Your Back to Health and Wellness Blog: February 2018

Healthy Swaps for National Nutrition Month

Instead of aggressive weight loss goals and dietary overhauls like you may have attempted in January, we're taking a totally different approach for the month of March—and we think you'll love it. Here's the deal: Try to incorporate at least one of the following each day of the month.

· Use Smaller Plates

Use your salad plates instead of your dinner plates and you'll be surprised how much less food you eat overall.

· Take 10 Minutes to Purge

It's like the joy of tidying up, but for your waistline. Get a trash bag, go through your fridge and pantry, and throw out all of the expired food and junk food you know is not good for your health! If it's not in the house, you won't eat it.

· Allow Zero Distractions when Eating

It is difficult to eat mindfully if you are quickly rushing through a meal to get to the next thing. It's even more difficult to be mindful if you are distracted by an electronic device that steals your attention from the food." The challenge? "Take a full 30 minutes to eat your lunch or dinner. Seriously, set a timer. Do so without your phone, computer, TV, magazine, or other distractions.

· Do This when You Wake Up

Start your day with a glass of lemon water and a positive meditation for a bright outlook. This is actually one of the top tips for getting a flat belly—fast!—because lemons are a diuretic and help diminish bloat.

· Eat Only One-ingredient Foods

This one would be difficult to do all month, but it's definitely do-able for a day. For the day, stick to eating foods that are only one ingredient. For example, raw vegetables, nuts or seeds that are un processed.

· Only Eat at Tables

This helps to prevent the unconscious eating that can be a common problem. Be sure distractions like TVs, smartphones, and computers are out of sight too. Studies show we eat more and are less satisfied when we are distracted. You will most likely discover you naturally eat less and enjoy your food more when you eat mindfully. As an added bonus, you'll find you'll connect to your loved ones more when you eat mindfully together.

· Don't Eat Anything That Comes Out of a Box

Shelf-stable foods are often high in the types of ingredients we actually want to avoid (sugar, additives and preservatives) because they are used to ensure the food will last a long time on the shelf.

· Plan a Snack That's a Time-consuming

For instance, rather than a grab-n-go munchie snack, choose in-shell pistachios since you'll need to slow down and remove the shells yourself; plus, this may help fool yourself full because leftover shells may provide a visual cue to potentially curb portions

· Ditch Soda and Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

Drink water with lemons instead of soda, tea or other beverage you typically drink. Morning organic coffee is fine, but other than that, drink water with meals and throughout the day.

Important Dates

March 8th and March 15th– Thankful Thursdays– On these Thursdays– Exams for Friends and Family will be FREE! Call to book today, Limited appointments available.

March 9th-18th– District 51 and CMU Spring Break

March 12th –15th– The Office will be Closed and will Re-Open Monday March 19th for normal business hours

March 17th– St. Patrick’s Day

March 24th– Alternative Health Expo– Two Rivers Convention 10am-5pm Free to Attend– Come See Us!