Hello, darlings!
Today I want to share with you some facts surrounding healthy eating, and some tips & tricks that I have learned over the years to keep your body in TIP TOP SHAPE!
For those of you who have made resolutions this year to get healthy, lose weight, or finally get into the best shape of your lives, but just keep falling off track- there is HOPE for you! I want all of you to know that keeping our bodies in great shape & getting/being/staying healthy does not necessarily entail taking hours and hours out of your day to make good things happen. It's all about COMPROMISE! :-)
I have included the website for our country's Food Pyramid to get you started! The website is called ChooseMyPlate.gov, and offers guidelines, tips, & tricks from some of the nation's leading nutritionists to help you adopt healthy eating into your lifestyle- TODAY! :-) I am sharing this website in particular with you because I am very fond of its approach: "A healthy and balanced diet specific to our weight, age, and amount of physical activity". I am also going to share with you some of MY tips & tricks that I have learned over the years, and some of my favorite resources for information on nutrition!
Enjoy! :-)
1) Enter http://www.choosemyplate.gov/index.html into your URL bar (<or click).
2) When the website comes up, look for the bright green section of tabs along the top of the page! The first should say "My Plate", the second, "Weight Management & Calories", and so on. Scroll your pointer over the tab that says "SuperTracker & Other Tools", and select "Daily Food Plans" from the drop-down menu!
3) When the page pulls up, click on the hyperlink "Daily Food Plan" in the first paragraph. It will bring you to the page below. :-)
4) Enter your age, sex, weight, height, and amount of physical activity in a typical day, and then click Submit!
This is a sample of what your view should look like:
or if you are overweight for your age, sex, height, and amount of physical activity, your view will look like this (just select the link: "To gradually move toward a healthier weight" to the right! :-) ):
5) Now view your results!
You should see a chart of what you should be eating in a typical day based on a 2,000 calorie diet plan specific to your age, sex, weight, height, and amount of physical activity. There are also guidelines below your chart to show you how much of each specific type of vegetable (based on color/nutrient profile) you should be consuming in a week. Your personalized nutrition plan also tells you how how much fat you should be consuming in a typical day (healthy fats only- no steak and butter people!) There also very helpful tips shown as tabs within your food group recommendations chart when you first view the page!
*I want everyone to note that this or any diet plan is a generalization. If you have any health conditions or are taking any medications, contact your doctor prior to any lifestyle change! Also, if you notice any unwanted weight gain or loss, adjust the amount you are eating!
Some healthful tips & tricks that I have learned about nutrition and healthy eating over the years!:
1) When you first adopt healthy eating, it is important to take baby steps! It is more realistic to adopt healthy eating habits as a lifestyle, rather than a diet for weight loss!
2) Eating healthfully is all about BALANCE! You must choose foods that offer an overall "broad spectrum of nutrients" for the amount on your plate.
3) Do not try to adopt a healthy eating lifestyle by stuffing your face with vegetables you horribly hate! Eat vegetables that you DO like, and incorporate the vegetables you do not by finding creative & healthy ways to make them tasty!
4) Be realistic! If you know eating whole grains makes your entire body shiver and cringe, stick to your white bread in the beginning, and then slowly incorporate more and more whole grains in creative ways! Keep doing this until more than half of your grains become whole!
5) If you are busy and simply do not have the time in the day to adopt a healthy lifestyle, find 1 day during the week where you can make a trip to the food store (*bring a LIST and do not go on an empty stomach!). Purchase all of your vegetables for the week that you like, lean meats such as chicken, fish, or tenderloin, whole grain staples such as brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, whole grain cereals, & bread, some spices for your kitchen pantry (if you do not have any), healthy fats such as olive oil or canola oil, fruits for snacking, and some low-fat dairy for your calcium, vitamin D, and protein (Ex. 0% greek yogurt, 50-75% reduced fat cheddar cheese, low-fat milk)!
6) When you are first starting out, cook all of your meals on one day out of the week that you have more free time than usual (Ex. Sunday). After you cook all of your meals, freeze them in individual ziploc bags or containers for the week. This will allow you to simply pop your healthy dinner into the microwave like a TV frozen dinner, and get on with your responsibilities!
7) Invest in a scale! In general, 1 serving of vegetables is a heaping handful, 1 serving of grains is a fistful, 1 serving of protein is palm-sized, 1 serving of fruit is a fistful, 1 serving of dairy is about 1 cup, and a serving of fat is 1 Tbsp.- but when all else fails, use your scale and follow your nutrition guide!
9) Fill your plate with mostly vegetables, a smaller portion of grains (*make sure you eat the majority of your grains during the day, not at night!) or fruit, depending on the time of day, and a palm-sized portion of protein! Vegetables & fruit offer the broadest nutrient profile per serving to give your body what it needs, grains provide your brain and body with energy, and protein is needed for its building blocks/our cells! :-)
10) Think of food as fuel. Would you put gunked up fuel and sludge into your car engine? Our bodies need clean, easy burning fuel to provide us with the energy and nutrients that we need to stay alive, healthy, and sustained throughout our day. Food eaten simply for pleasure is secondary. Food was put on this earth for our survival and well being. Own it!
Some of my favorite resources for information on nutrition!:
- Book: "The Eat Clean Diet" by Tosca Reno
- Magazine: "Eating Well"
- Magazine: Oxygen Collector's Issue, "Nutrition"
- Magazine: "Prevention"
- Website: http://www.prevention.com/homepage
- Website: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/
- Website: http://www.webmd.com/diet/default.htm
- Website: http://whfoods.org/
I hope this was helpful! Love you all!
Xo -Jess
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