Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ nutrition education & information campaign is celebrated in March each year. It’s called National Nutrition Month. The focus of this campaign is to help people develop healthy eating patterns and sound physical activity habits. The Academy’s vision is to use the transformative power of good food and nutrition to help people thrive through good health.

We at the Advanced Manual Therapy in Las Vegas are committed to helping clients lead more active and healthy lives. During this National Nutritional Month, we would like to highlight the importance of eating right and staying active to help you transform into a healthier and happier self.

Our team of physical therapists in Las Vegas takes this opportunity to encourage clients and people everywhere to celebrate this month. You can do this by becoming more aware of how to make nutritional as well as activity changes in your life. Let’s take a closer look at what this month means and how you can celebrate it.  

National Nutrition Month – The Key Messages

• Discover the various benefits of following healthy eating patterns.
• Choose food and drink that’s excellent for your health.
• Focus on including healthy foods from various food groups regularly in your meals.
• Steer clear from unhealthy foods and opt for fresh and nutritious foods when eating outside.
• Be mindful of your portion sizes. Drink and eat only amounts that are right for you.
• Maintain simplicity in your food choices and making the right ones doesn’t have to be a challenge.
• Ensure that food safety is part and parcel of your everyday routine.
• Make every effort to reduce food wastage; you can do this by keeping in view the foods you have at home before making any purchases at the store.
• Zero–in on activities that you find enjoyable and those which will keep you physically active for a large portion of the week.
• Consult a nutrition expert. A registered dietitian nutritionist would be able provide easy-to-follow, tailored nutrition advice to meet your specific preferences, health-related requirements and your lifestyle.

How to Celebrate National Nutrition Month

1. Create A Food Plan

The simple fact is that if you don’t have a plan, you fail even before you start. Try to create your weekly dinner menu over the weekend. Check which ingredients and produce you have in your refrigerator and pantry. Keep these in view and shop only for ones you’ve run out of. This can help reduce the amount of time you spend on cooking meals every evening and it’s also the best way to avoid becoming a short-order cook.

When you are on your supermarket run, keep handy your shopping list and the weekly menu that you created. As a result, you will waste less food, there will be less stress at dinner time and you will end up eating healthy too.

2. Stock Your Kitchen With Healthful Foods

Always aim to consume plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits. You can do some basic meal prep for the week on Sunday as that will ease the process of cooking during the week. For example, you can toss different types of vegetables of your choice in some olive oil and garnish them with spices and herbs, roast & refrigerate them.

They become the perfect meatless entrée to a meal and you can turn them into a quick snack or even a flavorful and healthy side dish. It’s also a good idea to cut different vegetables store them in individual containers in your fridge. This takes the prep work out of your daily meal routine.

3. Always Fit In Fresh Veggies And Fruits

While you may stock up on fruits and veggies, you also need to make it a point to consume them before they go stale and shrivel up. It’s also a good idea to keep some fruit in your car. That can serve as a snack when you are looking for a quick snack maybe after a workout at the gym or even when you are heading back from work. Always dig into the veggies on your plate before you start on the main dish. The salad will take the edge off your appetite and prevent you from overeating too.

4. Keep Your Breakfast Heavy And Lunch And Dinner Lighter

Most Americans tend to either skip breakfast or may just grab a slice of toast or coffee before setting out to work. Their lunch will also be less elaborate, while the bulk of the daily calorie allowance is consumed in the evening hours, right through to dinner time. But that’s the wrong way to go. Make it a habit to front-load your day. That will help you avoid nighttime cravings as the food helps stabilize hunger hormones.

Make breakfast your largest meal and try to get a healthy mid-morning snack into your daily routine. By the end of lunch time, you will have consumed three-fourth of your calories. You will feel energetic during the day, because you are fueled well at that time. And you won’t sleep on large amounts of calories at night.

If you feel that your mornings are super-busy and you don’t get the time to sit down to a hearty breakfast, fuel up at mid-day. This will allow you to limit evening snacking and binging and will also shrink your dinner.

Other Things to Focus On

Aside from all these things, keep small snack portions ready. Think dried fruit, a few oatmeal or multigrain cookies, trail mix and nuts. It’s also important that you satiate your food cravings occasionally, rather than deprive yourself of foods you like. Choose healthy and nutritious meals 90% of the time- this will give you the wiggle room you need for sweets, restaurant meals and celebrations too.

It’s also vital to earn your calories. Do this by burning sufficient calories. Our physical therapists in Las Vegas recommend that you fit in various physical activities into your schedule, depending on the season and your lifestyle. Take the stairs, park farther from your destination, use a fitness app and indulge in some sports activities as a matter of routine. Let National Nutritional Month be the point at which you kick start your journey to good health!