Creating a new eating plan - the foods

  It’s August 6, and I should be 2 days into step 4 – the 10 week course from “The Willpower Instinct”.  Instead, I’m pretty much back on step 2 – creating a new eating plan.  I intend to borrow the book from the library tomorrow and starting up step 4 anyway, but for now, let’s take a look at step 2.

  Creating a new eating plan was about 2 things – reducing depression and increasing foods that fight cancer.  In my research, I found lists of foods and activities that do one or the other.  I have found only a handful that do both.

1.  Bell peppers

2.  Blueberries

3.  Broccoli

4.  Carrots (cooked)

5.  Dark green leafy vegetables

6.  Flax seeds

7.  Pink grapefruit

8.  Spinach (raw or lightly cooked)

9.  Tomatoes (cooked or processed)

10.  Strawberries

11. Whole grains

  Of those, there are 3 I don’t particularly care for – 2, 6, and 7.  That still leaves me with 8 different foods and food types that I can add to my current diet plan to improve my health.

  What to do next?  There are a few things I could do:

1. Go on a hunt for recipes that include these things.

2. Search my current recipes for ways I can incorporate these foods into them.

3. Choose one of the foods and spend a week on figuring out ways I like to eat it.

Any of these would work.

  Off the top of my head, the three main ways I can see of doing this easily are soups, salads, and stir frys.  The problem is I’ve tried to do such things in the past, and the results weren’t always tasty.  Recipes are a good way to take care of that. 

  Obstacles?  First, I don’t care much for cooking, so whatever I do will have to be really easy.  Otherwise, I won’t keep doing it.  Second, my husband doesn’t care for most of these, so whatever I do will have to either be side dishes for our joint meals or separate meals.

  The next step in creating my meal plan is finding easy recipes for small meals or side dishes that include at least one if not more of these foods.