March Nutrition Makeover
We all know that March is a time when people think about spring-cleaning. What you might not know is that March is also National Nutrition Month. Along with cleaning out your closets and homes, how about also cleaning out your pantry? This is the perfect time to do away with old habits and give your nutrition a makeover. Here are 31 nutrition tips that you can practice and make part of your life—one tip for each day to follow until it becomes habit!
1. Get in the right mindset! Make a commitment
to change.
2. Eliminate all sugar/sugar products for this
month.
3. Throw out potato chips, make baked kale chips.
4. Make a dish with quinoa.
5. Stock the fridge with bottled water.
6. Drink eight to ten glasses of water every day.
7. Replace white rice with brown rice.
8. Cook your favorite rice dish with brown rice.
9. Replace white bread with multigrain bread.
10. Mix half of ‘No Salt” and half regular salt and use
that in your food.
11. Trash three items in your pantry with more than
25 gm of sugar.
12. Eat three different types of fruits.
13. Replace flour tortillas with corn.
14. Eat a high-fiber breakfast.
15. Sautee and eat five different types of vegetables.
16. Use Mrs. Dash no-salt seasoning when cooking.
17. Purchase a product called Farro and substitute
for white rice.
18. Make an Indian dish with Farro instead of
white rice.
19. Substitute Greek yogurt for regular yogurt.
20. Replace whole milk with low-fat or skim milk.
21. Enjoy a cup of green tea.
22. Make an Indian dish grilled instead of fried.
23. Cook with sweet potatoes instead of potatoes.
24. Replace butter and margarine with nut butters—
peanut or almond.
25. Eat five small meals instead of two or three
big ones.
26. Learn to read nutrition labels.
27. Learn how to make your favorite dessert in a
healthy way.
28. Use a measuring spoon for oil instead of just
pouring oil in the pan.
29. Add blueberries to your cereal.
30. Eat 60-70 gm of protein daily; count the number
of grams consumed at each meal.
31. Pat yourself for a job well done. If you’re not
doing well, repeat the steps above till you
perfect it!
[Aarti Patel serves as the columnist for Fitness Lifestyle. She has a B.Sc. in Health Information Administration and is certified by the American Council on Exercise as a Personal and Group Fitness Instructor, and Lifestyle and Weight Management Coach. She can be reached at (404)-376-5655; info@aartifitness.com. This column rotates monthly along with the Ask the Doctor column by Gulshan Harjee, M.D.]
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