Most of the people that I know love to eat hamburgers, steak, ham, pork chops, roast beef, pork sausage, pepperoni and other beef and pork delicacies.  About nine years ago, my husband and I stopped eating all of the above. We decided that together, we would begin to eat a diet of chicken, fish, turkey, beans, and other lean proteins. We have been successful in transitioning our diet and have never gone back to our old way of eating.

We have found our diet to be much healthier and even quite enjoyable.  The transition wasn’t easy. Finding restaurants that serve a wide variety of healthy chicken, turkey and fish choices was difficult to come by.   Sure, restaurants always served breaded, fried or gravy covered choices, but didn’t always have a nice variety of healthy options.  Over time, we did find restaurants that offered healthy options. In many cases, we would need to ask for modified menu choices. Today, with all of the health concerns, restaurants do a much better job at serving up healthy choices, just be careful how much of the large servings you consume.

Eating at home was also a bit of a challenge early on in our eating transition.  We needed to “invent” new food plans that included chicken, fish, turkey and other lean meat alternatives.  Making a pepperoni pizza is just so easy to do, but making a veggie pizza with a low fat mozzarella cheese and turkey pepperoni takes a little more thought and planning. I now make tacos, manicotti, lasagna, burgers, casseroles, chili, and more by substituting ground beef with lean ground chicken or turkey.  Our family doesn’t even know the difference anymore.  All of the above meals are just as good or better (and healthier) by using this easy substitution.

Many of our meals today are even meatless.  Our daughter became a Vegetarian about two years ago. Her diet still includes eggs and dairy but she does not eat any meat products.  I am able to modify many meals but we often find our meals loaded with other protein sources like beans and even soy protein.  I did not realize how many bean/pea options were available until I started shopping for them. You can choose from black beans, pinto beans, Fava beans, lima beans, chickpeas, Navy beans, even Green peas.  Just go to the grocery store and see for yourself.  We usually eat the beans as a side, but think of all of the possibilities. Include them in your tacos or quesadillas, use them in your casserole dishes, and add some to your burger.  The options are endless.

The best advice I have for my readers is this.  Don’t limit yourself to what you have been eating all of your life.  Be willing to try new foods just as you would expect from young children. Try new vegetables, new fruits, new beans, and new meat options. During the course of the new experience, you might just find that you keep some of the new foods in your diet and actually learn to enjoy them.