National Nutrition Month Week 3: Every Day

If you haven't been here in the past couple of weeks, we've been concentrating on 2013's National Nutrition Month, and its theme, "Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day." The "every day" part is arguably the most difficult to sustain. Like exercising, writing, or anything else we might try to do on a regular basis, it becomes difficult when everything else gets in the way, and they key is not just adding one more thing to your to-do list, but rethinking and rearranging your approach.

Eating is the only thing you actually have to do today, but from a snapshot of where most of us spend our money and our time, you'd never know it. When we treat our meals as an afterthought to be squeezed in when everything else is done, we unconsciously reinforce the idea that our health is unimportant. Besides, according to a recent study, supposed "convenience" foods don't actually save much time in the long run.

Last year we took a look at some fun and easy ways to maintain healthy eating habits, and they definitely still hold up. Something that didn't make the list and is important, however, is the magic of leftovers. I don't know about you, but I can find the time and energy to pull off about one really good, well-thought-out meal a week. The rest of the time it's pasta, pizza, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Otherwise known as simple carbs, simple carbs, and simple carbs. While hosting a pot luck party and effectively making your guests do the work for you is one time and energy saving option, you can't really do that for three meals a day. But keeping yourself rich in portable, re-heatable healthy meals can be as easy as doubling a recipe to make it last longer. If you're  worried you'll get bored of the same thing after awhile, make a versatile meal that can swap out different side dishes to keep it fresh. Maybe cook up a bunch of chicken and rice one night and keep a few different bags of frozen vegetables in the freezer, then when you're heating everything up, throw a different sauce over it each time. This might also help you experiment with different flavor combinations and find your new favorite dish!