? We can divide up the tins into thirds or quarters depending on what you need.
5- “Rosemary-ed” cheddar cheese
When choosing healthy options, it's all about the spices and herbs. That's how you give taste a boost so that your mind and taste buds stay excited and content.
Cheddar cheese contains some fantastic nutrients including calcium, potassium, vitamin B12 and more. Naturally, it's best to not eat cheese to excess. Nevertheless, mix things up by adding rosemary to your cheesy popcorn or even truffle oil if you're feeling luxurious.
6- An olive oil rainbow
Olive oil is another one with antioxidants and anti-inflammatories to give your body a healthy boost. Again, enjoy the natural scrumptiousness of popcorn with just enough olive oil to supplement its natural goodness.
Our rainbow popcorn gives your eyes something to feast on as you enjoy multicolored balls of fluffy corn. It's all about being playful which is also well-known for improving your overall well-being.
7- Walnut oiled blue popcorn
For those who like blue, choose our blue popcorn and play around with different toppings. Anything to do with nuts is a great way to stay healthy whilst enjoying your snacks.
Overall, nuts help you regulate your food intake because they release energy slowly. Moreover, they lower your cholesterol levels. Pair this with popcorn’s heart benefits and you’ll be off to a great start for this year.
8- Coconut sugar or caramel popcorn?
Everyone loves caramel popcorn and yet, most of us feel guilty when we eat too much sugar. Life should be enjoyed but not to the detriment of your health.
If you're trying to stay away from sugar but still crave it, have you tried coconut sugar? It gives you the sweet taste you're looking for but you get some healthy nutrients along with it as a bonus.
Coconuts are renowned for improving just about everything in your body from digestion to improving your heart and skin. Best of all, it really goes with everything so go ahead and enjoy it with your gourmet popcorn.
You might still want the odd helping of caramel popcorn but at least you can balance things out now.
9- Original cinnamon popcorn
Cinnamon is a wonderful spice that comes from the bark of some trees within the Cinnamomum family. This is where you have to thank globalization because it's originally native to various countries in Asia.
Again, cinnamon gives you antioxidants although, you might want to add the tiniest bit of butter to make sure it sticks evenly across your popcorn.
10- Chilli cheddar jalapeño
If you're more at the spicy end of the scale, you'll love our cheddar jalapeño popcorn. You can then add some chili powder if you want an extra kick.
Chilli is great to eat but in a balanced way. Overall, it can lower your risk of cancer but if you eat too much, it can also create digestive problems. A sprinkle on your popcorn is nothing to worry about though.
Simply enjoy the burn that comes with it. Interestingly, it's that minor pain that triggers endorphins in your mind which, as any runner will tell, are inherently addictive.
How Will You Stick to your New Year's Resolution?
The best New Year's resolutions are the ones that give you a balanced approach to life. Don't be overly hard on yourself such that you despair when you can't reach your goals.
Setting and meeting our life goals starts with the small things in life. What you eat and drink has a huge impact on your mood and mindset. The less junk food you eat and the more healthy options you go for, the better you'll feel both in your mind and body.
Moreover, as you discover new sensations from these snacks, your mind will naturally start enjoying your healthier gourmet popcorn. You might still want the odd caramel popcorn but now, you won't crave it so much. With time, healthy eating will become as natural as breathing.