Get Healthy with Small Changes

Thanksgiving weekend was not kind to me.  I think it was the coconut cream pie that did me in. Or maybe it was the pan of Peanut Butter Fingers that I made because my son begged.  I have the best recipe for Peanut Butter Fingers that I’ve ever seen out there. Courtesy of an ex-lunch lady.  I’ll do you a favor and not share it.  (Unless you want me to, but you’ll be sorry.)  That was probably the reason I gained 2 ½ pounds that week. 

One thing I’ve learned about sugar is that I can be doing so great, not craving sweets at all, then go overboard one day and bam! I want more and more.  Before I know it I’ve eaten half a pan of something. And it takes me a few days to get back to craving healthy foods again.  But I think I’m there. 

I’ve talked about small changes that make a big difference.  Since you need to do more than talk about changes, let's decide to actually do something!  Set a goal to make a change in the way you eat.  And then DO IT!

Here are some things I'm doing to get back on track.

  Small changes that make a big difference:

*  Soup Day.  Make soup once a week and make sure it’s one with lots of veggies.  I like soup because I can make enough for leftovers.  Plan your soup day for the day after a roast or chicken.  Just sauté some onions and chopped veggies, add broth, maybe some pasta and the leftover meat.  A little bit of meat goes a long way and makes a good soup. On soup days all I do is thaw some frozen rolls in the afternoon.  I love easy!

*  Add a smoothie.  There are all kinds of smoothie recipes on line.  Start with something safe that you know you’ll like and then experiment.  Smoothies are the best way to sneak some spinach in.  My favorite Green Smoothie is on my Healthy Recipes page.

*  Try one new salad each week.  If you make this goal, plan ahead! You’re not going to do it if all you have is lettuce in the fridge.  You can add fruit, beans, chicken, salsa, peas, seeds, berries, etc. to your salad. Maybe not all at the same time.  Then you’ll need a few different dressings.  Try something new.  There’s only so much you can do with Ranch Dressing.   Need some ideas?  Trainer Momma is the queen of salads. I think last time I looked she had 28 salads on her recipe page. You need to go there.

So there are a few ideas.  Anything you’d like to add?  I’m always open to suggestions and ideas.  What works for you?

Start Small to see Big Changes

You might look at what I’m eating right now and think that it’s pretty weird stuff.

I admit my tastes have changed.  But you don’t have to eat quinoa or black bean burgers or go vegetarian to see some big changes in your weight and especially changes in how you feel.

(Speaking of quinoa: I made quinoa for the first time a couple weeks ago and loved it.  Recipe coming soon.)

You don’t have to totally overhaul your (or your family’s) way of eating right away.  Start small.

Are you eating at least 5 different fruits and vegetables every day? 

Here's how I gradually changed how we eat:

I still made the meals my kids  liked, but I tripled the amount of fruits and vegetables at each meal.  My kids still got their chicken pasta alfredo, but they got a lot more veggies to choose from.  My plate would have a small amount of pasta, but at least half of it was LOADED with veggies.  I’d chop up a bunch of cauliflower, carrots, brussel sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, whatever I could find and steam them. 

It’s a lot easier to eat a cup each of 3 different veggies than 3 cups of the same vegetable.  This is also a good plan for dinner because my picky eaters can always find at least one vegetable that they like in the mix and they’ll eat at least that one.  You could also add a bowl of cut fruit or just add half an apple to their plates.

Here's what I ate in a typical day when I thought I was eating healthy.  And then in Blue, a change I'd make now to make it healthier.

Breakfast-Before:  2 shredded wheat biscuits, toast, juice  CHANGE: replace 1 shredded wheat w/ a banana. Make sure your juice is 100% juice.

Lunch- Before:  BLT  and 1/3 cup broccoli  CHANGE: Replace BLT w/Meltshroom sandwich (see healthy recipes page) and eat 2 cups steamed mixed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.  Add a bunch of red grapes

Snack- Before: coke, 1 bag lite microwave popcorn and a few M&M’s.  CHANGE:  replace w/ some air popped popcorn and add a bowl of fresh berries topped w/ 1/3 cup vanilla yogurt and sprinkled w/ grapenuts. No coke!

Dinner- Before:  1 ½ cups Taco Casserole w/ sour cream ½ cup corn, milk  CHANGE:  only do ½ cup taco casserole skip the sour cream, add 1/2 cup Cowboy Caviar, 1 Green Smoothie (has 1 cup fruit, 1 cup packed spinach- see Healthy Recipes page for recipe.

I figure I added about 8 more servings of fruits and vegetables to my day but still made basically the same meals for my family. 

So, what do you think?  Is it realistic?  Would it work for your family?  I know if you try it, you'll feel better and see the scale start going down.

Beans are your friend

I was watching a web broadcast by Dr. Fuhrman yesterday. He's the one who wrote the book Eat to Live that really inspired me to change what I eat. I was thinking that the reason that more people don't eat like he does is because eating the nutritarian way is just too big of a change to make all at once like he suggests. The way he eats really makes sense, but eating is more than just what we put in our mouths. We have traditions that revolve around food. We eat certain things out of habit. We eat because it makes us feel good, etc. To change our diet completely would be like moving to another country and culture. In the web broadcast Dr. Fuhrman said that to be healthy, everyone should make sure the following 6 things were in their diet daily.
1/2 cup beans
3 fresh fruits
1 oz raw nuts and seeds
1 large salad
1 large serving steamed green vegetables
some mushrooms or onions every day
Even these 6 things would be a huge change for some people, so I was thinking what if you just chose one of these things to add to your diet for a week or 2 and then pick another to work on.
Just a thought. So my goal this week is to add more beans. Beans are good real food.  You just have to find some that you like. Today I chose garbanzo. I had leftover stir-fry in my fridge, so for lunch today I threw 1/2 cup of garbanzo beans in the stir-fry and heated it up. And it was yummy. I also bought that bean soup mix that I always see. You just add water and whatever else vegetable-ish that you want to throw in. Has anyone ever tried it?
Beans are fiber and nutrient packed and actually contain a wider variety of healthy nutrients than most foods. These include calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, magnesium, folate, and alpha-linolenic acid. They also have anti-cancer benefits against breast and prostate cancers.