Eating For Your Health
What exactly does eating "healthy" mean? What is the best weight loss or maintenance plan today? If you were to ask Dr. Atkins he would say to eat "meat and eggs!" A body builder would say "health bars for every meal!" A runway supermodel would say "an Altoid for breakfast, carrots and Diet Coke for lunch, and of course, a cigarette for dinner." But in reality, all gimmicks and quick fixes only provide temporary results and are dangerous for long-term health. The human body cannot operate on one food group alone and/or function at top capability if under nourished or over nourished for that matter. The key to proper nutrition is balance, moderation and frequency.
Balance:
Most major health-related associations recommend a daily value of 25-30% total kcal from fat, 55-60% from carbohydrate, and 10-15% from protein. In order to meet these recommendations on a daily basis, a balanced diet is necessary. The human body is designed to function via the combination of fat, carbohydrate, and protein as fuel. These nutrients are not only important for daily activity, but for protection (skin, hair, nails), healing (ex: a cut or scrape), cell division and growth as well.
One can achieve a balanced diet by maintaining variety within the diet. This means eating a number of different foods within any given food group rather than eating the same foods day after day. Variety not only avoids boredom with food but also assures sufficient nutrients and vitamins, especially those that only can be obtained from food and not a daily vitamin pill.
The Food Guide Pyramid is a great meal-planning tool for bringing balance and variety to your diet. The plan for an adult over 18 essentially consists of the following:
- 2 to 3 servings from the milk, yogurt, and cheese group
- 2 to 3 servings from the meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts group (5-7 oz total)
- 3 to 5 servings from the vegetable group
- 2 to 4 servings from the fruit group
- 6 to 11 servings from the bread, cereals, rice and pasta group
- Fats, oils and sweets... eat sparingly!
Total servings from each group should be individually determined based on height, weight and realistic needs. For example, a 5'2" female should only have 6 to 7 bread servings as opposed to a 6'1" male who would have anywhere from 8 to 11 servings.
Moderation:
Eating moderately refers mostly to portion size. There seems to be a sense of freedom to eat the entire bag of chips when they are low-fat. A calorie is a calorie. Moderation and balance go hand in hand. If you consume 700 calories on a pile of mashed potatoes, you are more likely to pass up foods from other food groups. When a meal is balanced with nutrients from a variety of food groups, it is more likely to have realistic portion sizes because the calories are dispersed in an assortment of foods. It is important to understand the serving sizes referred to in the Food Guide Pyramid. Here are a few examples:
1 Bread/Cereal/Pasta Serving=
3/4 cup Healthy Choice Low-Fat Granola
1/2 bagel
1/2 cup rice
1/2 most health bars
1 Dairy Serving=
1 cup nonfat milk
3/4 cup (4-6 oz) "light" fruit yogurt
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 slice of cheese
1 Protein Serving=
2 oz ham
3 oz broiled salmon
1 tbsp peanut butter
2 oz chunk light tuna in water
1 Fruit Serving=
1 apple or orange
1/2 cup Dole fruit salad in light syrup
8 oz Orange juice
1 Vegetable Serving=
1/2 cup sliced tomatoes
1 cup romaine lettuce
1/2 corn on the cob
3 oz. baby carrots
1 Fat/Sweet Serving=
1 oatmeal-raisin cookie (small)
1 tbsp Thousand Island dressing
1 tbsp light butter
Frequency:
When using the word "frequency" in regards to a healthy diet, it is referring to the amount of time between meals and snacks. A misconstrued concept of losing or maintaining weight is the idea of skipping meals and/or holding out for only one big meal a day. Think of the human body as an old riverboat, which moves by a large paddlewheel in the back, generated by steam, produced from burning coal. If the boat is not fueled with coal throughout the entire journey across the river, the wheel will begin to slow in pace and eventually come to a stop. The coal to the riverboat represents food to the human body. Frequency in diet is important to maintain a continuous metabolism; constantly burning. If the human body is deprived of nourishment, metabolism will begin to slow down out of protection for the body. In severe cases of malnourishment, systems of the body can shut down, just like the paddleboat without coal.
The solution to eating frequently without overeating is five mini-meals a day. Opposed to eating three giant meals with four to five hours in between, five small meals should never leave you so hungry that you overeat when finally eating or so full that you have to unbutton the top button of your pants! To eat five meals a day one must be conscientious of portion sizes, discussed in the previous paragraph.
A Few Tips:
- Listen to your body. If you are hungry, eat something. If you are not hungry, do not eat even though it may be "dinner time". Let your body dictate when it is time to eat.
- Keep a lot of fruit, vegetables, and nutritious snacks in the house for those "munchie moments".
- If you just cannot fight that sweet tooth craving for a Snickers, cut the candy bar in half and save the rest for the next attack!
- Remember to drink water! 8-10 glasses are recommended each day.
- Record your food intake to monitor which food groups are being neglected or overindulged.
Although gimmicks and quick fixes are attractive because they are easy and cause rapid results, applying yourself to fitness and health via exercise and proper nutrition will not only pay off now but long-term as well. To be of good health takes time, thought, self-application, and self-discipline. We have one life to live and it's a precious gift, eat healthy, it's worth it.
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