Extension Connection

Keeping that Healthy Resolution
By Janet Hackert, Nutrition Specialist

As the New Year begins, many will be making resolutions related to food. But many of them will choose to drop these lofty goals when it means giving up their favorite foods. Eating well doesn’t necessarily mean giving up those favorites altogether.

Sometimes referred to as comfort foods, these selections can be high-fat, high-calorie choices: mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, homemade desserts and baked goods. Foods that are higher in fat, like when smothered in gravy or cheese sauce, can also be heavier foods. The fat takes long to digest, and so releases its energy slowly, so these foods can leave us feeling full longer. It’s that wonderful feeling that leaves a person satisfied and ready for a nap. And that’s fine once in a while, when life slows down for a breather. But on a normal busy day, that fullness can weigh a person down.

To lighten up an old favorite that uses sour cream or cream, try substituting part of all with a lower fat option like lite sour cream, low fat plain yogurt or milk. Try a combination of lower and higher fat options, increasing the lower fat portion each time till the flavor is no longer satisfactory. Back it up a small step and enjoy the old favorite with a new healthier impact.

Sometimes the comfort from the food is not so much the flavor as the aroma of it baking or cooking. For these items, like homemade bread or other baked goods, enjoy that fragrance that brings back the great memories the great memories, but instead of white flour and lard, try some whole wheat flour and olive oil.

And when there’s just no room for adjusting an old family recipe, remember that half of the cookie has half as much fat and calories as the whole cookie!

Make small adjustments, make your food healthier and enjoy what you eat while sticking to that resolution to do something healthy for yourself in 2007.

 (Written January 5, 2008)

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Extension Connection Barb Ubben, Web Manager harrisonco@missouri.edu Last revised: 05/25/04