The Art of Eating Smart

One of the best ways to ensure you are receiving all the  essential nutrients your body requires is to make smart choices  from every  food group, find balance  between food and physical activity,  and  get the most nutrition out of your calories. You can refer to ChooseMyplate.gov for  moredetailed, individualized guidelines.

1. Make Half  Your Grains Whole

• To eat more whole grains, substitute a whole-grain product for a refined product – such as eating whole-wheat bread instead of white bread or brown rice instead of white rice. It’s important to substitute the whole-grain product for the refined one, rather than addingthe whole-grain product.
• For a change, try brown rice or whole-wheat pasta. Try brown rice stuffing in baked green peppers or tomatoes and whole-wheat macaroni in macaroni and cheese.
• Use whole grains in mixed dishes, such as barley in vegetable soup or stews and bulgur wheat in casserole or stir-fries.
• Create a whole grain pilaf with a mixture of barley, wild rice, brown rice, broth and spices. For a special touch, stir in toasted nuts or chopped dried fruit.
• Experiment by substituting whole wheat or oat flour for up to half of the flour in pancake, waffle, muffin or other flour-based recipes. They may need a bit more leavening.
• Use whole-grain bread or cracker crumbs in meatloaf.
• Try rolled oats or a crushed, unsweetened whole grain cereal as breading for baked chicken, fish, veal cutlets, or eggplant parmesan.
• Try an unsweetened, whole grain ready-to-eat cereal as croutons in salad or in place of crackers with soup.
• Freeze leftover cooked brown rice, bulgur, or barley. Heat and serve it later as a quick side dish.
• Snack on ready-to-eat, whole grain cereals such as toasted oat cereal.
• Add whole-grain flour or oatmeal when making cookies or other baked treats.
• Try a whole-grain snack chip, such as baked tortilla chips.
• Popcorn, a whole grain, can be a healthy snack with little or no added salt and butter.
• Set a good example for children by eating whole grains with meals or as snacks.
• Let children select and help prepare a whole grain side dish.
• Teach older children to read the ingredient list on cereals or snack food packages and choose those with whole grains at the top of the list.

2. Vary Your Veggies

• Buy fresh vegetables in season.They cost less and are likely to be at their peak flavor.
• Stock up on frozen vegetables for quick and easy cooking in the microwave.
• Buy vegetables that are easy to prepare. Pick up pre-washed bags of salad greens and add baby carrots or grape tomatoes for a salad in minutes. Buy packages of veggies such as baby carrots or celery sticks for quick snacks.
• Use a microwave to quickly “zap” vegetables. White or sweet potatoes can be baked quickly this way.
• Vary your veggie choices to keep meals interesting.
• Try crunchy vegetables, raw or lightly steamed.
• Select vegetables with more potassium often, such as sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, winter squash, spinach, lentils, kidney beans, and split peas.
• Sauces or seasonings can add calories, fat, and sodium to vegetables. Use theNutrition Facts label to compare the calories and % Daily Value for fat and sodium in plain and seasoned vegetables.
• Prepare more foods from fresh ingredients to lower sodium intake. Most sodium in the food supply comes from packaged or processed foods.
• Buy canned vegetables labeled “no salt added.” If you want to add a little salt it will likely be less than the amount in the regular canned product.
• Plan some meals around a vegetable main dish, such as a vegetable stir-fry or soup. Then add other foods to complement it.
• Try a main dish salad for lunch. Go light on the salad dressing.
• Include a green salad with your dinner every night.
• Shred carrots or zucchini into meatloaf, casseroles, quick breads, and muffins.
• Include chopped vegetables in pasta sauce or lasagna.
• Order a veggie pizza with toppings like mushrooms, green peppers, and onions, and ask for extra veggies.
• Use pureed, cooked vegetables such as potatoes to thicken stews, soups and gravies. These add flavor, nutrients, and texture.
• Grill vegetable kabobs as part of a barbecue meal. Try tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, and onions.
• Many vegetables taste great with a dip or dressing. Try a low-fat salad dressing with raw broccoli, red and green peppers, celery sticks or cauliflower.
• Add color to salads by adding baby carrots, shredded red cabbage, or spinach leaves. Include in-season vegetables for variety through the year.
• Include cooked dry beans or peas in flavorful mixed dishes, such as chili or minestrone soup.
• Decorate plates or serving dishes with vegetable slices.
• Keep a bowl of cut-up vegetables in a see-through container in the refrigerator. Carrot and celery sticks are traditional, but consider broccoli florettes, cucumber slices, or red or green pepper strips.
• Set a good example for children by eating vegetables with meals and as snacks.
• Let children decide on the dinner vegetables or what goes into salads.
• Depending on their age, children can help shop for, clean, peel, or cut up vegetables.
• Allow children to pick a new vegetable to try while shopping.
• Use cut-up vegetables as part of afternoon snacks.
• Children often prefer foods served separately. So, rather than mixed vegetables try serving two vegetables separately.

3. Focus on fruit

• Keep a bowl of whole fruit on the table, counter, or in the refrigerator.
• Refrigerate cut-up fruit to store for later.
• Buy fresh fruits in season when they may be less expensive and at their peak flavor.
• Buy fruits that are dried, frozen, and canned (in water or juice) as well as fresh, so that you always have a supply on hand.
• Consider convenience when shopping. Buy pre-cut packages of fruit (such as melon or pineapple chunks) for a healthy snack in seconds. Choose packaged fruits that do not have added sugars.
• Make most of your choices whole or cut-up fruit rather than juice, for the benefits dietary fiber provides.
• Select fruits with more potassium often, such as bananas, prunes and prune juice, dried peaches and apricots, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and orange juice.
• When choosing canned fruits, select fruit canned in 100% fruit juice or water rather than syrup.
• Vary your fruit choices. Fruits differ in nutrient content.
• At breakfast, top your cereal with bananas or peaches; add blueberries to pancakes; drink 100% orange or grapefruit juice. Or, try a fruit mixed with low-fat or fat-free yogurt.
• At lunch, pack a tangerine, banana, or grapes to eat, or choose fruits from a salad bar. Individual containers of fruits like peaches or applesauce are easy and convenient.
• At dinner, add crushed pineapple to coleslaw, or include mandarin oranges or grapes in a tossed salad.
• Make a Waldorf salad, with apples, celery, walnuts, and dressing.
• Try meat dishes that incorporate fruit, such as chicken with apricots or mango chutney.
• Add fruit like pineapple or peaches to kabobs as part of a barbecue meal.
• For dessert, have baked apples, pears, or a fruit salad.
• Cut-up fruit makes a great snack. Either cut them yourself, or buy pre-cut packages of fruit pieces like pineapples or melons. Or, try whole fresh berries or grapes.
• Dried fruits also make a great snack. They are easy to carry and store well. Because they are dried, ? cup is equivalent to ? cup of other fruits.
• Keep a package of dried fruit in your desk or bag. Some fruits that are available dried include apricots, apples, pineapple, bananas, cherries, figs, dates, cranberries, blueberries, prunes (dried plums), and raisins (dried grapes).
• As a snack, spread peanut butter on apple slices or top frozen yogurt with berries or slices of kiwi fruit.
• Frozen juice bars (100% juice) make healthy alternatives to high-fat snacks.
• Many fruits taste great with a dip or dressing. Try low-fat yogurt or pudding as a dip for fruits like strawberries or melons.
• Make a fruit smoothie by blending fat-free or low-fat milk or yogurt with fresh or frozen fruit. Try bananas, peaches, strawberries, or other berries.
• Try applesauce as a fat-free substitute for some of the oil when baking cakes.
• Try different textures of fruits. For example, apples are crunchy, bananas are smooth and creamy, and oranges are juicy.
• For fresh fruit salads, mix apples, bananas, or pears with acidic fruits like oranges, pineapple, or lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.
• Set a good example for children by eating fruit everyday with meals or as snacks.
• Offer children a choice of fruits for lunch.
• Depending on their age, children can help shop for, clean, peel, or cut up fruits.
• While shopping, allow children to pick out a new fruit to try later at home.
• Decorate plates or serving dishes with fruit slices.
• Top off a bowl of cereal with some berries. Or, make a smiley face with sliced bananas for eyes, raisins for a nose, and an orange slice for a mouth.
• Offer raisins or other dried fruits instead of candy.
• Make fruit kabobs using pineapple chunks, bananas, grapes, and berries.
• Pack a juice box (100% juice) in children’s lunches versus soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages.
• Choose fruit options, such as sliced apples, mixed fruit cup, or 100% fruit juice that are available in some fast food restaurants.
• Offer fruit pieces and 100% fruit juice to children. There is often little fruit in “fruit-flavored” beverages or chewy fruit snacks.

4.  Get your calcium rich foods

• Include milk as a beverage at meals. Choose fat-free or low-fat milk.
• If you usually drink whole milk, switch gradually to fat-free milk, to lower saturated fat and calories. Try reduced fat (2%), then low-fat (1%), and finally fat-free (skim).
• If you drink cappuccinos or lattes—ask for them with fat-free (skim) milk.
• Add fat-free or low-fat milk instead of water to oatmeal and hot cereals
• Use fat-free or low-fat milk when making condensed cream soups (such as cream of tomato).
• Have fat-free or low-fat yogurt as a snack.
• Make a dip for fruits or vegetables from yogurt.
• Make fruit-yogurt smoothies in the blender.
• For dessert, make chocolate or butterscotch pudding with fat-free or low-fat milk.
• Top cut-up fruit with flavored yogurt for a quick dessert.
• Top casseroles, soups, stews, or vegetables with shredded low-fat cheese.
• Top a baked potato with fat-free or low-fat yogurt.
• Avoid raw (unpasteurized) milk or any products made from unpasteurized milk.
• Chill (refrigerate) perishable food promptly and defrost foods properly. Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food and leftovers as soon as possible. If food has been left at temperatures between 40° and 140° F for more than two hours, discard it, even though it may look and smell good.
• Separate raw, cooked and ready-to-eat foods.

5. Go lean with protein

• The leanest beef cuts include round steaks and roasts (round eye, top round, bottom round, round tip), top loin, top sirloin, and chuck shoulder and arm roasts.
• The leanest pork choices include pork loin, tenderloin, center loin, and ham.
• Choose extra lean ground beef. The label should say at least “90% lean.” You may be able to find ground beef that is 93% or 95% lean.
• Buy skinless chicken parts, or take off the skin before cooking.
• Boneless skinless chicken breasts and turkey cutlets are the leanest poultry choices.
• Choose lean turkey, roast beef, ham, or low-fat luncheon meats for sandwiches instead of luncheon meats with more fat, such as regular bologna or salami.
• Trim away all of the visible fat from meats and poultry before cooking.
• Broil, grill, roast, poach, or boil meat, poultry, or fish instead of frying.
• Drain off any fat that appears during cooking.
• Skip or limit the breading on meat, poultry, or fish. Breading adds fat and calories. It will also cause the food to soak up more fat during frying.
• Prepare dry beans and peas without added fats.
• Choose and prepare foods without high fat sauces or gravies.
• Separate raw, cooked and ready-to-eat foods.
• Do not wash or rinse meat or poultry.
• Wash cutting boards, knives, utensils and counter tops in hot soapy water after preparing each food item and before going on to the next one.
• Store raw meat, poultry and seafood on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator so juices don’t drip onto other foods.
• Cook foods to a safe temperature to kill microorganisms. Use a meat thermometer, which measures the internal temperature of cooked meat and poultry, to make sure that the meat is cooked all the way through.
• Chill (refrigerate) perishable food promptly and defrost foods properly. Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food and leftovers within two hours.
• Plan ahead to defrost foods. Never defrost food on the kitchen counter at room temperature. Thaw food by placing it in the refrigerator, submerging air-tight packaged food in cold tap water, or defrosting on a plate in the microwave.
• Avoid raw or partially cooked eggs or foods containing raw eggs and raw or undercooked meat and poultry.
• Women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children should avoid some types of fish and eat types lower in mercury.

6.  Find your balance between food and physical activity

• Join a walking group in the neighborhood or at the local shopping mall. Recruit a partner for support and encouragement.
• Push the baby in a stroller.
• Get the whole family involved—enjoy an afternoon bike ride with your kids.
• Walk up and down the soccer or softball field sidelines while watching the kids play.
• Walk the dog—don’t just watch the dog walk.
• Clean the house or wash the car.
• Walk, skate, or cycle more, and drive less.
• Do stretches, exercises, or pedal a stationary bike while watching television.
• Mow the lawn with a push mower.
• Plant and care for a vegetable or flower garden
• Play with the kids—tumble in the leaves, build a snowman, splash in a puddle, or dance to favorite music.
• Get off the bus or subway one stop early and walk or skate the rest of the way.
• Replace a coffee break with a brisk 10-minute walk. Ask a friend to go with you.
• Take part in an exercise program at work or a nearby gym.
• Join the office softball or bowling team.
• Walk, jog, skate, or cycle.
• Swim or do water aerobics.
• Take a class in martial arts, dance, or yoga.
• Golf (pull cart or carry clubs).
• Canoe, row, or kayak.
• Play racket ball, tennis, or squash.
• Ski cross-country or downhill.
• Play basketball, softball, or soccer.
• Hand cycle or play wheelchair sports.
• Take a nature walk.
• Most important – have fun while being active!

7. Keep food safe to eat

Clean: Wash Hands and Surfaces Often