I think that the beginning of the year, and especially in February, which is heart month, it’s a great time to evaluate your health and to begin to make some lifestyle changes, if needed. As part of the freshening up, is this a good time to take stock of your food cabinets, and do some weeding out and replacing?
Cleaning up the cupboards… OUT with high-fat, salty snacks and IN with whole-grain crackers, unsalted pretzels, assorted nuts, and plain popcorn.
Cleaning up the cupboards…. OUT with candy, rich desserts, and sweet sugary sodas and IN with fresh fruit, simple homemade cookies, and good old-fashioned water.
Cleaning up the cupboards… OUT with sugary refined cereals and white processed grains and IN with whole-grain cereals (likes oats), brown and wild rice, whole-grain pasta, barley, and quinoa.
Okay, so you don’t need to change everything at once – use your foods up, and then as you run out of items, replace with a healthier version. Be well-stocked with legumes, sweet and white potatoes, healthy condiments such as reduce-fat mayonnaise, flavorful vinegars, oils and mustards. And then don’t forget a variety of herbs and spices to give flavor without added salt: thyme, rosemary, garlic, basil, oregano… the list is endless.
