Spring Cleaning Your Diet

Harmful Nutritional Habits to Nip in the Bud This Spring

With spring rounding the bend, you may feel inspired to tidy up some bad habits—including dietary ones. The health experts at Kirby Medical Center are here to share some nutritional habits to nip in the bud this spring to help support your health.

Eating Fast Food

While eating fast food from time to time is relatively harmless, it is important to enjoy these convenient food options in moderation. If you must consume fast food on a weekly basis—check out the restaurant’s website and educate yourself on the best choices—look for words like—grilled and choose vegetables when you can (salads, wraps, sandwiches). And please—choose WATER or unsweetened iced tea to drink! This is because eating a diet high in processed foods, saturated fats, added sugars, and sodium can negatively affect the body.

Some of these negative effects include:

• Acne
• Headaches
• High cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• High blood sugar
• Bloating
• Insulin resistance
• Weight gain
• Shortness of breath

Skipping Breakfast

As the saying goes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day—however, many people find themselves skipping it. Research has shown that those who do not eat a meal in the morning are more likely to:

• Become overweight.
• Fall short on the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables.
• Consume unhealthy snacks throughout the day.
• Overeat later in the day.
• Find it difficult to lose weight

Even if you are in a rush, try to eat some of these nutritious and quick breakfast options: (SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING)

• Kashi Go Rise cereal, Cheerios Protein Cinnamon Almond cereal, oatmeal with 1 TBS light maple syrup.
• Low-fat protein shakes (like Premier Protein) or smoothies made with Fairlife milk (less sugar, more protein, lactose free)
• Whole-grain toast or English muffin with peanut butter and banana or avocado and Everything but the Bagel seasoning
• Greek low-fat Yogurt
• Fresh fruit that is mobile and you can easily carry with you where ever you are going.

Distracted & Mindless Eating

Whether you like to eat dinner in front of the television or scroll through your phone on your lunch break, mindlessly eating can leave you more likely to overeat. This is because your memory is an important factor when it comes to your hunger and fullness. When you multitask during meals and snack times, it is harder for your body to register that you have eaten already. Allow yourself a minimum of 20 minutes to eat your meal.

To avoid this bad habit, try to designate meal times as distraction-free in your home and at work. A great way to do this is to sit at the dinner table without any electronics present or eat in the Apple a Day dining room with (or without) coworkers. Use the intuitive eating and hunger scale to assist in identifying your level of hunger and prevent yourself from getting too hungry and overfull. (See image)

Food, Nutrition and Wellness Services at Kirby Medical Center

At Kirby Medical Center, you can work with our registered dietitians to create a healthy, customized diet and activity plan to assist you in meeting your overall health goals.

With a doctor’s referral, you can receive individual medical nutrition therapy, diabetes education, or general nutrition education that fit your lifestyle and future health goals!

Contact us at 217-762-2115 for more information on our food and nutrition services and our other wellness services today.