Energize your body with these nutrition tips from Joanne Eglash

Variety is the spice of life

For the next six months I ate exactly the same foods every day.

Breakfast: one grapefruit; lunch: two hard-boiled eggs and one apple; afternoon snack: four carrots and two pieces of Melba toast; and dinner: one hamburger patty, a green salad with oil and vinegar dressing, three pieces of Melba toast and one apple.

I lost 10 pounds—and I lost the boyfriend, too. “You’re no fun anymore,” he complained. “Anytime I want to go out for pizza, you whine about your stupid diet. And at the movies, while I eat popcorn, I have to listen to your stomach rumble.” I also caught every flu and cold germ that drifted within my vicinity.

After “gorgeous George’s” rejection, I promptly returned to my college girl eating habits. I regained the 10 pounds faster than you can say, “One Big Mac, one large order of fries and a vanilla milkshake.”

Do you follow a diet similar to the hard-boiled eggs and Melba toast regime? Beware: Eating the same food day after day can rob your body of some essential nutrition, according to scientists.

“Although scientists have isolated 13 vitamins from food, many things about food nutrition still remain a mystery,” says registered dietician Susan L. Burke, who is the director of nutrition services for eDiets.com. “Different foods have different amounts of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and eating a variety of foods helps ensure that you’re getting complete nutrition.”

If you limit your fruit and vegetable options, for example, to a daily apple and an iceberg lettuce salad, “you may be missing out on phytochemicals that keep you healthy, as yet not isolated in pill form. Try some "super foods" like mango, cantaloupe, sweet potato and other fruits and vegetables that are deep orange, red and green. It’s important to remember that fresh fruit, vegetables and grains contain good amounts of soluble and insoluble fiber, which is protective against heart disease and some types of cancer," Susan notes.

For more ways to energize your body, experiment with these tips:

    * Treat your tastebuds to a change! For example, instead of the standard dieter’s chicken breast for dinner, “try Cornish hen instead,” says Susan, or enjoy a meatless dinner by making “a stir-fry of extra firm tofu, garlic, sesame oil and vegetables.”

    * Dust off your blender and create a smoothie, which is a delicious way to sneak some fruit and non-fat dairy into your diet. Susan’s recipe: “Whip up a cup of non-fat milk and ½ cup of non-fat yogurt in a blender with some crushed ice and ½ banana, or a cup of berries. You can add a little sugar or honey (approximately 20 calories per teaspoon) if you choose.”

    * Are you still following your mom’s instructions to eat three meals a day “and no snacking”? Rethink that notion! For optimal energy “try breaking your meals out into mini-meals, and eat every two to three hours to maintain your energy and to avoid hunger,” says Susan.

    * For a change of pace from the usual brown rice, enjoy "fried" potatoes (no, we’re not talking about driving through the Golden Arches for a takeout!). Just bake a potato, slice it into thin (½-inch) rounds, spread out on a non-stick cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes at 380 degrees, turn and spray again, and bake for another 15 minutes. No guilt, and a lot less expensive than visiting a fast food restaurant.

    * Don’t neglect breakfast. A quick, easy and nutritious breakfast can be as simple as a bowl of high-fiber cereal ith non-fat milk and a piece of fruit. Your body will be revved up for the day with “protein, carbohydrate and a little fat.”

    * If you feel as if you “should” drink water instead of diet soda but you just can’t take the monotony, prepare “brewed herbal teas, without caffeine, on ice. Keep a 20-ounce water bottle with you in your car, at your desk and in your shoulder bag,” suggests Susan.

    * It’s Sunday, and you have extra time to fix a proper breakfast. But all you can think about is a peanut butter sandwich on whole-wheat bread with an apple. Why not? “Eat breakfast for dinner and lunch for breakfast,” if it appeals to you, Susan says. “If you’re bored with your routine, challenge yourself to a new experience. There’s no rule that you have to eat the same way every day! Have your breakfast meal in the evening, and enjoy your dinner meal at lunch.”