Well, I want to let you know that healthy eating habits are not about eliminating foods from your diet, but about learning how to have balance so we do not eat more than our bodies require. While I believe that cutting calories is one of the factors to keeping the obesity low, there’s no prescription for weight loss. Obesity is a multi-causal issue and, as health professionals, we know that Americans derive sugar from many places – not just sugar.

Balance is important

By focusing on one single food alone, we are missing the bigger picture. A healthy lifestyle is about moderation, balancing calorie intake and taking part in appropriate levels of exercise. Only those factors in tandem with nutrition education will truly solve our obesity issue. And, as mentioned yesterday in the webinar on “Nutrition and Children – Sustainable Model for Future Generations” sponsored by the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN), I think learning how to properly utilize the resources available efficiently is a great place to start.

If your family needs healthier eating habits or is at risk for developing chronic diseases, you’re probably wondering, “What can I do to help and motivate my family?” Here you will find the tools you need to help your family to make smart simple food choices.

Healthy eating habits don’t become a habit overnight. It takes time and effort to make them part of your routine. The following tips will help you get started.

Tips for motivating your family to eat healthy:

1. Family is important – Family is a major part of every child’s life and often the most influential factor in helping your child make healthy choices. Think about their health as you will handle other important issues in your family. Your family is your most valuable prized possession: preserve their health for the long run.
2. Have a plan – Meals tend to be healthier when we plan them ahead of time, so try to plan menus a week or a month at a time. Keep track of healthy meals your family likes and keep experimenting with new healthy recipes from time to time.
3. Start slow – Do not try to revamp heating habits overnight but decide on one specific change at a time; and do not rush. Remember this is going to be for a lifetime not just for a week.
4. Never give up – Without a doubt you will find resistance from someone in the family. Even when the family does not show much progress or interest, do not be discouraged. Chances are that you are making progress in many other ways: you are probably eating together more often, planning meals together, feeling more energetic, etc. If you stay the course you will continue to make progress.
5. Get creative – Allow your kids to help you in the kitchen with age appropriate tasks. Letting kids help you in the kitchen gets them excited about a meal and can spark creative, healthy meals your family will eat.
6. Be a good role model – Kids usually want to do what their parents do. Eating a variety of foods is a great way to model healthy habits. Research shows children are often more willing to eat healthy foods and be active if they see their parents and other family members doing these things first. For best results try to get everyone in the family involved.  The chart below shows the foods that should be included in the optimal weekly diet.  (Source: BCFN Position Paper)
7. Be patient – It’s okay if your family doesn’t like every meal you serve. If you keep exposing them to new varieties, they will find ones they like! Persistence will pay off eventually.
8. Celebrate – When the family has turned a healthy change into a habit, it’s time to celebrate! Reward the family with a fun activity everyone will enjoy. Activities such as camping, visiting an amusement park or just a night in your backyard will let them know that you really care.

This blog is sponsored by Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN).

Learn more about the Double Pyramid and healthy, sustainable eating for your family at Nutrition & Children: Sustainable Models for the Future Generations – a webinar on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11am ET/10am CT.

Recently, interest has been growing for sustainable eating. Think about the “locavore” movement – the growing number of people who pay close attention to where their food is from and try to eat locally. It’s a way to factor in the environmental impact of what you eat. If your food doesn’t have to be trucked hundreds of miles to reach you, it’s more environmentally friendly.

The Double Pyramid

In 2010, the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN) introduced a new way to look at healthy eating and its environmental impact: the Double Pyramid.

Learn more about the Double Pyramid at Barilla CFN.

When you look at the Double Pyramid, you can quickly see which foods help you maintain a healthy weight, and the environmental impact of those foods. The foods at the top of the Environmental Pyramid have the highest impact on the environment.

What does Environmental Impact mean?

BCFN looked at several factors, including:

• Cultivation
• Processing
• Packaging
• Transport
• Cooking

It’s important to note that some foods with a larger environmental impact, like fish and olive oil, are valuable in a healthy diet. If you don’t live near the ocean or in a warm climate where olives grow, then these foods have to be shipped to you. There’s an environmental impact, but you can make careful choices to balance the health benefits with the costs.

Sweets fall in the middle of the Environmental Pyramid – but remember, that’s not a signal to have all the cookies you want! It’s important to consider where foods fall on both the Food and Environmental pyramids, then make your own smart choices.

Why is a sustainable diet important?

Ultimately, it’s about our children. In recent years, childhood obesity has become a major health problem in the US and other developed countries. This has been happening as families consume more and more highly processed food.

• A sustainable diet relies on fruits, vegetables and grains. If parents served more sustainable foods, like locally grown fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber and nutrients, in place of some processed foods, children could see big health benefits – like a return to a healthy weight.
• Sustainable foods are often less expensive, a welcome boost to families on a budget.
• And over the long-term, sustainable food helps the environment – and preserves a healthy future for our children.

For more information, visit Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition.

Note: This blog was sponsored by Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN).

When I became a new mom, I had dreams of serving the most delicious (and by the way nutritious) meals for my family…then reality hit! I really had to make extraordinary efforts to put something decent in the table.

So how you can begin to cook flavorful and healthy meals for your children that are tasty and easy to prepare?

Let me provide you with some important tips to get you started:

Know the basics – Kids need to eat a wide variety of foods including those high in protein, fiber and calcium to get the nutrients essential to their health and help them grow and thrive. A good rule of thumb is to make sure every meal contains at least three of the following five food groups, and every snack contains at least two groups:

• Grains (e.g., bread, ready-to-eat-cereal, rice, pasta)
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Milk/dairy
• Meat/beans (e.g., meat, poultry, fish, eggs, peanut butter, nuts, seeds)

Start simple – Home cooked meals do not have to be complicated.  Make friends with your microwave. This equipment is not only for making popcorn!  The microwave may not be the only equipment that can help you cook fast meals, but when you’re short of time, it gets the job done for steaming, cooking, boiling, or reheating already cooked meals.

Prepare meals in 5 minutes – Here is the secret formula to preparing fast meals:

• Choose a lean meat cooked on the grill, broiled or cooked in a skillet with your favorite sauce (or with 1 teaspoon of oil)
• Choose a vegetable, which you can steam in the microwave
• Complete the meal with a simple salad of tomatoes and cucumbers.

Here you have prepared a dinner with a blink of an eye.  It’s not a gourmet meal but you can serve it in 5 minutes!

Keep meals flavorful and healthy – In Hispanic families, we love the bold flavors of our meals and that is why we enjoy sharing them with our family.  The problem with our flavorful meals is that many of our favorite recipes contain too much fat, salt and sugar.  This is true for many cultures, so take a careful look at familiar favorites. It’s so important to pay attention to hidden fat, salt or sugar that can easily add additional calories to our recipes.

Be adventurous! Experiment with recipes  – Don’t be afraid to experiment with new recipes or try to make the recipe more nutritious by cutting some of the fat, lowering the salt, adding less sugar or by adding more fiber to the recipe.  Below, you will find simple and delicious substitutions that will save you many calories.

• Cinnamon for sweet potatoes
• Vinegar, with just a little olive oil, for salads
• Lemon for fish
• Rice cooked in fat-free, low sodium chicken broth

Did you know that…
… A tablespoon of butter adds 100 calories?
… A tablespoon of cream adds 80 calories?
… Two tablespoons of mole Poblano adds 50 calories

Instead, try…
… One lemon adds 0 calories
… Vinegar adds 0 calories
… Pico de gallo (without oil) only adds 9 calories
… 2 tablespoons of green or red mole adds 30 calories

Be a role model - Like it or not, we are the best role models for our children so finding out the best ways to eat produce is a good practice.  Here are a few tips for making those vegetables taste yummy!

• Roast or grill: corn, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, etc.
• Bake: potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots with a drizzle of olive oil and your spice of choice.
• Chop or slice: celery, broccoli, etc.
• Eat raw: baby carrots, grape tomatoes, etc.

I’m a mother, a dietitian, a member of the PediaSure Mom Brigade and a former picky eater myself, so I understand how hard it can be to encourage your picky eater to eat well. Here are some tips that will help ease the battles between you and your picky eater.

Relax – Unless your picky eater is below the 25% in the growth chart, you should relax a little and try to work in some of the tactics below, before you make them sit at the table for hours until they finish a few bites.

Get creative – Have some fun creating very tasty healthy food. Here are some tips that will keep your kids wanting more and more:

• “Lettuce forget the bread” sandwiches – fill a nice large leaf of lettuce with a tablespoon of shredded lettuce, corn kernels, black beans, cubed chicken or ham, low-fat shredded cheddar cheese and top with 1 tsp. chopped bacon.
• Try easy, colorful appetizers – Mix 1 cup light cream cheese with ½ cup reduced fat mayonnaise and spread mixture on a serving platter.  Layer salsa, chopped tomatoes and low fat shredded cheese for a real fiesta dip.  Or make my kids’ favorite: layer your favorite pasta sauce with thin slices of low fat turkey sausage, cheddar Mozzarella cheese over the same cream cheese mixture.
• Pleasing meatloaf for the whole family – Whenever I make my old-fashioned (and super simple) meatloaf recipe, the aroma alone even makes our dog beg for leftovers.  Just five ingredients: 1 pound ground turkey, 1 cup pasta sauce, 1 cup quick oats (or seasoned bread crumbs), 1 egg, ¼ cup chopped onions and black pepper to taste.  Mix well and place in a meatloaf pan or divide into individual servings in a muffin pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or 20 minutes for a muffin pan.  While the meatloaf bakes on the upper rack – slice carrots and potatoes in thin coins, drizzle with olive oil and bake on a cooking sheet right on the bottom shelve of you oven also for 1 hour.

Plan meals together – Sit down with your kids and plan a few meals together; they will be more inclined to eat something they plan for the family. Also, take the family grocery shopping.  Everyone can learn to read the nutrition labels and learb about the nutrients in each food or product.

Teach your children how to cook – I can’t emphasize how important is to teach our kids (boys or girls) how to cook.  Cooking is an art, which develops an appreciation for delicious healthy foods. If you are not skilled in the kitchen, take a family cooking class in your community.

Eat more dinners at home - A shared meal at the family dinner table can be a positive influence on shaping children’s eating habits. Children who eat more family meals tend to consume less soda and fried foods, and more fruits and vegetables (Archives of Family Medicine, 2000). The family table offers great benefits for everyone in the family; just keep your conversations positive.

According to a new survey by Kellogg, only 1 out of 3 adults eats breakfast every day. More than half (54%) of adults would like to eat breakfast, but don’t get a chance to eat during the morning rush.

For children, breakfast is critical because it gives their growing bodies fuel for the day. According to Kellogg, 89% of mothers want their children to eat breakfast daily, but 40% of mothers report that their children don’t have breakfast every day. Breakfast eating drops as children get older: 77% of young children eat breakfast every day, compared to 50% of middle school children, and only 36% of high school students.

For children, breakfast provides energy for growing bodies and brains. For adults, studies have shown that breakfast plays an important role in maintaining a healthy weight. We all know that breakfast helps our bodies and minds perform at their best – but how do we find the time to eat breakfast?

Here are some ideas:

Set the table before you go to bed: Put the bowls, spoons and cereal boxes out before you go to bed. As family members come into the kitchen, they can quickly pour cereal and add milk. In minutes, your family can finish breakfast and start the day.

Pack your lunch — and your breakfast: If you bring your lunch to work or school, get in the habit of packing breakfast food too. Put whole-grain cereal in resealable bags or containers – or pack a cereal bar. Add a cup of low-fat yogurt or a slice of cheese for some calcium and protein and you have a complete breakfast.

Rethink your breakfast expectations: Did your mother make bacon and eggs every day? That might be a nice memory, but it’s not realistic for most families. Breakfast doesn’t have to be a hot meal or an elaborate one. Concentrate on important nutrients:

• Whole grains with fiber provide energy and Vitamin B6, along with Vitamin A and iron.
• Milk or yogurt provide calcium, Vitamin D and protein.
• Fruit or fruit juice can provide Vitamin C

Take your children’s tastes into account: there are lots of combinations that are tasty and nutritious. One friend reports that her young son didn’t like milk in his cereal. No problem: she gave him a glass of milk to drink along with a bowl of dry cereal!

Break it down into two small meals: If you’re really pressed for time – or don’t have a big appetite when you first get up – you could try to split your breakfast into two small meals. Maybe a glass milk and a piece of fruit when you first get up, followed by a cereal bar or whole grain cereal as a mid-morning snack.

So on those busy mornings, try to make breakfast part of your routine. It’s a great way to boost your family’s health!

Note: Sylvia Meléndez Klinger, MS, RD, LD, CPT is a member of the Kellogg Breakfast Council. She is one of seven third-party nutrition experts dedicated to helping people understand nutrition information, and incorporate nutritious foods and habits into the diet.

This month, my family was featured in a Self Magazine article about mothers and daughters and how they influence each others’ body image.  My mother and my teenage daughter and I discussed how we feel about our bodies – the good and the bad! 

Self confidence – knowing that your body is healthy and strong – is important to my family. What’s important for your family?

If you’re struggling with your body image, think about how your mother may have shaped your point of view.  Was your mother always on a diet and never satisfied with her own appearance? Remember that weight is only a number. If you feel healthy and fit, don’t obsess about the scale.

Try to take a step back and look at yourself objectively – or ask a good friend to give you some feedback. Focus on your good features like your beautiful curves or lovely smile. And don’t forget to tell your mother – and your daughter - what you love about them.

1. Chayote is a member of the squash family, common in Mexico, the Caribbean and South America.  In the US, it’s sometimes called mirliton. The pear-shaped gourd has pale green skin and a sweet, mild flavor.  Try it baked or roasted, pureed in soups or raw.  Chayote is high in fiber and is a good source of potassium and Vitamin C.
2. Guava is a round tropical fruit, with light green or yellow skin. The flesh is whitish, pink or yellow with lots of small seeds: the seeds and skin are both edible. Guava is an excellent source of Vitamin C, omega fatty acids and fiber.  It’s delicious raw or in preserves, jams, or jellies.  If you can’t find whole guava, look for guava nectar in the juice aisle.
3. Jicama is a root vegetable with brownish skin.  The texture is like a radish, but the flavor is sweeter – like an apple. To serve jicama raw, peel and cut into strips for salads, or into slices for dips. Jicama is low in calories and is a great source of fiber, potassium, iron, calcium and vitamins C and E. 
4. Mangoes are delicious! There are more than 1,000 varieties of mango in world.  The yellow flesh of mango is juicy and sweet and can be eaten alone or mixed into fruit salads or smoothies.  Mangos are great sources of vitamins A, B6 and C – and they’re high in fiber.
5. Nopales, or cactus leaves, are common in Mexican and Southwest cooking. After removing thorns from the greenish, oval shaped pads, you can slice and simmer nopales or grill them whole.  If fresh nopales aren’t available, look for canned nopales in the grocery store.  Nopales help with digestive health since they’re high in fiber and magnesium.  They are also loaded with vitamins A, C and K, and provide calcium and potassium.  That’s quite a nutritional punch for this prickly vegetable!
6. Papaya, also known as paw paw, is an oval fruit with a yellow or orange peel.  It’s grown in Mexico, Central America and Hawaii. To serve papaya, peel the skin first.  The orange flesh and black seeds have a sweet-tart flavor.  Try papaya alone, mixed with pineapple in a fruit salad, diced in a salsa, or blended into a smoothie.  A serving of papaya delivers 150% of the daily value of Vitamin C.  It’s high in fiber and a very good source of Vitamin A, potassium and folate.   
7. Passion fruit is a tropical fruit with a romantic name  and a sweet-tart flavor.  Passion fruit is shaped like an egg, with purple or yellow skin.  Purple passion fruit is typically sweeter and juicer than yellow.  To eat passion fruit, slice in half and scoop out the pulp, juice and seeds.  Eat alone, mix in smoothies, spoon on top of yogurt or other fruits, or make jam. Passion fruit is a good source of vitamins A and C, plus potassium, calcium and iron.  It’s also high in phytochemicals, like carotenoids and lycopene. 
8. Pomegranate is a round fruit with red leathery skin.  The seeds, also known as arils, are the edible part of the fruit.  To serve, slice off the crown of the fruit, then score the skin from top to bottom.  Break the sections apart and remove the seeds with a spoon or by hand.  It’s a little messy, but worth the effort!  Eat the sweet tart seeds alone or sprinkled in salads, on yogurt or desserts.  Pomegranates are high in vitamin C and antioxidants.   
9. Pumpkin (also known as calabaza) isn’t just for pie! The orange-colored gourd can steamed, baked or roasted for a savory side dish, or pureed for soup.  Look for smaller pie pumpkins.  Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. You can bake the pumpkin halves cut side down, or cut the pumpkin into chunks and boil/steam until tender.  Pumpkin is a good source of vitamin A, beta carotene, selenium and lutein, and pumpkin seeds provide omega-3 fats and phytosterols, which help lower cholesterol. 
10. Root vegetables come in lots of varieties.  Instead of potatoes, try some other root vegetables like yuca (cassava) or malanga.  Yuca resembles a sweet potato.  Its brown skin is waxy and the bright white flesh is starchy and bittersweet.  Yuca is high in iron. Malanga has a rugged brown skin, and flesh that is reddish, beige or yellowish.  Its flavor is nutlike, and when boiled, the texture is smooth and creamy.  Malanga provides B vitamins and is very easy to digest. 
11. Salmon is a super food! This fish is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which support cardiovascular health.  It’s also high in protein and vitamin A, and is a good source of calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium and zinc.  Farm raised salmon are often orange-pinkish in color, due to natural antioxidants used as coloring agents in their food. Both wild and farm-raised salmon provide similar health benefits. Try salmon grilled, baked, broiled or poached. Remove the skin and bones before serving. 

Do you often have trouble knowing what items to buy when making your weekly trip to the grocery store? If so, you are definitely not alone! Many people feel overwhelmed with the options and variety that modern grocery stores and chains offer and find it difficult to make healthy choices. Below is a heart-healthy, body-health shopping guide with some quick tips to help you navigate the supermarket! 

Each food section is broken down by items to “choose” and “limit.” The “choose” items are ones you should pick more often, and the “limit” items should be chosen less often. Remember, don’t try to avoid the “limit” items, because we humans are interesting creatures who often want what we can’t have! Instead, try to make these items an occasional treat. Also, make sure to check out the tips listed after each food section. Healthy shopping!

Produce Items 

Choose – Vegetables and fruit in a wide variety of colors for health-promoting antioxidants and phytochemicals.?
Limit – No need to limit produce items, but remember to choose whole fruit over fruit juice for extra fiber and a more filling option.
Tips – Remember, half your plate should be veggies and fruit!

Deli Items

Choose – Low fat options such as turkey or chicken breast, roast beef, lean ham, and Canadian bacon.
Limit – High fat, high sodium meats like salami, bologna, and corned beef.
Tips – Get to know your local deli-person! Inquire about low sodium and low fat deli options. Larger grocery stores often carry many healthier meat options.

Breads & Cereals

Choose – Whole wheat and whole grain breads, enriched/fortified products. Try whole grain pasta & brown rice.
Limit – White breads, high fat and/or high sugar cereals.
Tips – The best cereal choices should have 2 or more grams of fiber, less than 8 grams of sugar and less than 2 grams of fat. Try a “high fiber” cereal or “double fiber” bread to increase your dietary fiber with little effort! Also, try your favorite pasta dishes with ½ whole wheat and ½ regular pasta for a fiber (and fullness) boost!

Canned Foods

Choose – Low sodium canned vegetables and soups, 100% fruit juices, and canned fruits packed in juice or light syrup.
Limit – High sodium canned vegetables and soups, fruit juice cocktails punches.
Tips – Many canned soups contain ¼ to ½ of the amount of sodium recommended in a day in only 1 serving (the typical can contains two or more servings)! Choose carefully and check the label if you are concerned about sodium content.

Packaged Foods

Choose – Lower fat cookie options such as graham crackers, ginger snaps, and fig bars. Also choose light popcorn and reduced fat and/or low sodium crackers.
Limit – Products containing saturated fat oils such as palm, palm kernel, and coconut oils. Also limit regular fat/sodium crackers and popcorn.
Tips – If portion control is an issue, try the new pre-packaged “100 Calorie” snack packs. These will help limit the amount of snacking you do while still fulfilling the craving. If cost is an issue, try making your own snack-packs by buying in bulk and portioning the foods in to small zip sandwich bags.

Fats, Oils, & Dressings

Choose – Tub or liquid margarine, light mayonnaise and salad dressings.
Limit – Stick margarine, butter, regular mayonnaise and salad dressings.
Tips – Try a margarine that contains plant stanols and sterols. Stanols and sterols can bind dietary cholesterol in the gut, helping to reduce the amount of cholesterol which enters your body. Just look for a heart symbol to identify products with these cholesterol-healthy compounds.

Dairy Items

Choose – 1% or skim milk, lowfat yogurt and cheeses.
Limit – Whole or 2% milk, regular fat cheeses and dairy products.
Tips – Substitute a small amount of plain, low fat yogurt for mayonnaise or sour cream. Also try using sharp cheddar instead of mild or medium cheddar in dishes for more flavor!

Meats, Poultry, & Fish

Choose – Choose skinless poultry and fish from deep waters such as salmon and tuna. When buying red meat, choose lower fat “Select” grade meats, lean and well trimmed cuts such as flank steak, round steak or roasts, sirloin, tenderloin, loin pork chops, and at least 85% lean ground beef.
Limit – Higher fat “Choice” and “Prime” grade meats, high fat or high cholesterol meats such as corned beef, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, and liver. Also limit high-sodium, heavily processed items such as chicken nuggets, patties, rolls, and breaded foods.
Tips – Substitute lean ground turkey in the place of ground beef for less fat and a very similar flavor! With this quick switch, almost all recipes can be made more heart healthy.

Frozen Foods

Choose – Plain frozen vegetables without sauces (which can be high in fat and salt), popsicles, sherbet, sorbet, frozen yogurt, and light ice cream. Try a non-fat fudge pop for all the chocolatey flavor you love and none of the fat!
Limit – Frozen vegetables with prepared sauces, regular ice cream and high fat desserts.
Tips – If you need convenient, health-friendly meal options for one, try a microwave meal that is “lean” or “healthy.” The best options will have less than 15 grams of fat, 400 calories, and 700 mg of sodium. Add a bag of pre-washed and chopped lettuce for a quick, easy meal!

There’s a new food movement in town…and maybe you’ve heard of it! Flexitarianism is a simple way to improve your diet and get many of the health benefits vegetarians can have without giving up meat. Not only is flexitarianism becoming popular with those seeking weight loss and the best wellbeing possible, but also with foodies and cooks across the nation.

So, what exactly is flexitarianism?
According to Dawn Jackson Blatner, a Registered Dietitian and author of The Flexitarian Diet, a flexitarian is a “vegetarian who is flexible enough to eat some meat, poultry, and fish.” This healthy diet focuses on plant foods, which are health protective and can help you live a longer life, weigh less, and have a lower risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

How can I be a flextitarian?
Flexitarianism is an excellent dietary lifestyle because it is much less restrictive than a traditional vegetarian diet. The basic principle behind this diet is to increase your plant food intake while decreasing your meat intake. Blatner states that “The Flexitarian Diet doesn’t judge what you are currently eating; rather, it asks you to include more plant foods and try new things.”

How do I get started?
Including more plant foods like fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds is an excellent start. Also, give tofu (the other white meat – not pork, folks!) and soy meat substitutes a chance! Try add ‘umami’ flavor to your foods. ‘Umami’ is a Japanese word which means savory or meaty. Vegetarian choices which add meaty flavor include truffles, mushrooms, soybeans, potatoes, tomatoes, and aged cheeses as well as many other options.

Other excellent tips to becoming a flexetarian include using fruit to satisfy your sweet tooth, choose low fat dairy and whole grains, and use spices to make your foods taste wonderful without excess salt.

Remember that you don’t have to give meat up, but should try to decrease the number of days you eat meat and/or the amount you eat at each meal. Establishing a ‘Meatless Monday’ with meat-free breakfast, lunch, and dinner options can be a great starting point!

Want more info?
Want to learn more about eating a flexitarian diet? Check out Dawn Jackson Blatner’s book available on Amazon here. It is very well-written and even includes 100 quick and delicious flexitarian recipes.

Other resources – FREE!
If you would like other recipe ideas for healthy vegetarian options, check out websites such as AllRecipes.com or MixingBowl.com for excellent user-submitted recipes. Try using search terms like “vegetarian” or a favorite plant-based ingredient like black beans or zucchini. Users can rate and review each recipe and suggest changes to make each recipe tastier!

Healthy flexitarian eating!

Do you diet?
How often do you find yourself saying, “no…I can’t have that, I’m on a diet” or “I’ll have some when my diet is over”? Some people even comment that they are always on a diet of one kind or another. Although these quotes are common, I would like to encourage you to get away from the idea of going on a ‘diet’ and instead focus on making your eating habits a lifestyle change.

Why can the word ‘diet’ be negative?
When asked why the word ‘diet’ can be negative, most people recognize that we view diets as a temporary solution to reaching a goal body weight or size. Also, many people comment that diets often fail, and some even expect their diets to fail before they even start! Eating should not be torture, but an enjoyable way to nourish you body by choosing healthier foods more often and unhealthy foods less often.

Why is it more positive to make a lifestyle change?
Making a lifestyle change to the foods you eat is a much better approach to long-term healthy eating than going on a ‘diet’. As the word ‘lifestyle’ implies, this is a change to your style or habits of living. Many of us have both good and bad lifestyle habits. For example, I may drink 8 cups of water a day, but only eat fried vegetables. The goal is to maintain your healthy habits and limit your unhealthy habits.

How do I make a lifestyle change?
The key to making a lifestyle change is to set realistic goals. You might decide to limit your soda intake to only one 12 ounce can a day instead of two 20 ounce bottles. You may decide you will only eat deep fried meats once a week and instead choose to bake, broil, or grill a majority of the time. Or, you may decide to eat a salad with light dressing with your dinner each night.

You don’t have to become a healthy eater overnight! Set up to three goals at a time which you truly believe you can achieve. Choose a non-food reward you would like to have once you have reached and maintained your goals. After those goals have been reached, set new goals and continue the health-enhancing process!

Remember, you are making lifestyle changes, not going on a ‘diet’! While you may sometimes make better choices than you do at other times, you are working toward a lifestyle you can maintain and enjoy. Don’t beat yourself up over your poor choices and recognize that slip-ups happen, but you are strong enough to continue on your path to healthier eating!