Last week, I met with two different Boomer clients. They had different food priorities – weight management for one and recently-diagnosed illness for the other – but both asked about eating to improve their health. Did I mention that they have busy lifestyles and don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen?
Coincidentally, I had just listened to a webinar on how to build a healthy meal with lean beef, sponsored by the Beef Checkoff. (Those of you who know me know that although I don’t eat red meat (doesn’t appeal to my taste buds), that doesn’t stop me from cooking it for my family or using it in the recipes I develop.) The end of the webinar highlighted the DASH diet, an eating plan originally designed to tackle high blood pressure. The DASH diet includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grain foods, beans, nuts, and seeds, along with up to three servings per day of fat-free or low-fat dairy products and two daily servings of lean meat, poultry, or fish. It also limits sodium, added sugars, saturated fat, and trans fat. Sounds pretty basic, right? What makes DASH stand out is its focus on total diet rather than any specific nutrients or foods. It seems that the magic of DASH and similar sensible eating plans is in their totality of foods, not one particular food or nutrient. Eating good stuff really works!
The message for my clients is that both weight management and treatment for illness call for a healthy, easy, and convenient diet … at the right calorie level. So I suggested a meal in a bowl. A cup or so of any grain, preferably whole grain, at least a cup of any veggies, and maybe 3 or 4 ounces of any lean protein, plus seasonings. You can make your bowl entirely from scratch, with leftovers, or using some pre-cooked ingredients. I based my bowl on rice, here, Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Brown Rice because I didn’t have any leftover rice. Then I topped the rice with sautéed peppers, onion, and mushrooms. On top of that, hubby’s dinner got lean stew beef and mine got eggs. A little Mexican seasoning of cumin, chopped cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, and salsa to taste. Other flavor combos would work too. I could have gone Asian with low sodium soy sauce plus sesame oil, or Mediterranean with chopped olives, lemon juice, and a drizzle of olive oil. Please share your ideas!
