What is Your Bottleneck?
 
Glenda Kinder, Nutrition and Health Specialist
Clay County     kinderg@missouri.edu

? Is the problem that you often don’t have enough produce on hand at home?
If so, then figure out a way to shop more often or to change how much you buy when you do shop.

? Maybe the obstacle is that you only cook for yourself or one other person and fresh produce spoils before it can be used. Why not rely more on dehydrated or frozen fruits and vegetables that can be purchased in bags? That way you can use just what you need. You could also try to add some of the fruits and vegetables into something else to boost consumption. Add:

n ¼ cup of frozen or dried fruit to your morning cereal.

n Stir fry two cups of frozen mixed vegetables as the side dish for your main meal.

n Create a parfait with layers of low-fat vanilla yogurt and fruit for a quick treat.

? But, if the real problem is knowing how to prepare vegetables and fruits in enough enjoyable ways, then having more around the house won’t help. You can get great ideas on preparing the plant foods that can protect your health from the library or on the internet at http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ciqj.htm

?Perhaps the obstacle is that you might prepare more food than you need and don’t know what to do with leftovers. You could create a ‘soup pot’ in your freezer. This is a container to which you can add leftover vegetables and keep adding leftovers until you have enough to create a hearty soup. Or, you could refrigerate leftover vegetables from the evening meal to use as part of a cold salad for the next day’s lunch.

? Sometimes the "bottleneck" might be the habit of rewarding yourself with food, and you need to find new, non-food ways to feel good. With bottleneck analysis, each problem identified can be fixed by a different kind of solution. Rather than thinking of big overall goals, try bottleneck analysis to help you find which specific habits are most worth trying to change right now.
Reference: American Institute of Cancer Research