Christina Pilz was in a rut, eating whatever she wanted. Sometimes it was fast food, sometimes it was takeout.With her energy levels plummeting, the 42-year-old technical writer decided to see a nutritional consultant."As a gift to myself, I would go see someone who would point me in the right direction," she says.
She went to Debbie Sarfati of Whole Nourishment, who offers nutrition counseling and teaches classes in cooking with natural foods.In their first session, Sarfati told her to eat two fruits a day. "I asked, 'Does raspberry jam count?'" Pilz says. "(Sarfati) laughed and explained the benefits of fruit."Pilz was a little surprised at how simple the initial step was. Yet, she says, "Within a week, I felt better." Then Sarfati instructed her to add a salad every day.
"You couldn't put me down," Pilz says. "It wasn't caffeine. It wasn't sugar. I had energy. I was exploding with it and was very obnoxious about it, too."
Eat your veggies
Sarfati's approach is the path many nutritionists recommend: making incremental dietary changes that become a way of life. While fad diets and nutrition trends may change, vegetables, fruits and whole grains have continued to gain in stature for being dense in vitamins, phytochemicals and fiber, but low in calories. Most people don't eat enough of them."Only 9 percent of people eat the recommended (six to eight) servings of vegetables," Sarfati says. "That's the place that people need the most help."
But how to change the habits of a populace accustomed to grabbing dinner from a box or a fast-food container?"For most people, (eating vegetables and grains is) a big change as far as the way America typically eats," Sarfati says. "(They're surprised at) how much fuller they feel, how much energy they have, and how quickly they lose weight."
She says cooking classes can be an answer for some. "I find that people don't know how to do veggies and whole grains," she says. For people in her classes, tasting a well-prepared vegetable can be an important discovery."A lot of people say 'I thought I hated vegetables,'" she says, not realizing that the vegetables they were familiar with had been poorly prepared.
For those who truly don't like very many vegetables, she suggests adding them to soups or sauces or putting a different dressing on them."If the person loves marinara, why not put it on asparagus," she says. Eating six to eight servings of fruits and vegetables a day is not as daunting as it may sound. Portions are small: 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables or 1 cup of raw veggies such as salad greens.
Sara Hanafin, a registered dietitian working in cardiac rehabilitation at Boulder Community Hospital, gives patients this advice: "If you start by including one (vegetable) at every meal, then it's pretty easy. If you work in an office, ... carry dried fruit with you," she says. "Eat a carrot while making dinner. That will add a serving."
Meg Forbes of Forbes Nutrition Services also touts making changes simple. "We put a lot of emphasis on fast and easy foods that are good for you — grabbing an apple versus a candy bar," she says. "It's just as quick, but a lot healthier."
Like Sarfati, she urges patients to switch to whole grains and to experiment with unfamiliar grains such as quinoa and millet.
Color your world
Once you've made the jump to eating more fruits and vegetables, the next step is to vary your selections. "When you leave the health food store, make your cart look like a rainbow," Sarfati says. "That will ensure you getting a lot of different vitamins or minerals."
Registered dietitian Eileen Faughey, who runs Nutrition Connections in Boulder, also emphasizes color. Look for produce in intense colors, she says. "The deeper, darker colors have more nutrients. Some recent studies have shown it's important to get antioxidants and phytochemicals as part of food, rather than as supplements. It's more effective when it's part of food."
Changing habits
Faughey says many people are unaware of what they're really eating. To that end, she asks new clients to keep a food diary for two weekdays and one weekend day. "Many people do find it enlightening when they keep track," she says. "There are so many things we eat that we're unconscious of. We're not really aware of what we're eating or the portions that we're eating."
Looking at actual eating behavior is the best way to change it, she says. "What I try to do is have people focus on what they want to do, rather than what they want to be," Faughey says. "Rather than saying I want to be 10 pounds lighter, look at the specific actions you can take."
She also encourages clients to focus on what to do — like eating more fruits and vegetables — rather than what not to do, and to figure out specific ways to incorporate the new habit into their lives. For example, preparing healthful food and exercising can take time, yet the person may have set another goal to spend more time with the family, she says. Faughey would urge the client to find a way to be active with other family member or prepare meals together."I think it's important to integrate a healthy habit into our lives, rather than thinking of it as an extra thing to do," she says.
For Pilz, who has been seeing Sarfati since November, changing her diet has been a pleasure. She likes to cook and has enjoyed discovering new vegetables. "I have tried kale, root vegetables, beets, parsnips. I never had those. I love them," she says. "In the meantime, 15 pounds have melted away as a side effect."

If she eats something that doesn't qualify as healthful, she doesn't see it as a major setback. "I don't think of it as falling off the wagon," she says. "It's a day you had some pizza. (The next day) have a really big salad with garbanzo beans, carrots, onions and mushrooms."