How you feel can affect what you eat. Anyone who has eaten a carton of ice-cream because they felt lonely or bored or angry or depressed knows this. But hey, when you are in “a mood” you eat what you crave. So you need to train your body to crave food that it really needs!

But just as mood can drive us to certain foods, what we choose to eat can also affect our mood. I did not feel especially good about myself the last time I ate a batch of unbaked brownies (sometimes I like them uncooked). In fact, I was in a pretty bad mood after that, but it can go both ways. Choosing the right and healthy foods is hard, but you do feel better knowing you are treating the only body you will ever get in a healthy manner. And though it is sometimes difficult to eat right, the benefits show up gradually over time. And since everyone wants to feel and look good 6 months from now, it is helpful to take the long view…………

So, if you want to feel better in 6 months than you do right now, you can start by making sure your food intake helps to accomplish that. Again, work to train your body to crave what it really needs!

So what does your body really need? Of course, that is a long discussion, so for now lets just focus on something Americans do not crave enough. Your body needs “whole food” fruits and vegetables. I have noticed on surveys done at my office for Medicare wellness visits that many patients check NO when asked if they eat fruit and vegetables every day. I find this very discouraging. Do you know that it is recommended that you get between 5 and 10 helpings EVERY day? Are you anywhere close?

Why is this so important? One reason is because of the nutrients and micronutrients in these foods. Beta carotene. Vitamin C. Calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Selenium, zinc, manganese. The list goes on………….but you have other things to do. Anyway, a variety of brightly colored fruit and vegetables will give you the minerals and vitamins that should really come through food rather than a pill.

A second reason is the fiber content of whole fruits and vegetables. A glass of V8 juice may be good for you, but it does NOT equal eating whole fruit and vegetables. The fiber in the whole food helps protect against disease, including constipation and colon cancer. It also helps with weight loss.

So since Spring is here and Summer is around the corner, think of new ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. Perhaps you could plant a small garden. Even if you can only plant a single plant! A cherry plucked off your very own tomato plant tastes so much better than the one shipped to your grocery store from another state.

Try new recipes! I think about how I used to cook vegetables. I was a slow learner, I think, when it came to discovering all the delicious ways to cook that broccoli or cauliflower or carrots or whatever! (Right now I am eating delicious lima beans, but my husband made them)

Anyway………..Spring is a season of new beginnings. Make it the beginning of

A NEW YOU!

It is a season to experiment. Change your diet ………… In 6 months you will thank yourself!