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Small Changes in Diet Make a Big Improvement in Health
Advice from a Dietitian
By Jill Weisenberger, M.S., R.D., C.D.E.
What you can do: Use small amounts of canola or olive oil in cooking or on salads. Use nuts as condiments. Add slivered almonds to green beans. Sprinkle chopped nuts in salads or mix with rice and casseroles. Instead of a meat and cheese sandwich (high in heart-unhealthy fats), opt for peanut butter now and then. Or replace the cheese with a slice of avocado. Finally, enjoy fish a couple times each week. Especially good choices are salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring and tuna.
Limit Calorie-containing DrinksReducing the calories in your drinks is a sure way to melt a few extra pounds. A can of regular soda is about 150 calories. Giving up one can of soda each day saves enough calories for you to lose more than 15 pounds of fat each year.
Giving up a 20-ounce bottle of juice, punch or soda saves even more and leads to an even greater weight loss. Most 20-ounce drink bottles provide at least 250 calories. Read labels carefully. One popular drink company lists 110 calories per serving. If you check the serving size too, you'll see that there are 2.5 servings per bottle. Thus, the whole bottle tops off at 275 calories (110 x 2.5) – about the same as a turkey sandwich or 2 1/2 cups fresh fruit, both of which are likely more filling and have more nutrition.
What you can do: Limit juice to 4 to 8 ounces daily. Drink more water. Find low-calorie or calorie-free alternatives such as diet sodas and sugar-free lemonade.
Don't avoid carbohydrates altogether. They're your body's main energy source. Get most of your carbs from fruits, low-fat or non-fat milk and whole grains. Just as fruits and vegetables have disease-fighting properties, so do whole grains. Whole grains give you the nutritional benefits of the entire grain, not just the starchy part like white bread and white rice. The nutrients from the whole grain work together to protect your health.