Improving Your Diet

Here are 10 minute tweaks you can make to your breakfast, lunch and dinner that will help improve your diet.

1. Breakfast- If you’re not eating it, you need to start because numerous studies have found that skipping breakfast is linked to obesity. So take 10 minutes in the morning to eat breakfast. If you already eat breakfast, how can you can make it better? Spend 10 minutes in the store picking out steel cut oatmeal, or a whole grain cereal – look for one that delivers about 5 grams of fiber per serving – skim milk, and fruit. Now you have a meal that delivers protein, complex carbohydrates, and a hearty dose of fiber, calcium, and antioxidants.

2. Lunch- Try making a sandwich with sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard on whole-wheat bread. Not only will you get a dose of lean protein and fiber, but the tomatoes contain lycopene - which protects against cancer and heart disease – and the stuff in mustard that makes it yellow is a major cancer fighter. This sandwich comes in at around 240 calories – which is about 300 calories LESS than a Big Mac. Plus, brown bagging your lunch can save you over $2,000 a year.

3. Dinner- putting together a home-cooked dinner, on average, takes only about 10 minutes more of hands-on time that using mainly pre-packaged dishes. Plus, processed food, fast food, and takeout typically have too much sodium – and are the equivalent of two portions or more. In fact, a dinner of grilled fish with a light citrus marinade, steamed green beans, whole grain bread with olive oil for dipping, a salad, and a square of dark chocolate for dessert would actually take less time to prepare than a frozen pizza.