Lifestyle Plan: Part 1 – Eat the Rainbow #Linkup

In my opinion, diets don’t work.  Not long term anyways.  I think you can lose a lot of weight on a diet (depending on which one), but diets are nearly impossible to maintain.  You can’t go through life not eating carbs or eating all of your food from freezer dinners.   It’s just not possible.  So, when I decided to lose weight, I didn’t really diet.  I made a Lifestyle Plan.  I successfully lost over 20 pounds and have kept it off for over three years.  Well, I did have a baby in those years, but I got rid of the baby weight rather quickly when I re-adopted my Lifestyle Plan after having had my second child.

I know it works, at least for my body.  And it’s something I can maintain, which to me is the most important part.  If you’re going to work to lose a lot of weight, why put it all back on?  Whether on a weight-loss or weight-management plan, I think these are some great tips to keep you on the “straight and narrow.”

First up: Eat the rainbow.

In every meal I make, I try to make sure that I’ve got all of my colors covered.  Seriously.  I know it sounds kind of silly, but if you have all of your colors in a meal, you’ve likely got plenty of fruits and veggies, some grains and a little protein.   There’s a lot of studies that back this way of eating up:  Eating orange means you’re getting healthy beta-carotene.  Dark green foods are high in potassium, dietary fiber, folate, vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin C.  Foods that are red, blue and purple contain anthocyanin which is shown to help fight cancer, heart disease and age-related conditions of the brain.

You’ll find that most of my Menus on Mondays meals are quite “colorful,” but I thought I’d pull some of the best as a reference.  Might be a good time to start thinking about colors on your plate as you’re incorporating healthy eating into your New Year resolutions.

 Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon with Roasted Broccoli and Beet Risotto

 Veggie Hummus Pita Pockets with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Southwestern Orzo Salad with Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

Pan-Seared Salmon with Spinach and Shiitake Mushrooms

Wild Mushroom Soup and Artichoke Flatbreads

Colorful Quinoa Dinner from Britt’s Blurbs

Fruit-filled Detox Salad

Do you have a favorite colorful recipe? Please share…. would love to include your contribution in a future Menus on Mondays Meal Plan!  Thanks!