Weisenberger - The overworked persons guide to better nutrition: simple steps you can take to eat well, reduce stress, and improve your health

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2014 by the American Diabetes Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including duplication, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the American Diabetes Association.

Printed in the United States of America
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The suggestions and information contained in this publication are generally consistent with the Clinical Practice Recommendations and other policies of the American Diabetes Association, but they do not represent the policy or position of the Association or any of its boards or committees. Reasonable steps have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the American Diabetes Association cannot ensure the safety or efficacy of any product or service described in this publication. Individuals are advised to consult a physician or other appropriate health care professional before undertaking any diet or exercise program or taking any medication referred to in this publication. Professionals must use and apply their own professional judgment, experience, and training and should not rely solely on the information contained in this publication before prescribing any diet, exercise, or medication. The American Diabetes Associationits officers, directors, employees, volunteers, and membersassumes no responsibility or liability for personal or other injury, loss, or damage that may result from the suggestions or information in this publication.

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DOI: 10.2337/9781580405416

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Weisenberger, Jill.
The overworked persons guide to better nutrition : simple steps you can take to eat well, reduce stress, and improve your health / Jill Weisenberger, MS, RDN, CDE.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-58040-541-6 (alk. paper)
1. Health. 2. Nutrition. 3. Home economics. 4. Quick and easy cooking. 5. Stress management. I. Title.
RA776.5.W439 2014
613--dc23
2014001046

eISBN: 978-1-58040-596-6

Table of Contents

Health-Boosting Strategies:

Health-Boosting Strategies:

Health-Boosting Strategies:

Health-Boosting Strategies:

This book came to be because of the loving support and patience of my family, the careful guidance of the talented folks at the American Diabetes Association, and the collective wisdom of my colleagues and patients. I thank you all.

Like many of my patients (and probably like you too), I sometimes feel like an overworked crazy person trying to get everything done. These are the times when its especially important to rememberbut easy to forgetboth the desire and the obligation we have to take care of ourselves. The health-boosting strategies in this book will help you take care of yourself and your family in faster, better, and smarter ways. These are the strategies that have helped keep my patients and me sane and healthy. They can do the same for you.

Over the past two decades, Ive counseled and coached thousands of patients. Some come to me in search of the magic weight loss planthe one that will finally work (sadly, magic has nothing to do with it!); some people want to separate nutrition myth from fact (because there is a crazy lot of goofy stuff being tossed around as fact); and some simply want to learn how to make healthful eating fit with their busy lives. If you are in either of these latter two categories, The Overworked Persons Guide to Better Nutrition was written for you. Part 1 helps you organize your kitchen, offers strategies for faster meal preparation, and provides a blueprint for meal planning. If you feel that youre too busy or overworked right now to organize your kitchen and streamline your cooking, thats okay. Dont wait until you have more time to change your diet and start feeling healthier and more energetic. Get started today with Part 2. Come back to the first part of the book when you have more time.

After reading the introduction to , turn to any page for strategies to preserve nutrients in your food and to eat more disease-fighting nutrients and fewer disease-promoting foods. Learn to cut calories and slash sodium. You will find 50 practical ways to change your diet, live healthfully, and feel fabulous, even with your hectic life. The Overworked Persons Guide to Better Nutrition is not a weight loss program or a diet plan designed to control blood glucose, blood cholesterol, or any other health condition. But it is packed with tips to help you do all of these things. Some tips offer timesaving ideas; others are simple diet changes that cost you no time at all; and others are action plans that you can read and digest quickly to help you make smarter food and health decisions. You dont have to read an entire book to dive into better eating and health. In fact, if all you have is 510 free minutes, you will still be able to read a full health-boosting strategy and learn from it.

A lot of my patients know what to doat least some of the timebut they dont know how to do it. RG was like that. He knew that he could lose weight and better control his diabetes if he ate more vegetables and fewer fast food sandwiches and highly processed snacks. He knew that he should exercise daily. But he didnt know how to squeeze exercise and balanced eating into his packed day. Like RG, you may know what to do but havent had long-term success with weight loss, blood glucose control, keeping your energy up, cholesterol management, or other health and nutrition goals. Thats because knowledge alone doesnt lead to behavior change. So if you know, for example, that eating more vegetables is good for you but youre still not eating them, this is the book to set you down a path of healthful eating.

A cautionary word here: Even though this book is written for people with hectic lives and gives you new information in a quick, easy-to-read format, implementing new strategies and forming new habits still take time. A timesaving strategy doesnt mean that you wont have to carve out any time at all. To make the best use of your limited time, work on the changes that are most important to you. Consistency is key, so pick a strategy and stick with it. Thats what RG did, and now hes more than 50 pounds lighter and has his diabetes under better control.

Feel free to read the book from beginning to end, head straight to the topics most important to you, or simply open the book to a random page in and get started. Or dig in deeper with the first two chapters to help you get organized and to speed up and simplify meal planning, preparation, and even cleanup. This is not an all-or-nothing guide. There are no rules here. Pick and choose what you like. If something in the book sounds like a good idea but you dont feel ready to make that change or it seems to be too difficult, give yourself permission to move on. Keep an open mind, and revisit the idea another day.