Fitness Carter

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Healthy eating resolutions nothing new - Newnan Times-Herald


Food & Dining


by Bradley Hartsell


alt Healthy eating trends are typically predicted annually, so they may seem familiar.


The end of the year gives way to a lot of reflection — “best of 2013!” — and promotes a lot of looking forward — “this will be the best of 2014!” Trends in food may be a bit more difficult to predict, but some foodies are already placing bets on some hopeful contenders.


2013 gave us the Ramen burger and the fried Twinkie burger, but it’s likely none of those social media food fads made it into a Coweta kitchen.


Places like the Huffington Post and CBS News provide several predictions, but two trends dominate the upcoming year: international flavors becoming staples of American kitchens, and foods that place emphasis on healthy eating habits.


If these trends seem familiar, it is likely because these ideals of new flavors and health-conscious choices typically are predicted annually. Americans will be cooking dishes spanning the globe and they’ll be doing it with responsibly grown food and exercising portion control.


These hopeful projections are optimal, but local food fiends aren’t buying the hype. “[These lists] are ineffective because these ideas are only introduced in January and do nothing to help people see the need for a lifestyle change,” said Gina Bruce, a food enthusiast who often appears in the Culinary Exposure column in The Newnan Times-Herald.


Bruce’s favorite gift this Christmas was a set of Julia Child’s cookbooks. “Nobody is telling people how bad it is to drink diet Coke, but we tell people to stop eating sweets cold turkey. It’s unrealistic.” If these lists are unrealistic, why do they pop up in some form every January?


“Because of the hype. It’s January. If [these articles] don’t make it sound appealing and ‘new,’ even though people have known these ideas for years, then people don’t get excited. The problem is, that excitement doesn’t last through February and beyond.”


For many families, including Bruce’s, there isn’t always the time or money for the lifestyle these popular lists promote.


“People can’t maintain the lifestyle because it’s expensive or because they don’t know how to change eating habits for good,” Bruce said. “Everyone cleans out their fridge, buys organic food and cookbooks on better eating. They join a gym and then go broke and head back to McDonald’s for the next 10-11 months. Jan. 1 comes along and we repeat. ”


“I worked at a gym for years,” she added. “I saw this trend. People get too excited and aren’t realistic. We romanticize working out and being healthy without the commitment.”


2014 will likely be a year very similar to 2013, at least when it comes to food. Bruce doesn’t discount eating healthily, but the change doesn’t automatically come because the calendar turns.


Some foods will be “buzz” foods, like kale a few years ago. Cauliflower is tabbed to be the next big thing. If you ask Bruce, these lists may get foodies excited — i.e. every dinner party in 2014 will be dishes from the South Pacific — but ultimately, people will cook what’s in their fridge, and hopefully the contents of the fridge will be just a little bit healthier than they were the year before.






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Cooking salmon en papillote[1]


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References



  1. ^ Cooking salmon en papillote (www.times-herald.com)

  2. ^ Read More (www.times-herald.com)

  3. ^ Sweetwater Happy Ending Imperial Stout (www.times-herald.com)

  4. ^ Read More (www.times-herald.com)

  5. ^ Read More (www.times-herald.com)

  6. ^ Make fitness a family affair in 2014 (www.times-herald.com)

  7. ^ Read More (www.times-herald.com)

  8. ^ Health Happenings (www.times-herald.com)

  9. ^ Read More (www.times-herald.com)

  10. ^ Local artists create large, memorable sculptures (www.times-herald.com)

  11. ^ Read More (www.times-herald.com)



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