As you’re looking to the new year, like most people you’re probably thinking about some resolutions, and that will almost certainly involve diet and fitness. It’s only natural, and you should take advantage of this impulse. Yet try to make this something permanent. Don’t jump on a fad diet. Instead, if you’re going to try a diet, try one that can transform your lifestyle without a radical, unsustainable approach.

With rankings of the best diets of 2012, the Dash Diet got the nod for the best overall diet for 2012 according to U.S. News and World Report. There’s a reason for this. Basically, this isn’t a fad diet. It’s a diet built around lowering blood pressure, but the essence of the diet is overall health. It’s really about a common sense approach to eating, and if you can work towards this type of diet, you can accomplish many things from lowering blood pressure to improving your overall health.

The diet starts around the premise of lowering sodium intake. This is harder than you might think. You would be shocked to find how many foods in America are loaded with sodium. Start reading labels. Basically, most processed foods at the supermarket are loaded with sodium. Things like soup and lunch meat are also big problem areas.

The other premise is a significant increase in the fruits and vegetables you will be eating every day. This dovetails with the point above about processed food. Look, we’ve become lazy in this country. Most of the food we eat is fast, whether it’s from a drive-through or a processed meal from the grocery store. Go back to the basics – REAL FOOD.

Do your research and you’ll see if this diet is for you. Of course there are many other things to consider along with your basic diet. Workouts are critical, and you might find yourself shopping for a drugstore in Canada to get the supplements and vitamins you want to use as part of your fitness and health strategy.

The key is to get motivated but avoid the quick fix. Build up and get healthy for the long term. You’ll build good habits that are hard to break!