By the time March rolls around, most people who have made New Year’s resolutions have given up hope and returned to their old ways. This is why DIETS DO NOT WORK! Cutting out all carbs or only eating 1200 calories a day will backfire and ultimately make you overeat the carbs you wanted to restrict or end up binge eating 3000 calories a day. I suggest shrinking your focus and incorporating small changes to your lifestyle.
Change can be simple if you focus on these 3 small things.
- Have something green before lunch. Add spinach or kale to your smoothie, mushrooms and tomatoes to your eggs or cucumber and carrots with hummus to your morning snack. It may seem strange to begin your day with foods that are meant for dinner, but most people have a hard time reaching the recommended 5 – 9 serving of fruits and veggies a day. Remember that it is recommended to fill half your plate with colorful fruit and veggies at every meal. Fruit and veggies are low in calories, high in vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber. Go GREEN!
- Make all your fat healthy fat. Eliminate the saturated and animal fats. Say goodbye to the side order of bacon (unless it’s turkey bacon) and hello to avocado. Even cream cheese can be replaced with avocado on toast or a bagel. Replace sour cream with plain nonfat yogurt in dips, dressings or even on a baked potato. Who needs butter when you can use olive or canola oil? Don’t forget that trans fats are just as bad as saturated fat. Most trans fat is formed through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, which causes the oil to become solid at room temperature. This partially hydrogenated oil is less likely to spoil, so foods made with it have a longer shelf life. Red flag foods include:
Baked goods – cakes, cookies, pie crusts or crackers
Fried food – French fries, doughnuts or fried chicken to name a few
Refrigerator dough – cookie dough, canned biscuits, frozen pizza crusts or cinnamon rolls
Creamer and margarine – Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines
Your fat should come from a plant source – not an animal or manufacturing plant.
- Be active every day. Even if you don’t have time to go to the gym, try to take more steps. Studies suggest that people who increased their walking to 10,000 steps daily experience health benefits. So what’s the time commitment and distance to get to 10,000 steps a day. 10,000 steps daily is approximately 5 miles. Unless you have a very active lifestyle or profession, you probably don’t even come close to reaching 10,000 steps without some serious effort. The average U.S. adult walks about 5,900 steps daily. To make up the shortfall, try adding a stroll during your lunch break. Instead of standing on the sideline, watching your child at their sport’s practice, try walking around the field. Walk the dog or take an evening stroll to get some additional steps. An active family is a healthy family.
