Fresh Start

Every diet guru has suggestions for ways to start your diet on the right food. One of those suggestions almost always involves a purge of your refrigerator and cabinets of "bad" food. I love the idea of starting off fresh, but I don't agree with the classification of "bad" food. "Everything in moderation," is my mantra.

Here are my suggestions for a sure start to your new way of eating.

1. Take everything out of your refrigerator and give your refrigerator a good cleaning. I think half the reason I eat out as often as I do is because nothing in the refrigerator looks good. That may just be because I have a messy refrigerator. Now is a good time clean it up. New year, new food routine, newly cleaned frig.

2. When you put food back into your refrigerator, take a good look at each item. Some things should be thrown away because they are well past their freshness dates. Some you may want to toss because you just don't eat it. (You thought you were going to like that gourmet pepper jam, but you've never acquired a taste for it.) Some you may have forgotten you have. A little reorganization may be helpful.

3. Take a look at the nutritional information on the foods that you are keeping. The purpose of this isn't to give you a case of the guilts, it's to inform you. Who knew a tablespoon of a creamy salad dressing could have so many calories? Who knew that jam doesn't have much in the way of calories and is actually a better option than margarine or cream cheese?

On another day, try taking the same steps with your cabinets/pantry. Depending on how much food you have stored, this could be a several-day project. That's ok.

When you put food dry food away, take a look at the portion sizes. To help you eat appropriate portions of food, you may want to separate your food 1-portion bags. You can get small, snack-size, zip-lock bags at the grocery store. Why pay extra for food companies to give you 100-calorie snacks when you can do it yourself for the price of a box of zip-lock bags? When you pack your lunch, you just have to grab a bag and off you go. Maybe you'll want to store your cereal this way, too, if you tend to eat breakfast on the go. Your individual bags will fit easily into the original containers for storage and will also fit in your purse or briefcase for easy travel.

Give yourself the gift of a fresh start! You'll find sticking to your resolution will be a lot easier.