Nutritious choices made simple®
Maybe you’ve got a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share and have received something you don’t recognize. Maybe you saw something new-to-you at the farmer’s market, or maybe you just want to broaden your culinary horizons and picked up something new in the produce department. Whatever the reason, the question “what in the world do I do with this veggie?” is something most of us grapple with at some point.
With Mother’s Day upon us, there’s a good chance that you’ve been thinking about all that your mother (or grandmother or whomever has or had that role in your life) did for you. As my own mother will soon be celebrating her 95th birthday (and still lives on her own at our family home), I find myself ever grateful to still have her in my life…and to have those kind of good genes in my corner. I also count myself lucky to have learned a lot of things from her, including a few good life lessons that came to me by way of the kitchen. Making fudge, to be exact. Maybe you have a similar tale of life lessons acquired in the kitchen?
Eating with the seasons isn’t a new idea of course—it’s what humans have been doing since our hunter-gatherer days. With the arrival of modern supermarkets, the requirement to eat whatever was growing or available at the moment waned. Now we can eat fresh peas and raspberries year ‘round, and the terms “winter” squash or “summer” squash hold little seasonal meaning when it can be purchased in the opposing season, but that doesn’t mean that seasonal eating is a pointless exercise.
If you’re on social media or the internet much at all, you’ve likely seen the photos of multiple, matching meals in little boxes all lined up on the counter. These images are examples of “meal prepping,” a cooking and eating style that has made the jump from being a trend among fitness fanatics to a popular time-saving tool for us average Joes and Janes. I see the appeal of these photos—such order, symmetry and colorful, considered composition! What I don’t see is the appeal of this style of eating as a weekly practice year-round. Let’s explore this trend and see if we can pull any useful tips from it that might benefit those who cook and eat in a more typical fashion.
Having to “go it alone” on a weight loss plan or healthy lifestyle routine can be a drag, but what might be worse is dealing with a spouse or significant other who doesn’t share your healthy eating plan. Why does this seem to be such a hot-button issue, and what can we do to tame the turmoil that so often occurs in this scenario? Here are some things I’ve learned from my own experience with this problem (and yes, we are still happily married!), and a few tips that might help you, too.
The year is still young, which means those healthy-living resolutions might still be in play—and if so, good for you! In fact, maybe your significant other, roommate, spouse or best friend is also in pursuit of a health goal this year. We’ve written about how to start making a change to your lifestyle and ways to stick to your healthy routine before, but as I reread that post I realized that I did not include finding a health “buddy.” It’s not crucial, but it helps. Going it alone can be a drag.
If you’re determined to drop some weight RIGHT NOW then you might be thinking that a crash diet is your best bet. Although there is no medical definition of a “crash” diet, most folks equate them with rapid weight loss due to extreme caloric restriction. Sometimes rapid weight loss diets are physician supervised and tightly controlled and undertaken for health reasons that require quick weight loss progress. More often though, extreme diets are a go-it-alone process, and that’s when things can go off track and head into dangerous territory; here are a few reasons why…
According to surveys, 41% of Americans usually make New Year’s resolutions, and roughly 21% of those involve eating more healthfully and losing weight, while working out more often is a resolution of about 5% of people. Clearly, improving oneself is a goal—and not inherently a bad thing. In fact, those who set goals are more likely to achieve them—even if it takes multiple attempts. I have no problem with goal setting; it’s a great tool. I do, however, have a problem with the magazine cover line “new year, new you.”