Good Health Good Future

Help along your New Year’s resolution

If, like half the population, you promised yourself that you’d improve your diet as part of your New Year’s resolutions, here are 10 things you may not have thought of that can help. We’re not saying you need to do all of them. After all, studies have shown that feelings of pleasure (like from eating a chocolate chip cookie) have a positive effect on your physical & emotional well-being, .
Drink More Water Color Equals Nutrition Keep a Food Journal Sauté with Garlic
1Drink More Water. If water were a food, it would be a superfood. It helps digestion, promotes clear skin, acts as an appetite suppressant, & even prevents heart disease, among plenty of other benefits. Some research has even shown that drinking water can speed up metabolism & help you lose weight. Although the whole drink-eight-glasses-a-day advice is now thought to be a myth, it doesn’t hurt, & it’s better than drinking energy drinks or flavored waters that may contain plenty of sweeteners. Stick to filtered tap, & cut it with naturally sweetened fruit juice in the event you get bored, or try low-calorie, unsweetened elixirs like this Green Herb Infusion. At work, keep a large pitcher of water at your table, so you don’t must keep getting up to refill your glass.
2Create a Salad Bar in Your Fridge. Buy some produce on a Sunday & spend a half hour washing, chopping, & storing it in containers in your fridge (Mason jars look chilled). Make salad dressing for the whole week. Then, before work, all you need to do is add greens & assemble for lunch. It’s OK to dress the salad in the morning in the event you refrigerate it when you get to work.
3Remember, Color Equals Nutrition. It’s a lovely rule of thumb that the more colorful the food, the more healthy it is. For example, squash, carrots, spinach, & kiwi are filled with vitamins, minerals, & antioxidants. White & beige foods like cheese, french fries, white rice, white flour, & white sugar ought to be eaten in moderation, because they’re either high in saturated or trans fats, or excessively processed & lacking in nutritional value. Similarly, when you eat vegetables, leave the skins on if they’re more colorful than the inside (for example, zucchini & cucumber), because that’s where plenty of the vitamins are.
4Keep a Food Journal. This serves as a powerful reality check for what you’re truly eating, not what you’d like to think you’re eating. In addition to detailing your diet, you can also write down what is going on in your life in case you fall off the healthy wagon. Outside stresses often cause us to seek comfort in food: “Divorce paperwork filed: Caramel latte & devil’s food cupcake, 4 p.m.” It’s simpler to change behaviors in the event you first know what causes them.
5Investigate Funky Grains. Put aside highly refined white pasta & white rice for some time in favor of nourishing brown rice, barley, kamut, spelt, millet, quinoa, farro, & buckwheat (which isn’t technically a grain, but don’t worry about that). You can cook & eat them the way you would rice or pasta, or top them with fresh fruit as an oatmeal substitute. Cook a large pot over the weekend, keep it in the fridge, & throw a handful in to your salad each day. Or try one of these CHOW recipes for Quinoa Salad or Farro Risotto with Asparagus & Fava Beans.
6Ask, “Would I Eat an Apple?” Sometimes it’s hard to tell when you’ve crossed the line from nourishing yourself to overeating. That’s because it takes up to 15 minutes for your brain to get signals from your digestive technique that you’re full. Eating slowly can help (some people recommend using chopsticks), because that gives your brain time to catch up. Also, if you’re uncertain, try asking yourself, “Would I eat an apple right now if one was offered to me?” If the answer is no, you’re eating to eat, not because you’re still hungry.
7When in Doubt, Sauté with Garlic. You always listen to about how you’re supposed to eat plenty of vegetables, seasonal if feasible. But often they sit around in your fridge & go bad because you don’t know what to do with them. In a pinch, chop them up & sauté them with olive oil, garlic, & salt. This works for everything from bok choy to kale to Jerusalem artichokes. If it’s something hard, like broccoli stalks or butternut squash, basically cut the vegetable up small.
8Eat Breakfast in Bed. Plenty of of us put meals at the bottom of our priority list, leaving us scarfing down a meal of frozen lasagne while multitasking on the computer, at best. In lieu, try treating one of your every day meals, or a few meals a week, as a ritual whose purpose is to nourish both your body & your spirit. Think ahead a small, & schedule your day so you have the time to prepare & enjoy the ingredients you bought ahead of time. Appreciate the aromas as you prepare the food, as well as the beauty of fresh ingredients versus a frost-covered block that comes out of plastic.
9Bag Half to Go. When eating out, bag half your meal to go before you even start. Most restaurant portions are large, so either ask the server to split your order & put half in a to-go box at the beginning, or request a box & do it yourself. Then you won’t be tempted to dig in to the second half while it’s sitting in front of you. & you’ll have leftovers for lunch the next day.
10If It Has a Label, Don’t Eat It. Spend less time reading the fine print for calories & grams of fat by eating stuff that has no label. Whole fruits, vegetables, & bulk grains don’t have labels. Foods that haven’t been chopped up, chemically altered, & screwed around with in factories have no labels. Even that healthy energy bar you’re purchasing that costs $3 & the label says is made of dates & nuts—how about purchasing some dates & nuts & saving yourself $2?

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