10
Simple New Year’s Resolutions to Stay Healthy in 2018
It has already been more than two months since our
golden new year started off. How has everything been going with you and your
new year resolutions, if there’s been any? Are you still keeping your promises
to yourselves with no excuses or obstacles? Alright, it doesn’t matter if you
have already fallen off the wagon. Every single day is a new day for you to
start it all over again. This week, let’s think about going back to basics in
order to stay healthy!
Here are 10 tips to turn ourselves into healthier
versions throughout the year of 2018 and many, many, many more years to come!
What
to Do in Your Kitchen
1.
Cover Half Your Plate with Vegetables or Fruit
Vegetables have always been viewed as your side
choices? They should occupy more plate real estate than your protein or pasta,
rice, or potatoes. The OmniHeart diets—one of the healthiest diets you can
eat—have 11 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. A serving is one piece of
fruit, a half cup of cooked vegetables, or one cup of raw vegetable (like
lettuce), so it’s not that much. Your main-dish salad could easily be four
servings.
2.
Add Veggies to Boost Potassium and Lower Salt
Mix a bagged salad kit with a bag of undressed lettuce.
Add a pound of steamed broccoli or other veggie to your favorite Chinese or
Thai take-out. Add a bed of baby spinach or kale to frozen meals. That way,
each mouthful ends up with more potassium and less salt. Or cut sodium in a
prepared seasoned grain by mixing it with unseasoned bulgur, quick-cooking
brown rice, or farro.
3.
Replace Your Meat (or Starchy Side Dish) with Beans
They’re packed with fiber, protein, potassium,
magnesium, folate, and iron. That helps explain why beans (and lentils) are so
good for you. Beans lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, probably because they’re
rich in the gummy, soluble type of fiber. Eating beans regularly also helps
lower blood pressure, possibly because they’re a decent source of potassium.
Bonus: they’re delicious. Start with one of these recipes from Kate Sherwood,
The Healthy Cook.
4.
Use Nuts Instead of Croutons
Nuts and seeds offer a little plant protein and plenty
of heart-healthy polyunsaturated fat. For instance, Brazil nuts are the
excellent source of Selenium and Vt B1, and pumpkin seeds are filled with Protein,
Iron, Zinc, and rich in Copper! So sprinkle them on salads instead of croutons
(which are typically salty white-flour bread). Or add them to yogurt, cereal,
fruit, and vegetable dishes.
5.
Eat Plain Yogurt or Mix Plain with Sweetened Yogurt
Unsweetened yogurt provides the most nutrient bang for
your calorie buck. For extra protein, try creamy low-fat plain greek yogurt. If
plain is too tart for you, mix plain and sweetened. Or add peaches, bananas,
berries, or other fruit. Actually, I have personally cut down on my intake of dairy
products (milk, yogurt, cheese, butter, and ice cream, etc) because they might
have a negative impact on balancing hormones at midaged people (especially
women who are prone to have cervical or endometrial polyps).
6.
Cook with Canola or Olive Oil
Replacing saturated fats (in meat and dairy) with
unsaturated fats lowers LDL. Most people get plenty of polyunsaturated-rich
soybean oil in restaurants and prepared foods, including mayonnaise and salad
dressing. So you’ll probably end up with a good mix of unsaturated fats if you
use canola oil or olive oil (when you want its flavor) for cooking. I also love
to use Grapeseed oil or coconut oil to cook something at high temperature.
7.
Snack on Fruits or Vegetables
What better way to tide you over to your next meal than
a low-calorie, light-yet-filling orange, half cantaloupe, peach, plum, banana,
or bowl of cherries, berries, or grapes? Try baby carrots, grape tomatoes, or
slices of bell pepper, cucumber, or jicama with a few tablespoons of hummusor
yogurt tzatziki. Yum.
When
you eat out,…..
8.
Start with a side salad for your appetizer…or just wait for your entrée.
At many restaurants, appetizers mean cheese plus white
flour or other fried fare. Quesadillas, spinach and cheese dip, nachos, Buffalo
wings, and most other apps hover around 1,000 calories. Who needs ‘em?
9.
Order Smart
Check out our tips for what to put on your bagel or
smoothie or pizza, what to stuff in your sub or burrito or bowl of Chinese
food, what to order for breakfast or lunch, and how to eat well almost
anywhere. You won’t just cut calories. You’ll also boost the nutrients in your
meal. Plus, avoid ordering sweetened soda or artificial fruit-flavored juice. Just a full glass of pure water will do.
10.
Take Home Half Your Meal
When researchers analyzed main dishes at independent
and small-chain restaurants in Boston, the average entrée (with sides) had
roughly 1,300 calories. That’s with no drink, appetizer, or dessert. And they
looked at more than half a dozen cuisines, including Greek, Indian, Vietnamese,
Mexican, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian.
Comments
Post a Comment