Spring Cean Your Diet With These 10 Simple Tips
Dr. Lisa Young
Internationally-recognized nutritionist; International Speaker; Adjunct professor of nutrition at NYU; Author, ‘The Portion Teller Plan’
Along with a new season come new foods and rituals. One of
the things I love most about springtime is the extra daylight. I try to take
advantage of these longer days by taking a walk outdoors or biking in the park.
I also love taking advantage of enjoying the seasonal produce available this
time of year. From asparagus to berries, springtime is the season for healthy
produce.
As a nutritionist, I am a big believer in working to improve
our bodies along with our minds for optimal health. These 10 simple tips will
help boost your health, and maybe even your mood, this season.
1. Make small shifts to your diet.
One of the key messages in the recently released 2015-2020
dietary guidelines is an emphasis on making small shifts to our diet, as
opposed to radical changes which are often difficult to stick with. Think of a
food habit you’d like to change and slowly ease into a new ritual by making a
small shift. If you are a soda drinker, for example, shift your beverage to
water or seltzer. If you tend to go hours without eating, plan for a healthy
snack by bringing along an apple and a small bag of your favorite nuts. And
most of us can make shifts in our diet to include more fruits and vegetables.
2. Mind your hand.
Paying attention the size of your portion is one of the best
ways to keep your weight in check. While measuring your food can be a bit
cumbersome and not always practical, using your hand is a simple and useful
trick to help you guesstimate your portion. As I discuss in my book, The
Portion Teller Plan, your portion of meat should be the size of your palm
(approx 3 oz) and your side of rice should be the size of your fist (approx 1
cup.) While it’s not an exact science, as we all have different size hands, it
is a helpful way to help gauge how much you eat. And if you have a bigger hand,
you can probably get away with eating a bit more.
3. Get moving.
If you do not yet have an exercise routine, this is a great
time to get one into place. Exercising regularly offers up many benefits — from
helping us shed pounds, boost our moods, and even keep our minds sharp. In the
springtime, we have the added benefit of great weather and more sunlight, a
perfect time to get moving outdoors.
Research even shows that you exert more energy when
exercising outdoors and you even may enjoy it more. Exercising outdoors may
also help to alleviate stress and depression.
4. Swap multigrain for whole grains products.
Many of my clients are easily deceived by healthy sounding
terms like “multigrain.” The term “multigrain” is defined as containing a blend
of two or more grains and has little meaning when it comes to boosting your
health. The grains may be healthy if they are whole rye or whole oats, for
example, but they may also not be particularly healthy if they are a blend of
enriched wheat flour, which is refined, and not to be confused with whole
wheat. So pay attention to food labels and the first ingredient in your grain
products.
5. Go green.
I am a huge fan of all things green, especially green
veggies. Spinach, kale, broccoli, you name it, and if it’s green, it is most
likely healthy! One of my favorite springtime produce is asparagus. Chock full
of fiber, folate, vitamin K, and iron, asparagus is a nutrition powerhouse. I
invite you to add asparagus to your springtime dinner routine. My favorite
method of preparation is simply roasting it with a drizzle of olive oil and you
are good to go.
6. Find hidden sugars lurking in your favorite food.
For the first time, the dietary guidelines call out added
sugar, and advise us to limit our intake to no more than 10 percent of total
calories. While we know that soda and candy are full of added sugar, we may not
pay attention to the sugar lurking in our favorite salad dressing or whole gain
cereal. Trying to reduce our sugar intake would be easier if every product that
contained it called it “sugar.” However, so many food products on the shelves
contain sugar yet call it by a different name. Be on the lookout for the
following terms which are other names for sugar: sucrose, corn syrup, high
fructose corn syrup, agave nectar, honey, dextrose, and evaporated cane juice.
The Food and Drug Administration has proposed a daily value
(DV) for “added sugar” along with prominently displaying the amount of added
sugar on the nutrition facts food label. This will hopefully clear up some of
the confusion. But until that happens, be a food sleuth, and read the
ingredient list.
7. Scoop it out.
We eat more out of large containers and when we pour out our
favorite foods into a bowl or plate, we often pour too much. We also tend to
overeat when we nibble right out of a jar or box of food. Consider your
favorite cereal: pour it into an oversize bowl and you probably poured too
much. Same with your favorite ice cream: eat a spoonful straight from a pint,
and you may end up polishing off the entire container. A scoop or measuring cup
to the rescue! Pour your cereal into a one-cup measuring cup or scoop, and you
will hopefully stop right there. Use a half-cup ice cream scoop and it will be
easier to stick to that portion.
8. Eat fat.
As a nutritionist, I advise clients to incorporate healthy
fat into their diets. Healthy fats include olive oil, nuts, and avocado. Fats
help us feel full so that we are not grabbing for that cookie an hour after
eating. Nuts make for a great snack as they contain heart-healthy unsaturated
fats, protein, fiber, and plant stanols. Just be sure to stick to one handful.
Because fat contains more calories than carbohydrates and protein, practicing
portion control is key.
9. Add strawberries to your favorite salad.
Strawberries are delicious and one of the lowest calorie
fruits. They are also rich in nutrients, particularly vitamin C, an antioxidant
which helps the body quench free radicals. In addition to tasting great plain
(or with whipped cream, of course), strawberries will add color, flavor, and
nutrients to your fruit salad or even your tossed green salad.
10. End your day with a grateful heart.
Giving thanks and practicing gratitude leads better sleep
and improved mood. Research reveals that cultivating gratitude leads to better
psychological and physical health. One ritual that I love recommending (and
practice myself) is to write down 5 things I am grateful for each day. While
certain things can always be better, we can all find a variety of things, both
large and small, to be thankful for.
More: Diet And Nutrition Healthy Eating Spring Diet And
Fitness Portion Control
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