One way to combat boredom many people complain accompanies eating healthy is to “eat outside your box,” by experimenting with new foods and cuisines and by challenging your long held notions about what to eat and when. Iceberg is not only kind of lettuce, apples and oranges aren’t only fruits and there is no law that says you can’t eat mushroom lasagna for breakfast and a southwestern omelet for dinner. And just because your parents always eat turkey on Thanksgiving, fish on Friday and meatloaf on Mondays doesn’t mean you have to. Dare to step outside your comfort zone and put an end to your eating rut, by accepting one (or more) of following challenges to eat and live more healthily and creatively.

Make a list of 10 foods that you eat on a regular basis. Over course of next month, eat outside your box by avoiding these foods.

Try a new food every day. Have you knocked eating brown rice, tofu, sushi or kiwi without ever giving it a try? Don’t allow opinions of others to inhibit your pallet. Give your taste buds an opportunity to decide.

Look back at your food diary. Don’t eat any of same foods you ate last month. Use cookbooks to invigorate your mundane menus.

January is month we all resolve to eat well. But that doesn’t mean our plates must always be filled with broccoli and Brussels sprouts or that we have to swear off snacks, desserts and other foods we love, which may be, nutritionally speaking, not so good for us. Although we may need to taper serving sizes, we can still eat foods we enjoy by adopting “The 80-20 Rule.”

In 1906 Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, observed that 20% of Italian people owned 80% of their country’s wealth. This observation over time and through application in a variety of environments has come to be called Pareto’s Principle and “The 80-20 Rule.” The rule implies that relationship between input and output is not balanced. In management context, this principle is useful when there is a question of effectiveness versus diminishing returns on effort, expense or time. For example, if 80% of a company’s profits come from 20% of its customers, then secret to success would be to identify 20% and focus on them.

Here’s how we might apply “The 80–20 Rule” to a program of healthy eating. Because it is a virtual given that we are not going to eat healthy food 100% of time, let’s not set ourselves up for failure by making that our goal. Instead, let’s shoot for eating well 80% of time. The other 20% of time we can enjoy whatever it is that makes our taste buds zing.

Let’s do “80-20” math so we are clear about calories. Let’s say your target calorie consumption is 2000 calories per day. That means 1600 calories should come from foods that are nutrient dense, heart healthy, low in sodium and

saturated fat. And 400 calories can be from whatever foods you choose. Here are “80-20” breakdowns for eating plans that contain 2000, 1800, 1500 and 1200 calories a day: