March is National Nutrition Month. Can you guess the most important factor in eating right? More important than antioxidants, grams of sugar, or even calories?With so many diet plans and experts proclaiming “This is the way..”, how do you get to your own way of eating right? What one thing can you do to ensure you are eating right? The answer, practice your habits every single day!

Practice a rainbow of choices each day

Yup, daily practice of the way you choose to eat best for yourself is what will separate lifelong success from repeated cycles of feeling great and wishing things were different for you. The key here is that your eating habits are the way you choose to put good eating into practice. When you’re in charge, it becomes easy to stick with your healthy choices.

For me, planning to eat well is the difference between feeling great and ending up with food I am just not excited to eat. The saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you might as well just plan to fail”. I start with taking a look at each day of the week. What meals can I eat at home and which ones do I need to bring with me? Are there other good options available to me away from home? From there I look at the overall week. Are there any especially hectic days, business lunches, or even social engagements on the horizon? This can be as simple as looking at the calendar and observing how your week plays out.

With these insights, I can decide how to manage my time in the kitchen. When can I cook a meal with a little extra to take the next day or that will freeze well for later in the week? On a busy day what can I put together quickly to take me through the day? The final piece of the puzzle is begin sure to have all the groceries I will need for the week on hand. A quick look through the fridge and freezer tells me what I need to put on my shopping list. Whether you choose to shop once a week, every few days, or even on a daily basis, having a supply list will save you time.

When I make a list, I organize it in the way my favorite grocery store is laid out. Each of the categories are:

Produce  & Deli items (these two are beside each other in my store)

Grocery items (the dangerous middle section of the store)

Meats & Seafood (yeah, lean proteins!)

Dairy (look for hormone free or organic)

and finally, any Frozen items (keep these to a minimum).

This get me through the store quickly and minimizes the chance of forgetting anything. This is the way that works for me and Kathy, my wife.

Kathy has her own Acupuncture practice. She often sees patients into the evening. This generally means she needs to take two meals plus snacks for the day. Meals for her are typically extras from my dinner the night before. These might be a stuffed chicken breast, an Indian curry, or a piece of fish. We always include a green vegetable for her. It could be as simple as steamed broccoli or some sautéed kale. Once or twice a week her daily food basket will include a sandwich. These are usually turkey or tuna salad. We always make her sandwiches with lettuce, onion, and tomato.  Snacks for Kathy might be almond butter and apple slices or humus and carrots. From the store I get her Annie Chun’s Wasabi Seaweed snacks or some Kind Bars.

You can get an idea of the types of foods we choose by reading through the various entries on this blog. What you’ll notice is that all the recipes are based on whole, fresh foods. You might also notice there is a wide variety of foods. These two principles are what underlie our daily choices.

March is National Nutrition Month.  Really notice how the food you eat each day makes you feel. Take a look at your food choices. Do they meet your own personal goals? Do you have the energy to do the things you love? Is your immune system strong enough to avoid being sick and missing work, play, or other quality life time? Decide for yourself what works for you. Then be sure to practice those choices every day, all year long.

TAGS: Cleanse, Consciousness, healthy eating, whole foods, skin