LW Monday: Eating

Blessings, Darlings!

Last week I posted on dealing with what's eating you - this week I'm posting on what you're eating. I meant to post on time management, but I didn't get around to writing that (ba dum dum!).

I'm a pretty typical American when it comes to eating, unfortunately. More meat than I need, more fat, more calories, more refined foods, more sugars/sweeteners. Which means I look like a pretty typical fat-assed American, too.

So it's time for me to make some dietary changes. Starting immediately.

Diet is one area where we get to make choices multiple times a day. And a 'change' can be as small as making sure to get a half cup serving of a veggie or as large as cutting out gluten or meat or nightshade products.

I tend towards the smaller changes myself, and those changes are the focus of this series. Coincidence? Not!

So, looking at some smaller easier changes we all can make, a sample list is:
Add one serving of fruit or vegetables to every meal
Have half of all grain serving whole grain instead of white grain.
Cut out deep fried foods.
Cut down on meat - some folks do meatless Mondays.
Replace one or more serving of red meat a week with a fatty fish - sushi over steak.
Cut out sodas.
Have a healthy snack an hour before lunch and/or dinner, so you aren't famished and can make better food choices at those meals.

Now, how to manifest these changes? Some ways include:
Planning meals can help.
A well stocked freezer can help - that's where my sushi fish comes from.
Pick up a bag each of apples, oranges, and bananas every week.
I find that buying pre-mixed salad greens helps me eat more salads.
I cut a container full of celery sticks once a week for my husband. He still used bleu cheese dressing on them, but it replaces his afternoon chips/salami/cheese salty snacks.

Clearly, I've just scratched the surface on options for healthier eating. And they ARE small changes. But, for example, the 'average American' eats only 3.5 servings of fruits and veggies a day rather than the minimum recommeded 5 per day. Getting up to 5 servings a day more than makes your 11% increase in healthier living (it's a 42.8% increase, in fact).

Go forth and be wonderful!

Frondly, Fern