Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Starting a diet change
11:29 PM | 
Posted by
Kaplan Center for Health and Wellness
|
Starting a diet change…
To pick back up where we left off, I was counseling our
friend on making a dietary change to a vegan diet. He wanted to go cold turkey,
starting the day he got home. That was fine with me, some people adapt better
to dietary changes that way. But, many of us do not and we need some easy ways
to gradually make that leap to a complete diet change. So, if any of you have
been thinking about making a lifestyle change to a vegetarian, semi-vegetarian
or vegan diet, here are some simple tips you can follow:
- Start small. Gradually reduce the portion size of the meat and/or animal products you are consuming. Replace them with non-animal based foods.
- Incorporate one or two meatless meals a week. Meatless Mondays! Tofu Tuesdays! Wok Wednesdays! You get the drift!
- In the beginning, focus on familiar foods that can be modified to be vegetarian/vegan. An easy way to modify foods, is by simply omitting the meat. Try black bean empanadas for example. You don’t have to eat tofu in every meal to be a vegetarian/vegan. J.
- Try new foods. Ever heard of jicama or dragon fruit? The more exposure you have to a variety of foods, the more well-rounded your diet can be.
- Tell friends you are following a vegetarian/vegan diet and engage in a recipe exchange.
- Have fun and be adventurous. There is a whole world of flavors that the typical American diet doesn’t even touch. Following a vegan/vegetarian diet gives you “permission” to try new flavors!
List adapted from: Burt, E.,
Goldberg, K., Rhodes, K. (1996). High Fit Low Fat Vegetarian. Ann Arbor
Michigan, Regents of the University of Michigan.
Emily Boldrin PhD, RD
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2 comments:
Really a nice blog shared here the diet plan you have posted here is really good for health.Thanks for sharing useful blog with us.
Thank you for the 6 tips. I never thought of telling others. This will make it easier when I am trying to chose my meals when out with my friends. Thanks again.
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