Many of us start out the New Year with very ambitious ideas about how much we plan to improve our lives. Remember that New Year’s resolutions are destined to fail for so many reasons. Instead, simply make one change at a time. Make it an easy and positive change. So, instead of focusing on what foods you need to cut down on, focus on what you need to add to your diet.
An easy thing to do for healthier eating is to eat more fresh fiber. By this I mean anything that grows on a plant; mainly fruits and vegetables. How many servings of fruit and vegetables do you eat in a day? Some experts recommend having five servings. As a Wellness Doctor, I recommend ten per day. Do you know what the national average is, and, why we have a nutrition crisis in our society? The average person only consumes 2.5 servings. So, count your servings: a medium sized apple; half a cup of dense fruit or vegetable; or a full cup of light things like lettuce. If you currently consume only 2 – 3 servings, then you must gradually increase the amount of fiber you eat or you will notice cramping, gas, and who knows what else? You should also watch out for beans, nuts, and seeds as they have dense fiber. All these foods are good for you and the reason this easy change to your diet is so effective is that it means you are eating less of the ‘not so good’ foodstuff. Focus on making healthy choices and don’t worry about trying to have ten servings a day at first. Five is pretty good, seven is better.
This plan really starts at the grocery store. You may need to go more often, spend more time in the produce department, and be sure to keep track of the fresh foods you buy, as you want to eat them before they spoil. The more you work on this plan, the more likely you are to cut down on the things that you know you should. But, be sure to continue to eat some of the ‘treats’ you enjoy like dark chocolate or pizza, because too much avoidance leads to a melt down and binge eating.
A few suggested days:
- Orange juice, banana, apple, salad (with 2 servings) – 5 total servings
- A banana, orange, grapes, apple, tomato, lettuce, green beans, potato – 8 servings
- Avocado, mandarin, cucumber, spinach, blueberries, broccoli, sweet potato, walnuts, almonds – 9 servings.
- Smoothie (with berries and banana-2), salad (2), soup (2), pizza (lots of veggies on top-2), veggies and dip (2) – 10 servings
You can see it isn’t that hard to get up to ten servings in one day. Again, be careful to gradually increase the number of servings you have per day. Try adding one more serving a day, each week until you reach your goal. You may need to cut down on bread, pasta, and sweets to leave room for the good foods. You’ll be glad you did.