According to a famous TV dog-trainer, a regular daily walk is the first step to a well-behaved dog. Therefore, I am hoping that my daily walks will have a positive impact on my home life.
The second change I plan to incorporate is to avoid eating meat for most lunches. Instead of eating lunch choices like tuna fish sandwiches or cheeseburgers for lunch, I will try to select choices that are higher in fiber, incorporate vegetables, and might feature legumes. For example, I could eat hummus with flatbread, and spinach. The hummus would provide me with protein, but is also a vegetable product. In addition, the spinach would provide me with a serving of the green, leafy vegetables that I lack. Therefore, I need to stock my refrigerator with easy, healthy lunches that are not meat-based. The other thing I need to do is make sure that I make appropriate snack choices. I need to prepare raw vegetables and fat-free dips, so that I can eat them instead of candy. In the alternative, I could eat yogurt, because I need to increase my intake of dairy products.
When I was growing up, the meat was always the emphasis of the family meal. All of our dinners featured meat, and the meat portion was substantially larger than the portions of vegetables or starches, which we considered side dishes. This same type of thinking is reflected in most restaurant menus and at most dinner tables in this country. I want my children to embrace a different approach to eating, which focuses more on whole grains, vegetables, and fruits, and less on meat products. Therefore, I want to introduce them to the idea of meatless dinners. I have already begun investigating vegetarian possibilities. For example, if I introduce a vegetarian bean chili one night for dinner, that will provide me and my family with an excellent low-fat source of both protein and fiber. I can also introduce my children to other vegetarian options, such as low-fat vegetarian lasagna, to show them that meatless meals can be delicious, fulfilling main-dishes, not simply side dishes.
