Redesign Your Dinnertime

This is the last week of National Nutrition Month this year, and in case you missed it, I have been posting infographics the past couple of weeks from choosemyplate.gov that highlight a few simple adjustments we can make to our daily habits to set us up for success when it comes to the ingredients we choose to fuel our bodies with.

The time has come for the last meal of the day, and what you choose to ingest during this meal is just as important as any other!

After dinner, our bodies go into a time of fasting while we rest and before we wake our digestive systems back up in the morning. So our choices have to be satisfying, but also nutritious. Why? Because while we are fasting & while we are sleeping, the cells in our bodies are still active: they are busy growing and repairing tissues, restoring depleted energy levels we've lost throughout our day, releasing hormones to support our bodies, circulating and cleansing the blood stream, and storing memories, strengthening our cognitive functions for the day to come.

But how do those cells have the energy they need to stay active all through the night? You guessed it; whatever you ate for dinner fuels those tiny powerhouses that work hard to make sure you are in tip-top shape when you wake up in the morning, ready to conquer a new day!

In order to help out our little 'in-house elves' what small choices can we make at dinnertime to ensure their success all night long and our health the next day?

ADD MORE VEGGIES! I may sound like a broken record here, but that is the honest truth! The vitamins and minerals our bodies need to function properly we get from eating vegetables & cannot be wholly replicated simply by taking a supplement instead; not to mention the fiber veggies provide that our digestive tracks are desperate for to keep us clean and healthy!

So how about adding a salad to your dinner tonight (with a light vinaigrette dressing - because smothering your greens in blu cheese dressing is not doing your body any favors!), and switch out your normal pasta choice with a whole wheat pasta option to amp up the nutritional value of your meal.

To dial down the sodium content, you could chose a pasta dish with less cheese and swap out sausage with a protein that is not as heavily salted.

Still chilly where you live? A bowl of chili for dinner can be a great healthy meal option, but serving it in a bread bowl and consuming the bowl itself can more than double your overall calorie intake. Something to watch out for if your wanting to cinch your waistline back a bit! Grab a whole grain roll instead.

Remember, each one of us does indeed hold the tools to make choices for a healthier lifestyle, so continue to put YOUR best fork forward to make this year your healthiest year yet!

Happy #NationalNutritionMonth!

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