Five Note-worthy Nutrition Goals for the Year
Eat More Not Less
Get going this year by adding fruits and veggies to your diet! Put dried fruit in your chicken salad sandwich, frozen spinach in vegetarian lasagna, or double the diced peppers, mushroom and onions in your morning omelet. Every extra bit counts!
New Years Resolution: Aim for 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day.
Pack on the Protein
Our busy schedules mean we consume most of our protein in the latter half of the day. Studies show that people who balance their protein distribution throughout the day are more successful at maintaining a healthy weight.
New Years Resolution: Eat at least 15 grams of protein at breakfast.
Experiment with Grains
Choose from many varieties of quinoa, barley, buckwheat, oats, bran, corn, flaxseed, kamut, millet, rice, rye, sorghum, and spelt. Remember to search cookbooks and recipe websites for your grain of choice. Place the recipes you find in a folder and when you're ready, you can tackle a new grain each month!
New Years Resolution: Cook a new type of whole grain each month.
Improve Your Culinary Skills
If you rely on convenience foods and restaurants too much, you will not only over-consume calories, but you will also be spending far too much money on food! This year, look for ways you can improve your cooking skills to make healthy eating more fun!
Eat More Meatless Meals
Vegetarian meals can be higher in fiber, vitamins & minerals, and lower in calories, fat and saturated fat. Many nutrition experts agree that our health would benefit if we took an "old-fashioned" approach to eating, where meat acts as more of a side dish instead of the main event on our plates. Why not try it?
New Years Resolution: Go meatless one day per week.
-Sarah Haan, Registered Dietitian
