Drop the Dogma By Jodi Brown, the Ultimate Kitchen Commando
The January “diet,” much like the Monday diet, is a sure way to disappoint yourself again on your quest to better health. Unless you are experiencing some sort of health crisis that requires you to immediately adjust the foods you currently ingest, all or nothing is a recipe for disaster. Break the cycle. Start with just one thing but do that one thing every day. Consistency is key. As adults we want to feel as if we are succeeding quickly in order to continue towards our goals. Here are three things you can add to your routine over the next several months that will quickly garner you some positive changes in your overall health. Green Smoothies – Loaded with fiber, vitamins, minerals and hydrating water, this is the mother load of super nutrition and sets the body up early in the day with the nutrition it needs to carry you forward and perform. The key word here is green. We aren’t making fruit drinks, but green, nutrient-dense beverages. If you must, start with less green and add more as your palate adjusts, but you want to continue to add more green as you go along in order to obtain the benefits of their super-alkalizing gift. The fruit is there mostly to make it palatable. In your blender combine 2/3 greens (like spinach, kale or chard) to 1/3 ripe fruit (tropicals have more sugar) with some water and blend. There are tons of recipes for green smoothies on the Internet. Make a blender full and drink half for breakfast and bring the other half for an afternoon snack. Once you get in the routine of the smoothie you can consider adding food based supplements to make it even more nutritious – chia seeds, maca powder, goji berries, pea protein, spirulina and green powders are great places to start. Salad – I love that I can have an enormous bowl of guilt-free food every day. If you are inclined to add some lean animal protein you can – fish, chicken, beef, etc. Or you can add avocado, nuts and seeds to increase the plant-based fats to give you a feeling of satiety. Instead of dumping on often not-sonutritious store-bought dressing, try sprinkling on a little olive oil with a dash of balsamic or red wine vinegar or a squeeze of citrus. Don’t forget to chew, chew, chew.
Whole Foods – This is the real test. Can you eliminate processed foods from your diet? Have you ever tried? Research is showing over and over again that our modern diet filled with processed “foods” is wreaking havoc on our bodies. Many of us have physical issues related to food that we are completely unaware of. The only sure way of knowing whether they are problematic is to eliminate them completely for a period of three to four weeks to see if you feel differently. Do you have to give them up forever? Maybe not, but you won’t know until you try. I recommend you commit to eliminating foods, one at a time that you think might be problematic for three weeks. You’ll know by then whether you should continue to eat the item or not. Here’s my recipe for success. Start with just one green smoothie but do it every day until you feel confident that it has become part of your daily routine. No excuses. Then add a daily salad to your repertoire but also do that every day. I can guarantee you that if you can get to a place where you are drinking a green smoothie and eating a big beautiful salad every day your life will change for the better. Guaranteed. Then add the elimination of a processed food you think might be problematic for you – gluten, dairy, soy, eggs or corn. Remember, many small successes add up to bigger ones. Bite off only what you can chew. You can find valuable food information on my website www.ultimatekitchencommando.com. Happy New YOU!
January/February 2014
pensacolamagazine.com
11