Food and New Year’s Resolutions

Salad greens with beets and goat cheese, recipe below

In the summer of 2010 I had minor knew surgery that I had me laid up for a while then we made what turned out to be a very stressful relocation from metro New York to metro Boston. Add to this a harsh winter last year that just would not stop and I gained 20 pounds by the summer of 2011. In response, I bought running shoes and hit the pavement jogging on the weekends to aid to the bike riding and stationary bike riding I do week day mornings before heading into the office. In addition I cut down on deserts and eating late at night. By the end of 2011 I had lost the extra 20 pounds around my midsection and returned from a size 36 waist to a size 34. To keep the weight off, I am eating more produce and moving more.  During my travels through the South last week I noted how difficult it could be to find cooks who did not season cabbage and collard greens without pork and noted places that can be best be described as food deserts--they neighborhoods without access to fresh produce never mind s grocery store.  I mentioned this because it New Year’s resolution time again when folks try and lose weight. North Americans are historically more overweight than residents of any other nation in the world; African-American eating habits are just as problematic as the eating habits of other ethnic groups within the United States. According to Joan B. Lewis, a member of the American Dietitian Association and a registered dietitian with more than forty years of experience, historically, most of the eating patterns that you see among Americans are “sugar, salt, fat, you know fatty products, a whole lot of fried stuff, a whole lot of pork products, a whole lot of fast food, no vegetables, no fruit, [and generally] no good wholesome things" that reduce one's chance of obesity and risk factors for high blood pressure and diabetes. If you must make a New Year’s resolution, commit to making it a habit to eat more vegetables and fruits and exercise more. Here is the recipe to the salad featured above.

Dandelion Green Salad with Beets and Goat Cheese recipe: http://flapperfood.blogspot.com/2009/07/dandelion-green-salad-with-beets-and.html