Are you excited about the New Year? 2010 is just two days away. I always look forward to the New Year which brings a fresh approach and a new look at areas in life that may have gone a little stale…know what I mean? If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I’m not about gimmicks, miracle diet pills and products or diets that don’t work. I’m all about real life and how to make tweaks in your life so you feel better, have more energy and enjoy every day…not to mention eat good food. So how’s this for a ‘diet?’ All food is allowed….nothing is prohibited. Otherwise the denial, deprivation and overeating cycle sets in. You deny yourself something you really want to eat and then begin to feel deprived. Finally you can’t stand it any longer so you overeat on the food you denied yourself to begin with and the vicious cycle starts. You don’t win…ever.

In the January 2010 issue of Family Circle magazine, there’s a nice article on smart eating. This week’s podcast welcomes my regular guest, Margit Ragland, senior editor at Family Circle to chat on smart eating tips. Get your New Year’s health on and try these four tips this January.

1. Leave two bites at every meal (about 100 calories total per day). Cutting just 100 calories every day in 2010 results in a ten pound weight loss. Not bad. How would you like to weigh 10 pounds less at the end of next year and accomplish this by slightly cutting your portions?
2. Cook at home one more night each week. Most home cooked meals tend to be lower in fat and calories plus smaller in portion than what you typically get eating out.
3. Turn off the kitchen lights at 8 p.m. Cut out mindless eating at night.
4. Serve your meals on eight inch salad plates. Compared to a standard dinner plate size of 10 inches (or more), the smaller size looks like more food and you have less room to load up.

To start the New Year off right, we have a new spin on eggplant parmesan. Be sure and try the Panko-Crusted Eggplant Parmesan recipe posted at the WDBO.com Nutrition & Health Center.

Listen to this week’s podcast