Out with the OLD and in with the NEW

Tips on How to Spring Clean Your Diet

By Chef Cameron Payne

Those of us who live in southern Utah know that spring brings many things: sports, outdoor recreation, festivals, fun events, and of course, everyone’s favorite...the traditional “spring cleaning” that takes place in almost every home. Even in my own house, spring is the time to clean cabinets and fridges. Out with the old and in with the new!

Spring is also the perfect time to clean up your diet. A great start is to remove processed foods—you know, those packaged items that have ingredient lists you can’t even pronounce. Throw them out! If they’re not in your cabinets, you can’t eat them. As a general rule, it’s a good idea to avoid eating things that you can’t pronounce...unless it is quinoa. Quinoa is on our good list.

Step two. With the weather getting hotter, we need to increase our water intake. The average person should be drinking half their body weight in ounces of water each day. With increased physical exercise, you should up the amount you drink even more.

Next? Throw out those artificial sweeteners! As bad as sugar is for the body, artificial sweeteners are even worse. More and more health problems are linked to artificial sweeteners.

With daylight savings time changing, the days stay lighter longer. This often leads to eating later into the evening. Focus on not eating much after 7:00 p.m. It also makes sense for dinner to be the lightest meal of the day. Start with a big, healthy breakfast. Most people have a tendency to skip breakfast, but most of the people who skip breakfast are not slim. Your metabolism doesn’t really kick in until you feed it. Your body is like a vehicle; it needs fuel! Feed your body like you feed your car. (Not literally...refined petroleum does little to improve one’s health.) Lunch should be your second biggest meal, and dinner should be your smallest, lowest carbohydrate meal of the day. You really don’t need to fuel your machine just to go to sleep.

Smoothies are a great drink during the spring and summer seasons, especially as a dinner replacement. If you are making the smoothie yourself, watch out for the number of calories you are putting in it. Read the back of the protein powder bottle, and opt for a low-sugar, quality protein powder. If you are buying your smoothie from a store, buyer beware; not all smoothies are calorically equal. One local cafe has smoothies ranging from 240 calories to 2200 calories. You never know how many calories you are taking in unless you do a little research.

Get a healthy start to the spring and summer seasons by taking time today to give these spring cleaning tips a try. Happy cleaning!

Here’s a quick and easy smoothie recipe I use that is also kid friendly:

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 cups ice

1/3 cup powdered peanut butter

6 ounces bananas (about 4 medium bananas)

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

2 tablespoons honey

Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Yields about 4 cups (2.5 servings). Serving size: 12 ounces. Approximately 205 calories per serving.

About the Author

Chef Cameron began his career while in culinary school. He went on to work for Wolfgang Puck, Wynn Resorts, and Bellagio in Las Vegas. He moved to Utah and became corporate chef for Biggest Loser Resorts. Working with clients at the resort inspired Cameron to open up a local healthy restaurant, Twisted Noodle Cafe. He is now working with southern Utah residents to eat healthier.