It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle

Michaella Walton
Gamma Phi Beta

With regards to resolutions, "I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me." - Anaïs Nin

Resolutions are a common occurrence with each new year; disregarding the fact that many are typically cliché and end up failing after two months, they can also be a fresh start and open your eyes to the things you want to accomplish, even if you don’t manage to necessarily get each one you make within the year. One of the most interesting things about each January is asking everyone on the first week of the year what they deem to be the most important change they plan to make for their upcoming year. With no shock, many of my friends and family said they plan to eat healthier. With regards to the many that claim to improve their physical shape this year, the best plan of action is to, in fact, make a plan. No one will just happen to lose ten pounds, a workout schedule as well as a food journal are ways to actually put your words into actions—and ultimately achieve results.

First, realize it’s not about intensely dieting for several weeks; rather, it’s about altering your lifestyle so it allows you to actually accomplish and follow through with what you want to better about yourself. As Anaïs Nin states in the above quote, bettering yourself must be a constant and daily vision, not one that is faddish or that is long forgotten by the time March rolls around. In this case, food choices are of great importance. Here are several healthy and wholesome recipes; hopefully some can come in handy when you’re planning your upcoming semester’s meals… because you are making a plan, right?

Garlic Salmon:

Salmon fillets

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 chopped dill pickle

5 slices of lemon

2 green onions, chopped

Directions: sprinkle the salmon with salt, pepper, garlic and the chopped pickle. Arrange the lemon slices on top of the fillet. Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Garden Spaghetti

8 oz. multi-grain, whole wheat spaghetti

8 cups small broccoli florets

2 cups fresh corn

1 chopped carrot

2 Roma tomatoes, or sundried for a Mediterranean taste

2 tbsp oregano and 2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

Tomato sauce

Directions: cook spaghetti. Add broccoli, corn, carrots. Return pasta mixture to pan, toss in tomatoes, oregano, lemon peel, lemon juice and olive oil. Serve with fresh tomato sauce.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Different colored peppers- red, yellow and orange are best

1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup uncooked rice

14 oz (1 can) Chicken broth

1 can of black beans

1 can of corn with chile peppers

1/8 tsp minced garlic

Directions:  boil rice until fully cooked. Strain, add in beans, corn, and garlic into mix. Pour in chicken broth and heat in pot on stove until warm. Cut off tops of peppers, and pour mixture into each. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until done.

Saving the best piece of advice for last, one of my favorite things that I am excited to share is an app from Whole Foods, simply titled “Whole Foods Recipes”. First, it’s FREE, and it happens to have a multitude of different healthy recipes, complete with the nutrition facts for each one. The app also allows you to add ingredients to a personalized “list”, so the amount of each ingredient for each meal shows up on a list that you can access when shopping in the grocery store. Another unique feature of the app is the “on hand” button, which allows you to type in three ingredients you have laying around the fridge, and it will come up with a recipe using what you already have so you don’t have to go out and buy anything extra. With regards to my personal resolution, which is ironically to cook more (instead of so many quick lean cuisines and canned vegetables for dinner), this app has been really helpful in helping me to get better at making healthy meals that look nice enough for me to actually serve to others.

Whatever your resolution is for 2012, maybe a better way of looking at things is focusing on developing our talents and further using them, instead of quitting some annoying flaw or habit that we don’t want to define us. This is best explained by Ellen Goodman, who states “We spend January 1st walking through our lives, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential.” Well said, Ellen.

Michaella is a junior studying communication and creative studies. You may contact her at michaellawalton@tamu.edu.