Springtime brings warmer weather, lighter clothes, grilling, and picnics. It’s also the time we like to spring-clean our homes and even our eating habits. Heavy meals just don’t seem as appealing anymore and we crave lighter fresher foods. This does not mean you should be “detoxing” your body with juice fasts or other extreme “clean-ups”, these detoxes are completely unnecessary and scientifically unproven, your body naturally detoxes itself daily, using your kidney and liver.
On the other hand, what is helpful for your body, is feeding it nutritious food, daily. Yes, it’s that simple. Why are we always looking for a drastic way when the simple way is best? It’s the everyday healthy habits that have a bigger impact on your body, than the occasional “detox”.
I will provide you with three tips to help you clean up your eating habits, some may be relevant to you, others not so much. Pick an area you need to work on and make a SMART goal to improve. SMART means, specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. For example, instead of making your goal” I will eat more vegetables”, make it “ I will eat two vegetables at every meal for the next two weeks.”
- Lighten up your morning coffee.
If you start your morning with a specialty coffee like a Grande Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks, it’s time to rethink your drink. Here is why: a Grande Caramel Frappuccino contains about 380 calories, 54 g sugar, and 16 g fat of which 10 g is saturated fat.
Not only do the calories add up to almost a meal, but because you’re drinking these calories instead of eating them, you won’t feel the same fullness as you would from a 380-calorie meal.
And besides the calories, the American Heart Association recommends that women get no more than 25 g of sugar a day and only about 13 g of saturated fat. Because high amounts of saturated fat result in high cholesterol which increases your risk of heart disease. And did you know that heart disease is the number one killer for women? And just in case you thought you were too young to worry about it, it can affect women of ANY age.
Instead, save those extra calories, by swapping this high-sugar habit with a lower-calorie option like the Coldbrew coffee, which has only 35 calories. Or make your own coffee at home and save calories as well as money.
- Eat more plants at every meal.
A lack of time is often listed as the number one barrier for people not eating enough fruits and vegetables during the day. Make it easier on yourself and take advantage of the pre-washed, pre-peeled, and chopped vegetables in the refrigerated aisle. You can also buy frozen or even canned vegetables. Because any vegetables you eat are better than no vegetables at all.
A strategy that may be helpful when you are making your lunch or dinner is to always start preparing your vegetables first, then the protein and grains. When you do this, you don’t risk running out of time or energy at the end and leaving them out completely.
And if you just don’t know what vegetables to make or how to cook them, get inspiration by browsing the internet for plant-based recipes or cookbooks. Or browse the frozen food aisle and look for plant-based meals to try, and if you like it, try making it yourself the next time. Also, don’t forget to look at other cuisines, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese, and so on, many cultures don’t have meat as the main focus of their meals or have meals that are naturally meat-free.
- Remove the processed meats
The World Health Organization has classified processed meats as a Group 1 carcinogen. This means there is enough evidence to conclude that these foods can cause human cancer. So, definitely, a reason to cut down or remove these foods completely from your diet.
Processed meats are cured, salted, smoked, and have preservatives added. They include bacon, hot dogs, salami, pancetta, cold cuts, pepperoni, beef jerky, and breakfast sausages.