This quick-tip falls under the you’ll-never-know-unless-you-ask category. Ever been to a restaurant and been less than thrilled by the regular fare of refined carbs or butter-filled baked goods? Well …

“Ask The Restaurant If It Offers A Healthier Alternative”

I know for a fact that restaurants like Olive Garden will substitute whole-grain linguine for their regular pasta in most of their dishes and many restaurants also offer whole-wheat breads as an alternative.

Low-fat versions of the same dishes, vegetable-substitutions for red-meat, dividing portions into two before bringing a dish to the table … the list of things a restaurant may be able to do to improve the dietary value of your meal is potentially endless.

Try it the next time you are eating out - your restaurant might just surprise you!

Technorati Tags: health, nutrition, whole-grains, whole-wheat, restaurants

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“Skim milk? It’s just glorified water!”
“Plain Oatmeal? Do humans eat that?”
“Plain Cheerios? Bleecchhhh!”

Yes, readers - I totally understand! I hear similar outbursts a lot at home (mostly from guests but sometimes even from that person in the mirror). Simply knowing the good effects of a raw/plain/unsweetened/low-fat food does not make it any more palatable. If wolfing down raw broccoli and natural oatmeal is difficult at first then today’s quick tip is perfect for you:

“Mix And Match Healthful And Not-As-Healthful Foods”

You can improve the healthfulness of a food by mixing different varieties together. You can begin with equal quantities of the two and then slowly reduce the less healthy variety until you get used to the taste of the healthy food. Here are some practical examples:

1. Milk: Mix 1/2 cup skim milk with 1/2 cup 2% milk. Slowly make the other half 1% and then reduce the quantity to 1/4 cup and so on until skim milk doesn’t taste too bad.
2. Oatmeal: Mix about 3 or 4 servings of regular oatmeal with a single serving pouch of sweetened oatmeal (you might as well get your favorite flavor - the fruit varieties rule in our home!) and store in a container. Use this “mixed bag” to begin with and as usual slowly reduce the ratio of the sweetened variety.
3. Cheerios: Mix in Honey Nut Cheerios (or Fruit-flavored Cheerios) with Plain Cheerios and store in a … you get the idea.

Note that none of the flavored or sweetened foods mentioned above are really that bad for you (that’s why I say “Not As Healthful” - there are far worse things you could be eating) - but if you have made up your mind to reduce your dependence on sugary/sweetened foods or would like to switch to skim milk, this idea will help you in achieving that goal.
The bottomline is that by doing this you are simply training your tongue to discover, extract and relish the flavor of natural, low-fat or unsweetened foods (believe me, it’s not as impossible as you might think - like anything else taste can be trained with a little effort).

What ideas do you use at home to make eating healthy that much easier? Do share your stories in the comments section for everyone to enjoy and benefit from!

Technorati Tags: health, nutrition, foods, quick tips

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