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We know that healthy eating is an important part of green living. But what if we crave junk food? How can we eat healthy anyway?

I would suggest a few things not to do: label whole food groups 'bad', or deny ourselves any food totally, or resign ourselves to eating bland or bad-tasting food. It's easy to make ourselves feel guilty for eating fats or starches. It can be tempting to say, in the zeal of a new diet, "I am never going to eat a doughnut again!" It's easy to figure that the worse a food tastes, the healthier it must be. But fats and starches are necessary nutrients, in moderation. Except for some people with medical problems, the occasional doughnut or brownie won't hurt us. And healthy food doesn't have to taste bad--but we may need to learn how to prepare them.

A few ideas of what we can do:

* Educate ourselves. If our bodies' cravings are not working right, then we can use a different method for choosing our food. We can learn how much of what foods each of us should eat, given our body types, our lifestyles, our locations and our preferences.
* Listen to our bodies. Our tastes and cravings are not the only ways our bodies communicate what they need. Maybe we can't go by what they are saying before we eat, but we can go by what they are saying after. The right amount of healthy foods in the right proportions should make us feel better--a little stronger, a little more energetic, a little more able to concentrate. Don't forget that you are the most knowledgeable expert on the condition of your body--or at least you have the potential to be. For all the training and experience a doctor or dietitian can have, the one thing she can't have is the messages your body sends your brain all the time.
* Consider asking our healthcare providers. Atrociously unfit doctors who smoke and never think about nutrition are going out of style. The world is waking up to the fact that nutrition is an important part of health.
* Consider joining a program. I'll be honest: I don't like diet programs. I don't like overpriced food, or members who can't join friends for dinner, or packages of 'food' that has little or no actual food in it. But programs, too, are changing. Weight Watchers just rolled out a new version of its Points program. Now, instead of motivating members to eat non-nutritive fillers, it rewards them for choosing real fruits, vegetables, protein foods and whole grains.

Jae Blakney blogs about New Hampshire green living at www.NHGreenWorld.com.