Nutrition gurus Willow Jarosh and Stephanie Clarke are sharing their advice for maintaining a healthy lifestyle during the summer, when vacations and barbecues make it tempting to ditch those half-year-old New Year’s resolutions.
“If you feel like you’ve gotten off track, just start back with some of the goals that you had,” Ms. Clarke said. “Remind yourself what they were and why you kept them to begin with. Don’t make yourself feel too guilty about it.”
These registered dietitians of C&J Nutrition encourage a “positive relationship with food,” without any quick fixes or fad diets, because healthy habits translate into feeling better physically and mentally.
“We’d much rather focus on all of the good stuff to add to your diet than focus on the ’don’t do this, don’t do that,’” Ms. Jarosh said.
“A lot of what we do is geared toward making healthy eating more practical, fun and taste good, so people don’t think that it has to be boring and bland,” Ms. Clarke said.
Ms. Jarosh personally likes to mix up her summer diet with a traditional Mexican pico de gallo.
“My dad taught me how to make [pico de gallo]. It’s fresh chunks of coconut, watermelon, orange and apple,” she said. “You just toss it all together and serve it in little cups filled with fresh lime juice and chili sauce. It’s a traditional beach food, and it’s so refreshing and makes a great dessert.”
Ms. Clarke’s favorite meal this time of year is a “summery and light” panzanella salad with tomatoes, greens and onions, marinated in red wine vinegar and oil with pieces of grilled bread.
These nutrition specialists understand that we can’t all be perfect in the summer, so they offered some healthy mixed drink options. Being able to enjoy a wedding reception or a friend’s barbecue without packing on the pounds is always a plus.
“I started making this watermelon and mint water [drink] and then thought it would be really good as a cocktail too,” Ms. Clarke said. “I use the Crisp™ Melon Baller and freeze the watermelon balls as ice cubes. Then you can put those out with mint, club soda and vodka.”
“We also have a lemon ginger ice cube recipe that is really good with club soda. It kind of makes a light lemon-ginger-ade, but it’s also really good with vodka or tequila,” Ms. Jarosh said.
After tackling the decision of what to drink comes the snack bar, full of delicious fried, fattening, greasy foods that are sure to ruin any diet.
Ms. Clarke suggests “getting a plate, getting a little bit of each dish you want to try, sitting down and enjoying it away from where all the food is.”
“When you’re out at social events this summer, eating one real meal rather than snacking is a really great way to be sure you’re not eating too much,” Ms. Clarke said. “All the picking can make you eat more than you think, but you’re never really satisfied.”
It’s also important to have food that is nutritious, so Ms. Jarosh suggests bringing your own healthy dishes to the social outing.
“Bring a veggie-based dish or a bowl of fruit. Those always tend to be the things that go the fastest. People will always love them,” she said.
The nutrition specialists know that staying on track during family vacations can be challenging. The No. 1 rule of healthy traveling, Ms. Jarosh said, is to bring snacks like fruit-and-nut bars or fruits and veggies.
“Either a flight gets delayed or something in your schedule gets mixed up, and you wind up going a long time without eating,” Ms. Jarosh said. “When you finally sit down to eat, you’re so ravenous, you’re grabbing for whatever you can get. So if you have snacks with you while you travel, you can take the edge off that hunger.”
C&J Nutrition encourages a lifestyle change rather than a quick summer fix, because “every season is a good season to feel good,” Ms. Jarosh said.
“Focus on making the choices that make you feel your best, and that translates to consistency year-round. You deserve to feel your best.”
• Emily Leslie can be reached at eleslie@washingtontimes.com.
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