1) Worked with dietitians and modified recipes
- This helped me really learn how to make small changes to recipes to make them healthier. I applied this to my cooking while at home.
2) Cooked meals and used the leftovers for lunches
- Cooking my own meals helped me moderate what was going in it and to really use vegetables to their full potential.
- I also used so many vegetables trying different ones to create new and exciting recipes.
** Some new vegetables I tried this summer are: turnips, parsnips, jicama, escarole and kale.
3) Stayed active
- I made sure that everyday I walked during my lunch break (as long as the weather allowed) and to and from the train each day. This helped ensure that no matter if I was working out or not I still was able to get some activity in.
4) Really limited my red meat consumption
- While taking advanced nutrition in the spring I learned a lot about red meat and its over consumption in correlation to cancer. This was frightening because in my house we would eat red meat 3-4x a week (yikes). Since I refuse to eliminate any foods unless of religious or medical reasons I decided to really moderate my red meat intake including: steaks, ground beef, pork chops, hot dogs, ham and bologna. Overall there were 3x that I have eaten red meat since May and although I can't really pin point any specific changes the one thing I did notice was that I feel less bloated. I spent a lot of time creating plenty of recipes with chicken, turkey, tofu and beans to substitute protein properly.5) Stayed informed.
- Part of being a dietitian is keeping up with everything in the nutritional and public health world. Although I did not blog as much as I wanted to I did make sure to read a lot and stay in tuned to what is currently going on.
- For people who want to be healthier the first step is educating yourself. It is important that you know what you are feeding your body before doing it because some foods can have detrimental effects and other substantial.
** Some news from the summer: the mayors initiative to tax sweetened beverages and junk food, controversy over professional athletes going vegan and if it is beneficial or detrimental to their career or not, and so much more.
