It doesn't help that the messages about how and what we should be eating are overwhelming:
Don't take in too many calories.
Take care with salt.
Eat good fat (the unsaturated kind) -- but not too much.
And on and on and on.
It seems the list of healthy-eating advice is endless.
The good news is that we don't have to. At least not all at once.
A small-steps approach will improve nutrition and can slow and prevent weight gain, the ADA says. Those shifts also can be a prelude to the larger lifestyle changes necessary for weight loss.
"No one can change everything in a day," says registered dietitian Lisa Cimperman. "The important thing is to just pick two to three goals to work on at a time."
Once those few tweaks are in place for about a month, you can move on to the next handful.
"Any change that you make takes 30 days for it to become a habit," says Cimperman, who counsels open-heart surgery patients at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. "After a month, it becomes fairly ingrained in your routine."
Making a number of tiny shifts has its advantages over an immediate, large-scale diet retool: It's easier to get started, momentum builds with success, and feelings of being overwhelmed are lessened.
"If you're doing it in a sensible way with changes that will last the duration, it will be worth the investment," says Tammy Randall, a registered dietitian with the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland.
Change doesn't have to be dramatic to make a difference, says Susie Akers, a registered dietitian at MetroHealth Medical Center.
Area dietitians offer this advice, which can add up to big nutritional benefits in the long run.
Eliminate sugary drinks.
That means regular soda, juice, sports drinks, energy drinks, specialty coffees and alcohol.
Instead, drink water, diet sodas and unsweetened coffee or iced tea. Limit milk -- and be sure to drink low-fat or skim -- to three one-cup servings and juice to 6 ounces a day.
Many dietitians list sugary-drink consumption as their No. 1 concern, because the beverages have no nutritional value and are high in calories: up to 150 calories and nine teaspoons of sugar for each 12-ounce can of pop, for example.
"People don't think about it because it's not food," Randall says.
Many of us drink several sugary beverages a day, piling on the calories -- and later, the pounds -- at a ferocious clip.
If you must use convenience foods, make them healthier.
Add chopped vegetables to a frozen dinner. Add white chicken meat or vegetables or low-sodium broth to a boxed soup mix.
Convenience foods can help with portion control but are typically high in salt and preservatives.
"At least you're adding a little bit of something healthy to it," Cimperman says.
Limit treats to 100 calories a day.
If you're getting a bit of exercise in daily your body won't grow fatter with a few unhealthy calories, Akers says.
That little indulgence might be enough to stave off feelings of deprivation and keep you on your healthy track.
"If you balance the bad with the good, it's not going to show up on the scale," Akers says. "Everyone needs a little bit of pleasure."
Set aside one hour or so each week to cook one double- or triple-size portion of a healthy dish.
Freeze the extras, or eat them later in the week for lunch or dinner.
Patients often tell dietitians they are too busy during the week to cook. But reliance on food in restaurants -- where you can't control portion sizes or ingredients like fat, sugar and salt -- is a shortcut to poor nutrition.
"Almost anything you make at home is going to be healthier than something you eat out," Randall says.
Put an apple on your desk at work or a bowl of fruit on your kitchen counter.
Don't lock your produce away in your refrigerator's crisper bin, says Kristin Kirkpatrick, a registered dietitian for the Cleveland Clinic's Lifestyle 180 program.
You're more likely to eat a piece of fruit for a snack if it's in front of you, instead of opening a bag of chips or heading off to the vending machine, she says.
Pick one dish you now deep-fry or cook in oil and try boiling, baking or sauteing it in broth instead.
Some of Cimperman's patients believe that if they fry food in unsaturated fats, they avoid the bad-for-you aspect of eating fried foods.
Not so, she says. "Even if you're using a healthy fat, you don't want to use that much."
Cimperman advocates steaming in the microwave as the best way to cook vegetables, rather than boiling them until bland. "You lose all the nutrients like that," she says.
Try one new vegetable and one new fruit every week at dinner.
Find a recipe on the Internet that uses the new vegetable and ask your family to rate it, Akers says.
Parents should be positive and encouraging to their children about trying new foods, not negative and threatening, Akers says. If some don't like it and don't want to eat it, no big deal. But remind those who are reluctant that the new dish could become their new favorite.
"Say, 'Thank you for trying. Tomorrow we will try something different,' " Akers says.
Go through your pantry and refrigerator and throw away any processed foods with hydrogenated oils.
"Trans fats are poison in our bodies," Kirkpatrick says. "The best thing to do is just get rid of it."
Find one healthy recipe a week that appeals to you and try it out at home.
And if you don't like it, find another.
"Get out of your food rut," Cimperman says.
At meals, quarter your plate into one serving each of:
• A whole grain like brown rice or whole-wheat pasta (about ½ cup).
• A lean protein such as cooked beans (1 cup) or a broiled or baked skinless chicken breast (about 3 ounces).
• A vegetable such as seasoned steamed broccoli (about ½ cup) or a salad with low-fat dressing.
• A fruit, such as applesauce (about ½ cup) or orange slices.
"Most of my families are getting one or two vegetables a week," Akers says. "Some kids grow up without ever having eaten asparagus. Kids are not learning to accept or experiment with what fruits and vegetable they might enjoy."
Making a number of tiny shifts has its advantages over an immediate, large-scale diet retool: It's easier to get started, momentum builds with success, and feelings of being overwhelmed are lessened.
"If you're doing it in a sensible way with changes that will last the duration, it will be worth the investment," says Tammy Randall, a registered dietitian with the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland.
Change doesn't have to be dramatic to make a difference, says Susie Akers, a registered dietitian at MetroHealth Medical Center.
Area dietitians offer this advice, which can add up to big nutritional benefits in the long run.
Eliminate sugary drinks.
That means regular soda, juice, sports drinks, energy drinks, specialty coffees and alcohol.
Instead, drink water, diet sodas and unsweetened coffee or iced tea. Limit milk -- and be sure to drink low-fat or skim -- to three one-cup servings and juice to 6 ounces a day.
Many dietitians list sugary-drink consumption as their No. 1 concern, because the beverages have no nutritional value and are high in calories: up to 150 calories and nine teaspoons of sugar for each 12-ounce can of pop, for example.
"People don't think about it because it's not food," Randall says.
Many of us drink several sugary beverages a day, piling on the calories -- and later, the pounds -- at a ferocious clip.
If you must use convenience foods, make them healthier.
Add chopped vegetables to a frozen dinner. Add white chicken meat or vegetables or low-sodium broth to a boxed soup mix.
Convenience foods can help with portion control but are typically high in salt and preservatives.
"At least you're adding a little bit of something healthy to it," Cimperman says.
Limit treats to 100 calories a day.
If you're getting a bit of exercise in daily your body won't grow fatter with a few unhealthy calories, Akers says.
That little indulgence might be enough to stave off feelings of deprivation and keep you on your healthy track.
"If you balance the bad with the good, it's not going to show up on the scale," Akers says. "Everyone needs a little bit of pleasure."
Set aside one hour or so each week to cook one double- or triple-size portion of a healthy dish.
Freeze the extras, or eat them later in the week for lunch or dinner.
Patients often tell dietitians they are too busy during the week to cook. But reliance on food in restaurants -- where you can't control portion sizes or ingredients like fat, sugar and salt -- is a shortcut to poor nutrition.
"Almost anything you make at home is going to be healthier than something you eat out," Randall says.
Put an apple on your desk at work or a bowl of fruit on your kitchen counter.
Don't lock your produce away in your refrigerator's crisper bin, says Kristin Kirkpatrick, a registered dietitian for the Cleveland Clinic's Lifestyle 180 program.
You're more likely to eat a piece of fruit for a snack if it's in front of you, instead of opening a bag of chips or heading off to the vending machine, she says.
Pick one dish you now deep-fry or cook in oil and try boiling, baking or sauteing it in broth instead.
Some of Cimperman's patients believe that if they fry food in unsaturated fats, they avoid the bad-for-you aspect of eating fried foods.
Not so, she says. "Even if you're using a healthy fat, you don't want to use that much."
Cimperman advocates steaming in the microwave as the best way to cook vegetables, rather than boiling them until bland. "You lose all the nutrients like that," she says.
Try one new vegetable and one new fruit every week at dinner.
Find a recipe on the Internet that uses the new vegetable and ask your family to rate it, Akers says.
Parents should be positive and encouraging to their children about trying new foods, not negative and threatening, Akers says. If some don't like it and don't want to eat it, no big deal. But remind those who are reluctant that the new dish could become their new favorite.
"Say, 'Thank you for trying. Tomorrow we will try something different,' " Akers says.
Go through your pantry and refrigerator and throw away any processed foods with hydrogenated oils.
"Trans fats are poison in our bodies," Kirkpatrick says. "The best thing to do is just get rid of it."
Find one healthy recipe a week that appeals to you and try it out at home.
And if you don't like it, find another.
"Get out of your food rut," Cimperman says.
At meals, quarter your plate into one serving each of:
• A whole grain like brown rice or whole-wheat pasta (about ½ cup).
• A lean protein such as cooked beans (1 cup) or a broiled or baked skinless chicken breast (about 3 ounces).
• A vegetable such as seasoned steamed broccoli (about ½ cup) or a salad with low-fat dressing.
• A fruit, such as applesauce (about ½ cup) or orange slices.
"Most of my families are getting one or two vegetables a week," Akers says. "Some kids grow up without ever having eaten asparagus. Kids are not learning to accept or experiment with what fruits and vegetable they might enjoy."
Grocery shop at least once a week. Buy fruits and vegetables, preferably fresh, but frozen or canned work, too. And eat them.
Dietitians spend a lot of time urging patients to rely less on processed, packaged foods that last forever on the pantry shelves.
For what you can spend on a bag of potato chips, a 12-pack of pop and a box of snack cakes, you can buy a bag of apples, which will last longer than a couple of meals, are more nutritious and more filling, Akers says. "Stop spending your money on junk."
"We have to get back to nature and away from processed foods," Kirkpatrick says.
She explains the difference in simple terms: "Food rots. It comes from nature. It has a stem."
Don't eat out of packages.
If you do eat food that comes in a box, pouch or package, check the label and find the serving size. Measure that amount out into a bowl and put the package away.
"It's hard to eat out of boxes or packages," Randall says. "There's no endpoint."
Be honest, Randall says: How many of us scoop out the ½-cup ice cream serving size?
Eliminate powder or liquid nondairy creamers.
Buy a good-quality coffee and drink it black.
Most nondairy creamers are made from water and hydrogenated oil, Kirkpatrick says. If you have five cups of coffee with nondairy creamer a day, "that's a huge addition of trans fats to your diet."
Adding dairy also diminishes coffee's health benefits, by interfering with absorption of the brew's antioxidants, some studies suggest.
Eat breakfast, even if it's only a slice of whole-grain toast with peanut butter and a piece of fruit.
"If you skip breakfast, you're not doing yourself any favors," Randall says. "You'll be really hungry later, leading to snacking in the late morning or a too-large lunch."
Choose whole-grain foods and avoid the processed versions such as white pasta, rice and bread.
Kirkpatrick challenges her patients to change every white food in their house to brown.
Whole grains -- brown rice, whole-wheat pasta and whole-grain bread are good choices -- are more filling when you eat them and help you to feel full longer, Kirkpatrick says.
Whole grains also have fiber, vitamins and minerals that the processed versions lack.
