Dietary Goals
Thanks to a new wealth of literature, I've been learning and re-learning a lot about nutrition lately. The more I learn, the more it continues to shape my ideal eating habits. It's a good thing, but it brings about a constant, vague sense of confusion. There's also the whole "information overload" thing, which can be overwhelming. To counteract this, I'm trying to narrow down a few specific goals that I can work on.
Goal #1: Reduce Sugar Intake
I cut out a lot of sugar initially when I stepped away from processed foods. But I still consume probably way more of the refined white stuff in the form of chocolate, which is my major food vice. Chocolate itself, I know, is not unhealthy, but the manner and quantity with which I tend to consume it is. So part of this goal includes finding healthier alternatives to getting my chocolate fix. I have one idea already, thanks to ithisia. The other difficulty here is my love of baked goods and desserts. I don't want to stop baking, nor do I want to stop using real, traditional ingredients. I think, in this case, it will be a matter of finding more desserts that don't call for a lot of sugar and white flour.
Goal #2: Increase Intake of Fruits & Vegetables
This is one I have been struggling with for a while now. I'm not sure why it's been such slow progress; all I know is that for a long time I rarely ate fresh fruits or vegetables, and it feels like it's taking forever to shake that habit. I have been doing a lot of experimenting with different foods and cooking methods, trying to determine what I like, and I guess I haven't gotten to the point of being confident with most of it yet. So the goal here is to include at least one fruit or vegetable with each meal and to make sure that every dinner includes at least one vegetable. I think this will require me to plan my meals more -- otherwise I am prone to lazily grabbing whatever is most convenient.
Goal #1: Reduce Sugar Intake
I cut out a lot of sugar initially when I stepped away from processed foods. But I still consume probably way more of the refined white stuff in the form of chocolate, which is my major food vice. Chocolate itself, I know, is not unhealthy, but the manner and quantity with which I tend to consume it is. So part of this goal includes finding healthier alternatives to getting my chocolate fix. I have one idea already, thanks to ithisia. The other difficulty here is my love of baked goods and desserts. I don't want to stop baking, nor do I want to stop using real, traditional ingredients. I think, in this case, it will be a matter of finding more desserts that don't call for a lot of sugar and white flour.
Goal #2: Increase Intake of Fruits & Vegetables
This is one I have been struggling with for a while now. I'm not sure why it's been such slow progress; all I know is that for a long time I rarely ate fresh fruits or vegetables, and it feels like it's taking forever to shake that habit. I have been doing a lot of experimenting with different foods and cooking methods, trying to determine what I like, and I guess I haven't gotten to the point of being confident with most of it yet. So the goal here is to include at least one fruit or vegetable with each meal and to make sure that every dinner includes at least one vegetable. I think this will require me to plan my meals more -- otherwise I am prone to lazily grabbing whatever is most convenient.