Recharge Your Resolutions

Did you start the year out with big resolutions to improve your health? Have some of them started to slip? March is National Nutrition Month® and a perfect time to recharge your resolutions.

Be Realistic
Setting big health related goals can be motivating, but if the goals are too lofty it can backfire. Instead of setting yourself up for failure with goals that are too hard to reach, consider breaking them into steps. For example, if you need to eat more vegetables, becoming a vegan may be too big of a first step. Instead, start with the flexitarian approach of choosing some meat-free meals each week. Need ideas for realistic goals? Choosemyplate.gov has a section on starting with small changes and celebrating them as “MyPlate, MyWins.”

Consistency vs Perfection
When it comes to your health, what you do most of the time is more important than the occasional slip. If you have been working on eating less sugar and indulged in a big dessert over the weekend, let it go and get back on track. One off day doesn’t change all of the good you accomplished on the other days. When it comes to eating and other health behaviors, aim for consistency instead of
perfection.

Follow an Expert
Whether you need individualized strategies or motivation to stick to new habits, a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist (RDN) may be able to help you. You can find one near you by searching on eatright.org through the “Find an expert” link. This month, you’ll also find a lot of RDNs active on social media using #NationalNutritionMonth. You can also connect with RDNs affiliated with your café through balanceittakesyou.com, and @balanceity on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

RESOURCES:

Start with small changes. Available at: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/start-small-changes

Written by Jennifer M. Roberts, MS, RD.
March 2018

Comments

Local Produce

Summer is the perfect time to enjoy local produce because of the sheer variety of fruits and vegetables that are available. I’ve waited all winter for ripe berries, juicy tomatoes and sweet stone fruit. We get a few months of this bounty and when the season is over, we wait patiently for summer to come again so we can enjoy our favorites. Connecting and eating with the seasons can be rewarding but also a tough challenge as many of us now rely on grocery stores to provide year-round produce. FUN FACT Did you know that the average food item has traveled 1,500 miles to get to your plate? Seeking out local food, understanding how it was grown and learning more about the people who grew it can be an empowering experience. Not everyone has the opportunity to shake hands with the person that grew their food but for those that do, it carries more weight than a certification. Download lagu WAIT, THERE’S MORE Did you also know that how we eat can have as big an impact on climate change as transp...

Plant Forward

A New Way of Eating There’s a relatively new term buzzing around the food world that you may or may not have heard of, plant forward. What does that mean you ask? Plant forward focuses on more vegetable centric dishes with meat playing more of a supporting role. Think blended burgers, stir-fry’s or grain bowls where meat is almost like a condiment. Flavors are bold and it’s all about the dish’s deliciousness whether it happens to be vegan or vegetarian, or not. Diners aren’t interested in completely removing meat from their diets so embracing a diet that is mostly plants with some meat here and there provides a comfortable middle ground. The Challenge with Red Meat Conventional animal agriculture is resource intense and less than stellar for the environment. Ruminant animals release methane gas into the atmosphere which is about twenty five times more intense than carbon dioxide. Let’s face it, our country’s enormous appetite for beef is not so great for our health and the heal...

Focus on Whole, Minimally Processed Foods

With assistance from Northeastern graduate student Crystal (Sopher) Richardson What’s the WHOLE story on Processed Foods? Nutritionists and dietitians are often asked why processed foods are bad. It’s not an easy question to answer. Many refer to the fact that the “Diseases of Civilization” – heart disease, hypertension, tooth decay, diabetes and some cancers did not exist before the increased popularity of processed foods. Whole and minimally processed foods are prepared without copious amounts of added fat, salt or sugar, therefore maximizing the consumption of cancer-fighting nutrients and phytochemicals, that protect your body’s cells from damage. A 2017 study of 249 adolescents showed that the consumption of minimally processed foods was inversely associated with excess weight. 1 Another study in 2016, published by Anthony Fardet showed a link between minimally processed foods and satiety versus ultra-processed foods. 2 While most people know that eating a whole a...

Choosing Healthy Foods

Search This Blog