Food to Recover Nutrition Challenge: Savor the Flavor and Balance the Body!

In honor of this National Nutrition Month, Food to Recover is launching a Nutrition Challenge, inviting all members to "Savor the Flavor and Balance the Body!" through our daily healthy, balanced recipes and buddy-system meal tracking. 
This challenge will provide you with the tools to both celebrate your food and motivate you to eat healthy, nourishing foods. 

 There will be 5 steps to enter and succeed in this Challenge: 

 1) Attend the Food to Recover workshop on March 26th at 11AM to get an overview of a balanced and healthy diet with our registered dietitians and RD students. 
2) Sign up to receive the daily recipe idea for one month from Food to Recover and grab a buddy to track what you eat! Receive a daily email from Food2Recover dietitians. 
3) Download the below suggested apps, online resources, or paper food log to help you know what’s in your food and help track your eating and behaviors. 
4) Attend the Gardening and Planting Day with Food to Recover at the FTR gym on April 16th to check in with dietitians, share experiences with each other, and address challenges/share successes about your mindful and balanced eating!
 5) Reflect on your experiences and work to incorporate at least one of your observed changes in your daily routine. 

 Participants will receive points based on the following accomplishments: 
 Fruits: Eat a minimum 1.5-2 cups per day (1 point per cup) 
Vegetables: Eat a minimum 2-3 cups per day (1 point per cup) 
Grains: At least 3/4 grains consumed are whole grains (1 point per whole grain) 
Proteins: Lean animal proteins and vegetable proteins are eaten. (1 point per serving) 
Calcium –rich foods: If dairy is already part of your diet, aim for 1-2 cups per day. But, it is not necessary to eat dairy if you don't already. See below for calcium-rich alternatives (1 point per serving). 
Try to keep oils below 5tsps/day and added sugars below 25g per day. 
2 point for every 8 ounces of water consumed. 

 The goal is VARIETY and BALANCE, not necessarily weight loss (though this may be an effect of more mindful eating:)) You are also invited to record how you are feeling while you eat, where you eat/what you're doing, and your hunger levels (all can be simply done through an app or written on your log!) 
 Suggested apps include: MyFitnessPal, Loseit!, MyNetDiary (fee after 2 week trial), MyPlate Calorie Tracker. OR feel free to use the paper food diaries provided by the dietitians! 

 Join us in the Challenge and learn more about your Body and Mind through intentional, balanced, wholesome eating and tracking with friends! 

Food group examples and serving sizes*
 Fruits: Aim for at least 2 cups per day. Focus on whole fruits. One-cup serving examples= 1 small apple, 1 small banana (or half a large one), 32 grapes, 1 medium grapefruit, 1 large orange (1 small orange=1/2 serving), 8 large strawberries
Vegetables: Aim for at least 2.5-3 cups. A variety of vegetables from all subgroups –dark green, red and orange, legume, starchy and other. One- cup serving= 1 cup chopped broccoli or 3 long spears, 1 cup cooked spinach (2 cups raw; 2 cups raw is equivalent to 1 cup of vegetables), 2 medium carrots or 12 baby carrots, 1 large sweet potato, 1 large raw tomato, 1 cup garbanzo, kidney, pinto, or soy beans.

Grains: Aim for 6-8 ounces. Look for “100% whole wheat” as the first ingredient in bread products. One ounce serving=1 regular slice of whole wheat bread, ½ cup cooked bulgur/brown rice/quinoa, 5 whole wheat crackers, ½ whole wheat English muffin, ½ cup oatmeal, 3 cups popcorn, 1 cup flaked cereal, ½ cup cooked whole wheat pasta.

Proteins: Women aim for 5-5.5 ounces, Men aim for 6-6.5 ounces. Focus on lean animal sources. One ounce serving= 1 oz fish, chicken, turkey, lean beef <90% fat, 1 sandwich slice of turkey, 1 egg. Try to stay within or slightly above the recommendation, even if you are active, as many Americans consume far too much protein.

Vegetable sources: one ounce equivalent serving = 2 ounces tofu, ¼ cup cooked beans/ peas/lentils, 2 Tbs hummus, 1/2 ounce of nuts (12 almonds, 24 pistachios, 7 walnut halves) 1/2 ounce of seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, or squash seeds, hulled, roasted)

1 Tablespoon of peanut butter or almond butter

Calcium Rich Foods: Dairy foods: 1 cup (8oz) yogurt, 1 cup low-fat milk, 1 cup kefir. Calcium-rich alternatives to dairy: ¾ cup broccoli, kale, bok choy, ¾ cup tofu/tempeh, 1 cup fortified nut milk, 12 almonds, ¾ cup white navy beans, 1 Tbsp molasses.

Water: 64 ounces minimum per day. Feel free to jazz it up with fresh fruit (lemons, oranges, berries) or veggies (cucumbers, carrots) and carry a water bottle at all times!

*Recommended serving goals are for active adults. For children’s recommendations, please refer to the USDA MyPlate website, www.choosemyplate.gov