So you either already learned how to eat healthy, or you’re now learning to eat healthy, but you can’t possibly eat another carrot stick or suck down another green juice and don’t even get you started on scrambled egg whites for breakfast every.single.day. Sound familiar?
Ever wish you could just invent new foods? It’s something I hear about often from my clients. They are b-o-r-e-d with their healthy routine.
After a few weeks or months of following various diet plans, it’s easy to lean too heavily on the same few healthy foods and meals. (Your refrigerator just called, and it’s really tired of yogurt, too!)
So while I can’t conjure up a variety of broccoli that tastes like chocolate or transform salad greens into pasta or create a new fat burning food, I do know there are hundreds of tricks to put new zing in your old healthy eating standbys.
Learning how to eat healthy doesn’t have to be the most boring thing you’ve ever done, and staying healthy doesn’t have to be an exercise in monotony.
How to Eat Healthy Without Getting Bored
Shake up your yogurt routine
- Make it savory: Instead of adding fruit, cinnamon or honey to your yogurt, add ¼ cup of chopped cucumbers, ¼ cup of tomatoes, ½ teaspoon of olive oil, and a dash of red wine vinegar for a tangy, Mediterranean-inspired snack. Pair it with raw veggies.
- Make it dessert-worthy: Add 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter and 1 tsp cocoa powder for a peanut-buttery chocolate treat. Note: you can do this with oats too!
- Make it tea-licious: Green tea doesn’t just belong in a mug. Sprinkle in 1 tbsp of matcha powder and stir some antioxidants right into your bowl.
Add sex appeal to sandwiches
- Try something richer: Spread on a little healthy fat, from hummus, mashed avocado or a nut butter.
- Crunch it up: Sprinkle sliced almonds, finely chopped walnuts, or cashews on turkey or grilled chicken wraps.
- Make it ethnic: Mango chutney or spicy salsa can give your sandwich some flavor pizzazz.
Un-blah food with more flavor
- Turn up the heat: Cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, wasabi or hot sauce make so many dishes more interesting, from your morning eggs to your evening chicken breast. Diet food does not mean tasteless food. Remember this always.
- Rediscover zest: Add fresh lemon or lime juice, white balsamic vinegar, pomegranate champagne vinegar or ginger rice vinegar to kick up the flavor profile of savory dishes, especially fish.
- Make it earthy: Add mixed mushrooms (shitake, Portobello, Oyster) to tomato sauce, stir fries or tacos for a woodsy, hearty flavor, or if you’re sick of lettuce wrapped turkey burgers try portobello mushrooms with the turkey burger in between.
How to Stop Bloating in 5 Easy Steps
Are you waking up feeling a little puffy? Do you need pliers to pull your rings off and an extra strength shoe horn to squeeze your feet into your new heels?
Besides your waistline, you may notice a little bloat in your face, neck, fingers and ankles.
You are retaining a layer of water just underneath your skin.
Don’t freak out. It happens to everyone.
It isn’t fat and you don’t have to get used to it. You can banish it with a little know how.
Learn how to stop bloating, shuck that layer, and unveil a more streamlined version of you.
How to Stop Bloating in 5 Easy Steps
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Push Fluid With Fluid.
If you are retaining water, you may be dealing with a little electrolyte imbalance.
It may feel counter intuitive, but drinking water will flush (literally) the extra fluid from your system.
Steer clear of the bubbly stuff (that won’t help!) and if you’re looking for a little extra zip to your H2O, toss in a slice of lemon, grapefruit or cucumber, which may help you suck down a little more.
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Moo-ve the Dairy.
Dairy isn’t easy for many adults to digest. As we age, we lose the enzyme needed to break down and process milk sugars — the side effect is bloating, gas and cramping.
Take a few days to ditch milk and dairy products completely. Don’t substitute them, just take a break from milk, cheese and yogurt.
If you notice a big difference, you may be intolerant, so try adding back dairy foods one at a time.
Try yogurt first (and no other dairy) and check in with yourself to see if the bloat returns. The next day try milk in your coffee.
Add one dairy food a day, so you can see what works for you.
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Choose Fruit Wisely.
So, believe it or not, you are better off not going for the apples, pears and melon if you want to push out the water weight.
Choose berries, lemons, oranges, grapefruit and grapes, as they don’t hold on to as much water and are more easily digested.
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Ditch What You Can’t Pronounce.
Can’t say it? Don’t eat it. Ditch all artificial sweeteners and diet foods.
They can make you bloated and trigger gas and diarrhea: exactly what you don’t want.
Stay away from xylitol, maltitol, sorbitol and all the artificial sweeteners. You don’t need the diet yogurt, soda, cookies or other nutrient poor foods.
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Stop the Starch.
Starches, especially the processed ones, like cereals, pastas, breads and crackers, hold on to water. You don’t want that.
Either do without the toast and pasta, or choose whole grain and less processed options like brown rice, root vegetables or oats. They’re better choices, anyway.
You still need fiber, which is super important for both your health and your six pack, so get it from produce and whole grains, or consider a supplement — don’t forget to wash down your fiber rich foods with lots of water.
Ok, that’s how to stop bloating. You’ll slide your rings off with ease, slip into those neew heels easily and relish your streamlined self.
Why You Need to Stop Drinking Low-Fat Milk
Ask Keri: Should I be drinking fat-free, whole, or low-fat milk?
Keri Says: Back in the day, dairy was the only food I recommended eating in a low-fat or fat-free version (versus things like peanut butter, which I never recommended low-fat!).
I justified that because most foods that have fat removed have sugar and other junk added. Certain dairy foods, on the other hand, have the fat removed without adding sugar or chemicals.
After tons of reading and new research tracking, my position on dairy has evolved.
I now recommend portion-controlled full-fat dairy and usually limit my recommendations to one or two max servings a day, depending on the client’s needs.
We’re figuring out that taking the fat out of our milk changes the carb, fat, and protein profile.
There is more carbohydrate (aka sugar) in lower or non-fat dairy products, and without the fat to balance the nutrients, this disrupts the endocrine system (think hormones getting out of whack), interferes with weight management, increases acne, and a whole host of other problems.
Bottom line: Whole milk, yogurt, cheese and even ice cream in portion controlled servings beat low fat milk, yogurt, cheese, etc.
Even better: Choose full-fat dairy products labeled organic and grassfed.
The real deal wins again.