Healthy Eating

by Priscillia Chong 

How do you get started on healthy eating?
Healthy eating starts with learning new ways to eat, such as adding more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and cutting back on foods that have a lot of fat, salt, and sugar.

A change to healthier eating also includes learning about balance, variety, and moderation.

Aim for balance
Most days, eat from each food group – grains, protein foods, vegetable and fruit, and dairy. Listen to your body. Eat when you’re hungry. Stop when you feel satisfied.

Look for variety
Be adventurous. Choose different foods in each food group. For example, don’t reach for an apple every time you choose a fruit. Eating a variety of foods each day will help you get all the nutrients you need.

Practice moderation
Don’t have too much or too little of one thing. All foods, if eaten in moderation, can be part of healthy eating. Even sweets can be okay.

How do you make healthy eating a habit?
First, think about your reasons for healthier eating. Do you want to improve your health? Do you want to feel better? Are you trying to set an example for your kids?
Next, think about some small changes you can make. Pick ones you can keep doing.
– Don’t try to change everything at once.
– Set an easy goal you can reach, like having a salad and a piece of fruit each day.
– Make a long-term goal too, such as having one vegetarian dinner a week.

Is healthy eating the same as going on a diet?
Healthy eating is not a diet. It means making changes you can live with and enjoy for the rest of your life.Diets are temporary. Because you give up so much when you diet, you may be hungry and think about food all the time. And after you stop dieting,you also may overeat to make up for what you missed physical activity, you are more likely to get to a healthy weight and stay there than if you diet.

Why pay attention to what you eat?
Healthy eating will help you get the right balance of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. It will help you feel your best and have plenty of energy. It can help you
handle stress better.Healthy eating is one of the best things you can do to prevent and control many health problems, such as heart diseases, high blood pressure,diabetes,some types of cancer and etc.

Where can you get support?
Having support from others can be a huge help. The more support you have, the easier it will be to make changes. Ask family and friends to practice healthy eating with you.Have them help you make meals and share healthy, delicious recipes and cooking tips.

Below please find the link for the food guide pyramid for your useful reference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USDA_Food_Pyramid.gif

Priscillia Chong (200H TTC weekday Jan/Feb’14 )