March is National Nutrition Month. The theme this year is “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day.” It is very important to recognize there is no one size fits all approach when it comes to your nutrition regimen. An individual’s diet is dictated by their food preferences, lifestyle, cultural & ethnic traditions, and health concerns – creating a need for a personalized nutrition approach. Registered dietitians play a critical role in helping people eat right, their way, every day.
I want you to take a minute and evaluate your current diet. Where do you have deficits? Not enough protein? Not enough fiber? Not enough vegetables? Where in your diet do you have surplus? Too many processed carbs? Too many calories? Too many heart healthy fat? Deficits and surplus in your diet stem from your food preferences, your lifestyle, your cultural & ethnic traditions, and your health concerns.
Now that you have evaluated your deficits and surpluses in your diet, where can you begin to make change? Be sure not to set yourself up for failure by tackling too many goals at once. Start with one or two goals for each category (deficits and surplus). For example, if when you evaluated your diet you may have noticed you were not getting any vegetables. Create a goal of adding vegetables at least every night at dinner. If you can increase this goal into lunch and / or snack that would be encouraged. Do the same thing for your surpluses. For example, if you have candy, chocolates, or other sweet treats every evening after dinner, make it a goal to have sweet treats every other day. Slowly stepping this down even more would be encouraged.
Evaluate your diet, recognize the need for change, and prioritize your goal so you can Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day.
If you have not liked us on Facebook, check us out! Below are some recipes you have missed from our Facebook page, DNA Performance & Nutrition
Greek Yogurt Covered Blueberries
Ingredients
Mix one – 6 oz container of plain non-fat Greek yogurt
2 tbsp vanilla protein powder (if you don’t have protein powder or would prefer not to use one; use vanilla extract without corn syrup – McCormick’s is a good – add in cinnamon and stevia to taste)
Directions
1) Mix the yogurt and protein powder (or alternative ingredients) in a small bowl
2) Stir in clean fresh blueberries and spoon small clusters onto a baking sheet and stick in freezer. Enjoy the clusters once frozen!
Portobello Mushroom Pizza
Ingredients
4 tomatoes
4 large Portobello mushrooms
4 cloves of garlic
lemon
1 leek
1 onion
fresh basil
parmesan cheese
fresh parsley
olive oil
salt
Instructions
1) Heat about 2 tbsp olive oil in a non stick pan
2) Chop up the onion into small pieces, then add it to the pan and stir until it’s slightly brown.
3) Dice up the tomatoes, garlic cloves, and leek, and add them to the pan with the onions. Saute until the ingredients are soft. Add a pinch of salt to the mixture and stir.
4) Add the lemon juice and stir.
5) Begin preheating the oven at 400 degrees.
6) Chiffon the basil leaves (chop them up) and add to the pan. Stir.
7) Spray olive oil on a baking sheet and place the Portobello mushrooms on the sheet, bottom side up with stems removed.
8) Add the mixed ingredients form the sauce pan into each mushroom and top with the grated parmesan cheese. Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees.
9) Sprinkle the pizzas with the fresh (or dry) parsley.
Serving Size: makes 4 Portobello pizzas
Pair a pizza with a protein