Check Your Diet: A Guide to Healthy Eating
Healthy Eating
Healthy eating involves adopting new ways of eating or maintaining the good old ones, including reducing levels of sugar, salt and fat intake, adding more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to the foods you consume. Good nutrition; means getting the calories we need for energy and the nutrients we need for proper growth.
We need to take in note interplay of variety, balance and moderation if we are to achieve good nutrition.
- Variety means being adventurous i.e. Choosing different foods in each food group. For example, don’t opt for a banana whenever you have to eat a fruit. Eating a variety of foods each day will help you get all the nutrients you need. Though foods in a certain group have most nutrients in common, they in most cases differ in the levels of such nutrients or even differ in some other micronutrients.
- Balance means choosing equal or close to equal amounts of all food groups for most days. Except in cases of sickness like ulcers, eat only when you are hungry and stop eating when you are satisfied. The food groups include;
Ø Fats, oil and sweets
Ø Milk, yoghurt and cheese group
Ø The vegetable group
Ø Bread, cereal, rice and pasta
Ø Fruit group
Ø Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts
Eating in moderation means to avoid eating too much or too little of a certain food. Eating fats in moderation can be healthy while eating too much of fruits can some times be disastrous.
How to stay on track of healthy eating
ü By making healthy eating a habit. You should first know why you need to eat healthy basing on the advantages of healthy eating described latter on. Then you should think of the changes you can make to your eating habits taking into note affordability, ability to maintain the change and liking. Make sure to set short, medium and long term objectives about adjustment of you diet i.e. avoid big drastic changes.
ü Talk to a registered dietician, family members and friends in order to have a proper plan. You should know when you need a hand to make shopping, cooking and meal planning assistance.
ü Set the mealtime mood. Set the table, light candles, play music, or eat outside or by a window when possible. Tidying yourself and your space will help you enjoy the moment.
ü Break habits. If you eat watching TV, try eating while reading. If you eat at the counter, curl up to a movie and a slice of veggie pizza.
ü Take advantage of home delivery. Many grocery stores have Internet or phone delivery services.
ü Swap services. Ask a friend, neighborhood teen or college student if they would be willing to shop for you.
ü Share your home. If you live alone in a large home, consider having a housemate / companion who would be willing to do the grocery shopping and cooking.
ü Hire a homemaker. Try to find someone who can do the shopping and meal preparation for you. For more information,
ü Avoid skipping meals – This causes your metabolism to slow down, which leads to feeling sluggish and poorer choices later in the day.
Limitations to healthy eating
Work loads: Due to a lot of work many of us are pressed by time, we favour our bosses over our health. Its true preparing own food is takes a lot of time but it’s because we don’t budget for our time. Secondly, we want convenience and that’s why we buy prepackaged processed, canned, frozen foods which are ready to eat or need minimal preparation. Many advertisements on televisions are misleading and lead us into processed foods.
Loneliness and depression: For some, feeling down leads to not eating and in others it may trigger overeating. Be aware if emotional problems are affecting your diet, and take action by consulting your doctor or therapist.
Death or divorce of a pattern: Newly single seniors may not know how to cook or may not feel like cooking for one. People on limited budgets might have trouble affording a balanced, healthy diet. See the resources below for suggestions on cooking for one and easy, healthy menu selections.
Advantages of healthy eating
Energy: whole foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains in healthy snacks and breads, and foods with a healthy amount of lean protein are not only healthier, but they keep your blood sugar pretty stable throughout the day, which equals more energy for you. The healthier our diet is, the more energy we have. Foods that are easier to digest make energy more readily available to our body. Stimulants such as caffeine and sugar give us a lift but then we crash and our body craves more. Stable energy levels provided by high quality nutrition keep us going throughout the day.
Boost up of immunity: our immune system is built and maintained from the food we eat. A diet of processed and convenience food not only lacks nutrients, it draws from our body's reserves for digestion and metabolism. This depletes vitamins, minerals and antioxidants necessary to ward off disease and fight infection. A healthy diet should contain all these elements in abundance to give our immune system the power to protect us. Eating healthy will directly correlate to your overall health. You will then be able to fight off and maybe even avoid common illnesses such as colds, the flu, and sinus infections. More importantly though, you will also reduce your risk for major illnesses and diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
You will look better: Even if you are not “overweight”, you might have more fat than you realize. A healthy diet will lower your body mass index, improve your skin and skin elasticity, your nails and hair, and even your teeth. Our skin, hair, and tissues are all built from what we eat. Supple, smooth and glowing skin requires vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and essential fatty acids, as does glossy hair, sparkling eyes and strong nails. A nutrient-rich diet gives us a natural glow
You set a good example for your loved ones and kids: This is a big one for me. What are you teaching your kids, or, if you are young, are you following in your parent’s footsteps? How do they eat, are they healthy? Just some food for though here, but the way you choose to eat will rub off on others!
And lastly, you will simply live longer, and have greater opportunities to enjoy life more.
There are many other reasons as to why eat healthy. You may already have a disease and want to manage it, you may be pregnant, or you may want to simply just feel better. Whatever your reasons, eating healthy should be a way of life and not just a few weeks here and there!
Simple meal plan for you
- Breakfast – Select high fiber breads and cereals, colorful fruit, and protein to fill you with energy for the day. Try yogurt with muesli and berries, a veggie-packed omelet, peanut-butter on whole grain toast with a citrus salad, or old-fashioned oatmeal made with dried cherries, walnuts, and honey.
- Lunch – Keep your body fueled for the afternoon with a variety of whole-grain breads, lean protein, and fiber. Try a veggie quesadilla on a whole-wheat tortilla, veggie stew with whole-wheat noodles, or a quinoa salad with roasted peppers and mozzarella cheese.
- Dinner – End the day on a wholesome note. Try warm salads of roasted veggies and a side of crusty brown bread and cheese, grilled salmon with spicy salsa, or whole-wheat pasta with asparagus and shrimp. Opt for sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and grilled meat instead of fried.
- Snacks - It’s okay, even recommended, to snack. But make sure you make it count by choosing high-fiber snacks to healthfully tide you over to your next meal. Choose almonds and raisins instead of chips, and fruit instead of sweets. Other smart snacks include yogurt, cottage cheese, apples and peanut butter, and veggies and hummus.
