Even though I’m not big on making new year’s resolutions, it’s hard not to be in a reflective mindset at this time of year. As I’ve been spending time reflecting, I realize that I have gotten into a bit of a rut with my eating habits, tending to eat the same few things for breakfast each day and rotating a limited variety of foods at lunch and dinner. At the same time, there are new and interesting items appearing on grocery store shelves every day, and more and more interesting research touting the health benefits of different foods. To this end, my reflecting has led me to a new year’s resolution: to try and eat more of certain foods in the new year. Here’s my list so far:
Pommelos. (NuVal® Score: 99 ) Last year, I noticed this fruit in the produce section of the store, sitting between
traditional grapefruit and ugly fruit. I was intrigued by the size of the pommelo, so decided to splurge and try it. It’s much larger than a grapefruit, and the skin is much thicker. Once I got through the skin, and took my first bite, I was hooked. The pommelo is much less bitter than a grapefruit, and feels lighter in flavor to me. I like eating it just plain, as a snack. Somewhere between last winter and this winter, I had forgotten about the pommelo, but with only 230 calories per whole fruit (I can never eat more than a half at a time) and 6 grams of fiber, my goal is to enjoy it more often this year.
Fish and Seafood. Once upon a time at a conference, I ate salmon (NuVal® Score: 87) and got food poisoning. Since then, I haven’t eaten salmon. But there are countless other options in the fish and seafood category, and I realize what’s stopping me from eating them more is that I’m not good at cooking fish and seafood. So this is my goal, to find a few really good and easy fish and seafood recipes that get me eating these foods more often. I think my first attempt will be a shrimp (NuVal® Score: 75) chowder as I’ve been craving it since ordering it recently at a restaurant.
Chia Seeds. As a kid, I loved Chia Pets. As an adult, I crack up every time I see a Chia Pet (see left) at the local drug stores. 
What’s not to love about growing fake grass/hair out of a terra cotta pot in the shape of an animal? But more recently, chia seeds have become popular as a nutritious food. Chia seeds are high in omea-3 fats (think healthy fats) like flax seed, but they don’t spoil as quickly as flax does. Additionally, if chia seeds are soaked in water, they form a gel. Some experts believe that this can happen in the stomach, making you feel full longer. I recently saw a smoothy recipe that included chia seeds, so this will be my first taste of this food.
Legumes and Beans. I tend to eat fairly well overall, getting a variety of foods, focusing on fruits and vegetables, etc. But I know that I still don’t get enough fiber. My goal here is to get more beans into my weekly eating habits – pinto beans (NuVal® Score: 93) in chili, garbanzo beans (NuVal® Score: 91) in salads, homemade hummus. When I do focus on these foods, I am amazed at how full I feel for how long, and as we slog through the winter months in the Midwest, it’s a great way to keep weight from creeping up.
Less Starchy Vegetables. One of the real powers of vegetables is that they can be nutrient-dense – packing a lot of nutrients for not many calories. But vegetables can fall into two camps – the starchy kind (think potatoes and corn) and the less starchy kind (think peppers, zucchini and broccoli). With an active, teenage boy in my house who can plow through the calories, it’s easy to use the starchy vegetables as fillers. But my goal is to focus on the less starchy ones – get the benefit of their nutrition but minimizing the calories. Zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach (NuVal® Scores: 99 or 100) – they’re all on my list.
What foods will you try and eat more of in 2012?
Visit www.nuval.com to find high scoring foods that you might want to eat more often in this new year.
