Eating Healthy, Eating Right...

Most people want to eat healthy, but may think that requires eating bland food, tofu, organic foods...akk that crazy stuff. While none of this is bad if that is what you prefer, you can still eat healthy and not have to completely change your diet – I think there is a happy middle...a good balance to eating healthy while still enjoying your favorite dishes.

Here are 5 easy tips for better, healthier eating…small changes can make a big difference without sacrificing the taste of a delicious meal…

1. Replace full fat items with low-fat/no fat items. If you drink 2% milk, why not try 1% or skim milk? Try low-fat cheese, low-fat cottage cheese, or low-fat cream cheese next time you use these items. Try to buy leaner meat – 90% lean ground beef, leaner steaks, etc. You would be amazed at how many foods now come in a lighter version…and most taste just as good! Salad dressing is another big one – even if you are using it for marinades…why not use the fat free Italian dressing? Baked tortilla chips are one of my favorite low fat foods….Baked Tostitos have ½ the fat of regular tortilla chips and I think they taste better! Challenge yourself to try a few new items and see how you like them!

2. Read the labels and know what you are eating! It is amazing what you can learn when you look at the nutritional label on foods…I have been surprised on a few items I always thought were decent in nutrition. For example, good ol’ Kraft Macaroni and Cheese has 410 calories per serving and 19 grams of fat! Prepared light (with unsalted butter and fat-free milk instead of 2%) it only has 290 calories and 6 grams of fat. Even when you are eating out, look at the nutritional value of what you are eating…you can look it up on-line or most restaurants have something posted. Did you know a small order of onion rings at Burger King is “better” for you than a small order of French fries? Onion rings have 229 calories and 11 grams of fat versus the fries that have 176 calories and 9 grams of fat. This is a neat website that has a lot of good info… http://www.nutritiondata.com/ (To find info about restaurants click on the pull-down menu in the upper right corner by the search button).

3. Eat “Smart” fats. Believe it or not some fat is good, but not all. Trans fat (processed food, vegetable shortening, hard stick margarine) and Saturated Fats (meat, dairy, eggs) are the bad ones to stay away from, or minimize in your diet. Good fats are Unsaturated Fats (mono- and poly-unsaturated). These fats are found in nuts, canola oil, olive oil, avocados, salmon, fish oil, etc. Omega-3 fatty acids are also part of the good fats. So try using olive and canola oil when cooking and when choosing your butter or margarine look for one rich in Omega-3 and no trans fat (Check out the Smart Butter spreads – I think they taste great and are better for you!). You can help yourself out with eggs too by using egg substitute when a recipe calls for an egg.

4. Fill up on your fruits and veggies. So you love your fried chicken…well, that’s alright – you deserve to have fried chicken every once in awhile, but make sure to serve it with healthy, large portions of fruits and veggies. With that said, is there a difference between fresh, frozen and canned veggies and fruit? You cannot go wrong with fresh, but what you are looking for might not be in season and sometimes it is hard to eat it before it goes bad! Frozen and canned are good too! Things to be mindful of…do not overcook fresh veggies or they will lose a lot of nutritional value and with canned veggies and fruit look to see what is added – watch out for salt in the veggies and heavy syrup in the fruit! Other than that – enjoy a wide variety of fruits and veggies – I heard a good challenge the other day…try to eat a different fruit and vegetable every day of the week! This will encourage you to branch out from the one or two fruits that you always eat and maybe find something new you really like!

5. Eat in moderation! Just like I mentioned in the last paragraph – you cannot deprive yourself of your favorite foods (fried chicken, chocolate!)…we want to live happy lives, and in our society eating is a big part of that. So enjoy those not so good foods for you once in awhile, but do everything in moderation. The biggest thing here that amazes people is what a portion or serving is. So you read the label on a box of cereal and it says 120 calories per serving. That doesn’t seem bad at all, but what is a serving size? Most cereals are ¾ cup per serving which is not that much in our oversized cereal bowls. Tomorrow morning measure out your cereal and you might be amazed that you usually eat 2 or 3 servings each morning!

So I challenge you to try and make a few changes in your cooking and eating and live a little healthier – no need to go to extremes, just a few changes at a time and over time you will be eating healthier and feeling better while still enjoying delicious tasty food. When you pull out your favorite recipe (or try one of the recipes on my website) look at the ingredients and see if there is something you can change to make it a little healthier. My favorite example of this is my banana bread recipe that I just posted…it started as a family recipe made with vegetable oil and buttermilk. Although it was delicious, it was far from healthy. I then played around with the recipe and found a few variations to make it a little better using flaxseed and yogurt or applesauce and it is still yummy, if not better!
Here’s to healthier eating…Happy Cooking!