We Promote Health

When you choose your habits, make sure they're things you want to do. You can spend your entire life judging yourself for not doing things you feel you should do or you could do. Start with habits that you look forward to doing and give you pleasure, but that you might forget to do in the course of a normal day.


Most habits tend to be things that give you energy and add to your well-being. I like to choose things that I always want to do during the day but never get around to doing.


Start by making a list of as many good habits you can think of. They could be things like making your bed, eating more vegetables, eating five meals a day, doing yoga, or going to the gym. Next: shorten the list to your top ten habits. What if you find that keeping up with ten habits is overwhelming? What if you find you could spend the entire day doing the ten habits you created for yourself? In that case try re-evaluating you habits. Are you taking on too much? Keep them simple. If you're taking on too much, try cutting down the number to eight. Even five is better than none. I have a friend who has a list of 20 or so habits. Every day she makes sure she works in five or so.
Remember, habits become ingrained with repetition. Once they do, you might not even have to think about making sure you do them after awhile. Once a habits is naturally a part of your routine, and clearly something you're going to continue doing, you might not have to track it as closely. Then, you can replace it with another habit you'd like to instill.

• Post the list in a central location in the kitchen so that family members can add to it as needed.
  
• Plan your menus out ahead of time, making sure that all the necessary ingredients are on the grocery list before heading to the store so that you don't have to make any extra trips.
  
• When selecting items, be sure to purchase foods that take the drudgery out of meal preparations. Buying precut or frozen vegetables, dried onions and pre-chopped garlic can save on time tremendously!
  
• The same rule applies for the meats. Stick to the precut/prepackaged fish, skinless chicken breast, extra lean turkey and hamburger to make cooking less of a chore.
  
• Don't forget to stock up with your pantry with pasta, rice, tomato sauce, canned beans and tuna, as well as low-fat broths. This way when you get a taste for a certain dish that requires these items they'll be right at your fingertips.
  
• When cooking your desired meal choice be sure to double up the recipe. This will allow you to have enough of your favorite dish so that there will be leftovers to either freeze or refrigerate and enjoy for another day or two.
  
• For a healthy meal that can be made quickly, try stir frying vegetables over a bed of rice or pasta with chicken or fish, or making a hearty salad out of prepackaged spinach and precut veggies, then add your favorite dressing. A well-seasoned chicken breast or piece of salmon can be ready to eat in no time. They don't take very long to bake in the oven and can also be served with a side of rice or pasta.
  
• Don't let vegetables left over from the recipe go to waste. Those extra pieces of broccoli, bell pepper, cauliflower or carrots can be placed in a sandwich bag and stored in the freezer until needed. Remember, freezing doesn't destroy the nutritional value of the vegetable.
  
• If you don't want to freeze the veggies, opt to steam them instead. Steamer baskets that fit into a saucepan with a tight cover are an alternate healthy to cooking veggies. Vegetables only for a few minutes (until they are tender but still crisp) will retain more nutrients than those boiled in water for a longer time period. Season with herbs and spices, rather than high-fat butter and sauces and serve.
  

By simply getting organized, shopping for wholesome foods, and cooking in quantity, you will be saving yourself time and money and taking the proper steps toward a healthier lifestyle.