Spring Clean Your Diet

During the long winter months it’s easy to fall into poor eating habits, when fresh produce is a distant memory and comfort foods tend to become the norm. If you’ve emerged from winter feeling tired and sluggish, now is the time to spring clean your diet. But spring cleaning and eating right doesn’t have to mean relying solely on weird and often dangerous detox diets. Freshen up your diet with these simple steps that will kick start your health and improve your wellness.

Eat the Colors of the Rainbow
After colder months full of stews and hearty soups, it’s time to put away the crock pot and load up on Spring's colorful fruits and vegetables. One of the best and easiest ways to spring clean your diet is to add spring colors into your meals. Eating a rainbow of foods is a great way to load up on fiber, vitamins and other important nutrients that are healthy for your skin, body and weight. Choose from every color of the rainbow and aim to include three or more colors in each meal and one or two colors in snacks. Some colorful healthy foods include scrambled eggs with spinach and red bell peppers, salads with strawberries and apricots, or sandwiches with arugula and shredded carrots.

Snack Smarter
Come this time of year, we’ve all relieved the winter blues with a few too many sweets or late night snacks. But snacking isn’t always a bad thing; the key is to make smart snack choices. When done right, snacking keeps our energy levels up and give us more opportunities to get in all our nutritional needs. Here’s some tips to snack smarter:

• Include snacks as part of your eating plan, not as “extras” or you might get too many calories. Think about what food groups you’re missing and use snacks to fill in the gaps.
• Toss a bag of baby carrots, yogurt or some grapes in your lunch bag to stow in the office fridge for an afternoon snack. If you’re on the go all day, bring along non-perishable items such as nuts or dried fruit.
• Snack two or three hours before your next meal to take the edge off your hunger. You might be less likely to munch while you make dinner or overeat at your meal.

Stay Hydrated
With warmer weather on the horizon, it’s time to take hydration seriously. Dehydration can impact your metabolism, leave you sluggish and often mask itself as hunger. Skip sweetened beverages like soda and sweet lattes and drink at least 48 ounces of water every day. Not a fan of water? Many fruits and vegetables are made up of mostly water, allowing you to stay hydrated without drinking water.  For example, did you know watermelon, strawberries, bell peppers, eggplant, broccoli and grapefruit are all made up of more than 90% water? Now, you non-water drinkers have no excuse for not staying hydrated and healthy.

Take Your Juice Plus+
Having trouble getting the recommended serving of fruits and vegetables in your diet? Juice Plus+ is a great addition to any diet; whether you’re looking for convenience, a healthy snack for your kids, or simply a way to add more nutrition from fruits and veggies when you can’t eat enough. , While cleaning up your diet this Spring, don’t forget to add the benefits of whole food nutrition from Juice Plus+. 

How are you spring cleaning your diet? Post your comments below.