25 Ways to Eat Better in the New Year

1. To help with portion control, use the smallest plate that will hold your food.
2. At mealtime, serve from the stove instead of putting a serving bowl on the table.
3. Make double vegetables and serve them first, to take the focus off meat.
4. Switch to whole wheat pasta.
5. Eat vegetarian one night a week.
6. Cut back on butter or margarine — newer whole grain breads are tasty on their own.
7. Try substituting whole wheat or oat flour for up to half the flour in pan-cakes, muffins or other baking.
8. Switch from whole milk to low-fat or skim milk.
9. Skip the cream and sugar in your coffee and tea.
10. Don’t put a salt shaker on the table.
11. Drain and rinse canned beans to get rid of up to 43 percent of the salt they contain.
12. Eat fish twice a week — once a week is a good start.
13. Cook with vegetable oil instead of butter.
14. Use nonstick pans to cut down on fat in cooking.
15. Buy leaner cuts of meat and remove the skin from poultry.
16. Use brown rice instead of white.
17. Dress salads lightly. When eating out, ask for dressing on the side so you can control how much you use.
18. For more vitamins, choose darker-green lettuce rather than iceberg lettuce.
19. Add extra vegetables to soups, stews, casseroles and pasta dishes.
20. To cut back on salt and sugar, choose no-salt-added canned vegetables and fruits canned in 100 percent juice.
21. Eat whole or cut up fruit instead of drinking juice.
22. Add berries to your breakfast cereal.
23. Eat breakfast every day.
24. To cut down on “mindless eating,” don’t eat in front of the TV.
25. Eat more slowly, to give your body a chance to feel “full.”

Reference: 30 Easy Ways to Eat Better Now. (2008, August). Special Supplement to Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, 26, 6.
Source: Debbie Clouthier, Extension Associate for Food Safety and Preservation, University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture.