Sunday, February 6th

As college kids, we have plenty on our to-do lists.  Adding "be healthy" to those lists can be daunting, so here is something easier to do--start a "do not do" list. 

This can be a fun little way to trick your mind.  Think of it like this:  you can do anything you want!  All you have to do is NOT eat certain things, like this list of foods to avoid from Dr. Mercola:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/10/18/worst-foods.aspx

His five worst foods that you should avoid are:

1.  Doughnuts

2.  Soda

3.  French Fries

4.  Chips

5.  Fried Non-Fish Seafoods

Looking over this list, you might be disappointed to see that some of your favorite foods have made this list.  However, there are multiple ways to eat around this list.  Whenever you are craving something fried or sweet, for instance, try eating a healthier dessert.  Fruit is an ideal dessert, but if you really need something chocolate (like I do constantly), making a dessert yourself will limit the amount of sugar and artificial additives you are consuming.  Or, if you are looking for a healthy ice-cream, try something from Ben & Jerry's.  This ice cream might be high in calories but it is one of the few brands that does not use milk with the bovine growth horomone! 

Again, as college students, avoiding doughnuts, soda, french fries, and chips can be especially difficult.  I am still working on cutting these completely out of my diet, but here is a tip:  don't try giving all of these up at once.  Start with one item--like soda--and concentrate on weening yourself off of it entirely.  Then you can move down the list until your diet is free from these disaster foods.  Good luck!