March is National Nutrition Month! This year’s theme is “Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle”. Let’s think about this, small bites equal one large bite. Why not begin changing nutrition habits slowly by taking small steps, and then gradually continuing this trend to make a pretty big change in your nutrition habits. For example, for the month of March, purchase only sodas or drinks with less than 10 calories per serving. Since the average soda has 150 calories per serving, this will save 140 calories each day, and approximately 4,200 calories in one month! This is a pretty big change, because by giving up 4,200 calories in one month, an individual can lose 1.2 pounds, since giving up 3,500 calories lose 1 pound.
Giving up higher calorie drinks may seem like a small change, but then let’s look at losing 1.2 pounds a month for 12 months. This adds up to 14.4 pounds a year…now another big change!
Losing weight can improve health and reduce complications from diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Perhaps choosing to eat lower fat meats such as white meat chicken and turkey, fish, shrimp, or sirloin cuts of meat for the month of March, will help lower cholesterol. Do this every March and slowly learn new ways to cook lean meats for good flavor and taste. With enough experience creating new recipes, eating more lean meat may become a lifestyle habit to live with year-round. Small nutrition changes CAN make a difference in health.
What is your small change going to be this month?
