[ad_1]
When it comes to diet, the new year should be more about building a healthy lifestyle than setting impossible eating goals.
“It’s all about adding to the healthy lifestyle changes you can make along the way so you don’t feel miserable,” says Rosa Folgar, a family physician at Ochsner Health in Baton Rouge.
At the end of the day, people get off track, Folgar said.
“For the next two months, you have birthday parties or people bring king cakes — but remember, you’re human,” she said. “All you do is take one meal at a time, get back on track and reflect on the progress you’ve made so far.”
Molly Kimball, a registered dietitian at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, agrees.
“The term ‘clean eating’ is a bit like what the cool kids call ‘healthy eating,'” says Kimball. “This phrase refers to a variety of healthy eating methods, but it’s not the same for everyone.”
Kimball, who is also the founder of Ochsner’s EatFit NOLA restaurant program in New Orleans, adds that it’s important to implement healthy lifestyle changes in small steps.
She agrees with Folgar that no matter how perfect people are at achieving their goals, they are only human and fail occasionally.
“That’s why you shouldn’t overwhelm yourself trying to achieve a big goal,” she says.
First, any plan should end with overall health.
“I think whatever your definition of clean eating is, your goal is to have more nutritious food overall and be healthy,” Folga said. “When we talk about clean eating, we’re talking about it as a lifestyle choice and how you go about making those changes so they help you.”
The next step is to set a schedule that will enable you to maintain your healthy lifestyle choices.
“You might think about how to reduce your intake of carbs, white starches and sugar,” says Kimball. “For example, if you decide to reduce your sugar intake, the first step might be to identify the added sugars in your beverages and remove them.”
One way Kimball suggests is to change your beverage choices, replacing sugary soft drinks and fruit juices with alternatives like flavored vitamin waters.
“But you don’t even have to do it all at once,” adds Folgar. “Let’s say you drink two or three sodas a day, and you want to eliminate that from your diet, and you say, ‘I’m going to just drink water.’ But then you’re miserable.”
To avoid pain, Forga recommends taking small steps.
“Instead of saying, ‘I’m going back to drinking soda because no one can stand being around me,’ start by replacing one of the sodas with water,” she says. “My whole point is that over time you can make small changes and make big changes happen.”
Returning to the overall plan, Kimball said after examining the soda, the next step may be to reduce added sugar by cutting back on desserts. Again, this doesn’t have to happen all at once.
Afterwards, focus on weaning starchy foods like pasta and rice for healthier options available at most grocery stores.
“Banza has a chickpea pasta that’s a great healthy option,” says Kimball. “There’s also cauliflower rice, which is a great alternative to white rice.”
To better control changes in eating habits, Kimball also recommends cooking more at home.
Still, that doesn’t mean you have to stop eating out. Ochsner offers advice on healthy options for restaurants on its EatFit web page, ochsner.org/lp/eat-fitand its successor app, both of which contain links to restaurants in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Arcadiana.
Folgar adds that those looking for ideas for healthy lifestyle changes but don’t know where to start can also check out Ochsner’s Healthy You page at ochsner.org/healthyyou. She also recommends Tulane University’s Culinary Medicine Teaching Kitchen website, goldringcenter.tulane.edu/about-the-teaching-kitchenas another source of healthy lifestyle ideas.
In the end, says Kimball, no matter what steps you take, be sure to stay hydrated.
“Staying hydrated optimizes your energy recovery,” she says. “Sometimes, people think that when their energy levels are low, they need to eat more carbohydrates, when in reality they just need more fluids.”
Sparkling water is always the go-to solution for hydration. It can be supplemented with electrolyte tablets or sugar-free flavor packs.
“The trick is to divide your weight by two,” says Kimball. “That’s how many ounces of fluid your body needs each day, and that fluid can be smoothies, yogurt, soup, fruit, vegetables, or even caffeinated beverages like coffee or tea. Just don’t drink coffee.”
[ad_2]
Source link