The Easy Choice ...

I’m currently teaching a class called Small Steps to Health and Wealth.  There are many health and wealth connections, but one I recently noted is that America Saves Week ends and National Nutrition Month begins.  Which makes a nice segue way for me, because this morning I was thinking about nutrition.  Not because I have it all figured out, mind you, but, I do try, to make reasonably healthy food choices, until a piece of chocolate gets in the way.

Really, that’s the problem, isn’t it?  What gets in the way of making good choices?  When a plate of brownies is sitting on the counter, it is hard to think about eating anything else, much less the cauliflower that is still wrapped and in the fridge.  The book, The Tipping Point, talks about the “stickiness factor.” The basic premise is about what makes a change or behavior stick.  Since January, I’ve made a concentrated effort to make the good choices stick.  For instance, once a week, I’m peeling a bag of carrots and cutting them with a crinkle cutter and putting them in a clear container in the front of the refrigerator.  Guess what?  We are eating more carrots.  I’ve also been making a batch of steel cut oats on Sunday evenings and portioning them out for weekday breakfasts, along with diced apples.  Having the food already prepared makes the healthy choices easier.

After my sugar spiral during the holiday season, I made a goal to eat more vegetables this year.  A friend sentme a link to a website with “Salad in a Jar” ideas.  It seemed to fit my style, so I’ve been preparing salads on Sunday evenings, too.  I put a bit of dressing in the bottom of a wide-mouth quart jar.  The next layer has to
be something that is pretty sturdy and won’t wilt while sitting in the dressing.  I’ve found that broccoli slaw (which can be bought prepped and bagged at the grocery store) and cherry tomatoes hold up nicely for this first layer in the dressing.  I’ve added a variety of other items to my salads, from corn, black beans and dice jalapenos with a homemade chipotle dressing to sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and crumbled bacon with a creamy parmesan dressing.  I top the jars off with cut lettuce that has been rinsed and spun.  Since the salads are made in a quart jar, I know I’m getting close to four cups of vegetables daily.  I make five salads on Sunday and the one on Friday still has crisp lettuce.  I’ve also tried a quinoa salad, which I portion into a pint jar that provides whole grain goodness and protein.  Besides the fact that lunch is already made, it is extremely efficient.  I think the fact that all the products are in clear containers makes them a colorful and attractive option.

 

How attractive and ready to eat our food is really makes a difference.  When teaching nutrition, I often talk about making the healthy choice the easy choice. You might look at the places in your home where food is stored and see which foods are most accessible and noticeable.  Open cupboards, refrigerators, freezers and see what you find.  Are the nutrient rich foods in the front, at eye level, in clear containers and easy to choose?  Are the chips in a brown paper bag on a high shelf and in the back?  If not, can you rearrange your food environment?   

In order to make the healthy choice visible at home, I have even changed to clear glass fruit bowls and I moved them to a location that makes them easy to grab.  I’ve also been working on serving colorful fruits and vegetables in glass containers at meetings.  At one recent meeting, I served mandarins, bananas and apples.  It took considerably less time than making cookies!  At another meeting, I served carrots, celery sticks and apple slices.  I did have a little dip for the apples, because I am reasonable (no matter what my family says). 

I’ve been able to keep up with the plan to make the healthy choice the easy choice for a few months.  I challenge you, during National Nutrition Month, to pick one new healthy habit to develop.  It doesn’t matter if the chocolate attacks you occasionally, leaping into your mouth and melting there.  What matters is the success you have today toward a healthy goal.  One of the inspiring quotes from the Small Steps to Health and Wealth class was from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. who said, “The greatest thing in the world is not so much where we are, but in which direction we are moving.”  

Resources:

The resources below are for your consideration.  No endorsement of products, ideas, etc. is intended by including links. 

www.eatright.org
Spend Smart. Eat Smart.
Video on Salads in Jar
Small Steps to Health and Wealth