Healthy Eating – A Good Practice Made Simple
Everyone is very conscious about their weight. Being healthy and being fit has become a trend. You can’t go an hour without seeing weight loss being advertising on the web or television. Many plans and techniques have sprouted up that guarantee you’ll have this “perfect body”. But really, what is the secret you ask? There are only two words you need to know for losing weight: healthy eating.
You might say that you already knew that. Others may also say that this method is not only obsolete but it is too simple. But sometimes the things that work are the simplest things to do.
Losing weight does not have to be something that is either complicated or extraordinary. The weight loss truth is: all you need to do is practice healthy eating.
So why do we always promote healthy eating? What makes it essential to everybody’s life? There are plenty of reasons why healthy eating is a good practice to start today. Lets review the different food groups available out there, and why we need them.
Go Foods
Go Foods: This group comprises the carbohydrate-rich food. Examples are breads, cereals, rice, and pasta.
As the word “go” implies, this group of food helps keep you going. When you need to be on the go then eat carbohydrate-rich food. Carbohydrates are responsible for giving you the energy that you need. When you eat carbohydrate-rich food the body either utilizes or stores them for future use.
There really is no need to worry about eating this type of food. You cannot avoid eating carbohydrates even when you are on a weight loss diet. Did you know that carbohydrates also serve as a fuel for your metabolism?
Go Foods are especially important for athletes and people who spend a large amount of time exercising. Carbohydrates are the body’s expendable fuel for activity. So now you know why marathon runners have a pasta-rich meal the night before a big race!
Grow Foods
Grow Foods: This food group comprises the protein-rich foods. There’s lean red meat, chicken, fish, and cottage cheese to name a few.
These foods are responsible in building tissues which makes up your muscles. They also aid in the “growing years” of a child. Thus the word – grow.
Protein is not only good for building but also good for the repair and maintenance of your muscles (these include wound healing and body development). Protein allows for muscle recovery – For example, when you lift weights, your muscles literally rip apart (on a microscopic level). The body needs protein to rebuild them, and when it does, they come back just a bit stronger than before.
Glow Foods
Glow Foods: You should not forget to include this food group in your healthy eating diet. This food group comprises the vitamins and minerals. They help you keep glowing. You can find many, if not all, of your required vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables.
We all know that there is a long list of vitamins and minerals. Each vitamin and mineral has its own function to carry. From vitamin A which we all know is good for the eyesight to vitamin C which is essential for fighting infection.
Keeping a Balance
Remember how people would say that money is not bad in itself but the wrong use of money is what makes it bad? The same analogy can be applied in the food you eat. If you think about it, the problem is not the food itself but the quantity consumed.
We all know that too much of everything is bad for you. So just remember to keep these three food groups in balance and be disciplined enough. Never eat only protien (like the Atkins Diet [read about the dangers of too much protien]) or only carbohydrates (the You Gain a LOT of Weight Diet) Balance is what healthy eating is all about.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Agree with you very much about keeping a balance and avoiding any fads. A healthy diet is essential with a lot of fruit and vegetables in particular and organic when possible as well.
May 8th, 2009 at 2:51 am
It’s amazing how many people do fall for the fad diets and are on the look out for a quick fix! What surprises me even more is that which so much information out there (like this post!) people are still lining up in droves for the latest lose weight quick ponzi diet! Good, healthy time proven foods and sensible options will always win out! Great post.
Eliza
February 24th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I absolutely loved your Blog and so well written. Whilst i am a true advocate of healthy living I wanted to add a spin on healthy meals for kids as it’s not always the easiest thing to get them to eat. So whist healthy food does aid weight loss it also aids in the growth of our little ones – which is all good news.
I think we have all experience going to the shop and ‘willy-nilly’ adding things to our trolley or basket without giving it too much thought.
It is also the kiddies that play a huge role in what goes in the trolley and most times as our backs are turned
To contribute to your Blog my focus is on the little ones because if we teach them early they will hopefull remember the goodness in our ‘wise-words’.
So firstly it’s us understanding what is nutritious enough to put in the basket and then also what to serve up to our children and how we serve it up.
Shopping will get easier….
The truth of the matter is that children are mini adults therefore they too have motivating factors to inspire them to eat healthy foods. Us adults are in some way more stubborn than children, ironically however these five factors are true of all of us.
1) Tasty choices. Many kids love plums, pears, watermelon, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, tangerines, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, and pineapples and it’s far too often kids’ fruit alternatives are restricted to only apples and bananas, and maybe oranges and grapes too. Try corn bran, Spoon-Sized Shredded Wheat, or oatmeal with fresh berries. Instead of crackers or toast made from white flour try bran crispbread as a snack especially whole-grain pancakes, children love these. Children will develop their tastes the sooner they start in this direction. Butter on green beans makes them a lot tastier so during the preschool years, make butter a treat for vegetables. Raw carrot sticks go down very well because of the “crunch,” many kids like all by themselves.
2) The limitation factor. If there are healthy foods readily available, children will pick their favorites from amongst those healthy choices.
3) Presentation needs to be FUN. Multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns compete against us all the time when we are deciding what to feed our children. TV doesn’t always help either because there are many commercials that promote sweetened breakfast cereals which while reaching their right audience, sweetened cereals are not as healthy as the unsweetened variety. Add fruit to cereals which would take place of the ‘sweetners’. Where are the commercials for fresh fruit and veggies? That job is left to us to promote. Children love shapes and things more interesting in color. Preschool children often love food that is shaped like a clown, a face, favorite hero or cartoon character or even a dinosaur etc. Processed macaroni is manufactured this way because it sells. How do we make healthy food as appealing as the empty or harmful alternatives? Try a whole-grain pancake with a strawberry for a nose, kiwi slices for eyes, and banana for the mouth. Stand corn on the cob up right when serving it (pretend it’s a rocket ship), decorate food in ways that children can ‘see something else’ besides a plate full of veggies – think like a preschool child – let your imagination run.
4) If that happens to fail, be a sneak and sneak it in. Make carrot muffins with zucchini bread. Add pieces of fruit or shaved vegetables to virtually any baked dish. While dried fruit is high in sugar, it is also high in fiber so dried cranberries can be a hit. Kids love smoothies! A great way to hide fruit and vegetables is in whole-food smoothies and juices. The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious are two recently published cookbooks that offer more ideas on how to hide the healthy stuff!
5) Multivitamins are essential. In this day and age so many foods are processed so give a daily multivitamin as a safety net. Vitamins are compounds necessary in trace amounts for the normal functioning of children and adults alike.
I have great respect for the longstanding relationship between humans and their natural foods. By eating whole foods (fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains, etc.), your child can get the necessary vitamins in the healthiest way.
In order to see the world around us we need these vitamins to grow as they help bones and connective tissue to grow, stop us from bleeding to death, heal wounds, fight infections and cancer, and keep our teeth from falling out.
As we know most preschoolers and toddlers are often picky eaters. As children’s tastes change as they grow, and they do eventually get to eating a more well-rounded diet. So vitamins (the “safety net”) takes the pressure off feeding issues during the primary years. You can be free to be creative about increasing whole foods in your child’s diet, knowing that vitamins are present to help your child grow strong and healthy without pressure or worry.
Now that we have mass advertising, children’s fun meals, and peer pressure makes the battle all the harder. Never push or force them, entice them, persuade them and most importantly teach them. The battle should never be with your kids. Battle bad nutrition rather.
March 1st, 2010 at 3:18 pm
I couldn’t agree with you more a plan is so important! Great post, thank you!
For many parents it can be quite difficult to have this balance due to our busy lives however we are the first to know and recognise that whole foods are imperative for our childrens growth.
In follow-on to your fantastic post, many parents would like to know how to overcome getting their children to eat whole foods? So whats’s the plan?
Understanding what food is nutritious enough to serve our children and then how we serve it up, to make it attractive, makes all the difference in the world.
The truth of the matter is that children are mini adults therefore they too have motivating factors to inspire them to eat healthy foods. Adults are in some way more stubborn than children, ironically however these five factors are true of all of us.
1) Tasty choices. Many kids love plums, pears, watermelon, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, tangerines, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, and pineapples and it’s far too often kids’ fruit alternatives are restricted to only apples and bananas, and maybe oranges and grapes too. Try corn bran, Spoon-Sized Shredded Wheat, or oatmeal with fresh berries. Instead of crackers or toast made from white flour try bran crispbread as a snack especially whole-grain pancakes, children love these. Children will develop their tastes the sooner they start in this direction. Butter on green beans makes them a lot tastier so during the preschool years, make butter a treat for vegetables. Raw carrot sticks go down very well because of the “crunch,” many kids like all by themselves.
2) The limitation factor. If there are healthy foods readily available, children will pick their favorites from amongst those healthy choices.
3) Presentation needs to be FUN. Multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns compete against us all the time when we are deciding what to feed our children. TV doesn’t always help either because there are many commercials that promote sweetened breakfast cereals which while reaching their right audience, sweetened cereals are not as healthy as the unsweetened variety. Add fruit to cereals which would take place of the ‘sweetners’. Where are the commercials for fresh fruit and veggies? That job is left to us to promote. Children love shapes and things more interesting in color. Preschool children often love food that is shaped like a clown, a face, favorite hero or cartoon character or even a dinosaur etc. Processed macaroni is manufactured this way because it sells. How do we make healthy food as appealing as the empty or harmful alternatives? Try a whole-grain pancake with a strawberry for a nose, kiwi slices for eyes, and banana for the mouth. Stand corn on the cob up right when serving it (pretend it’s a rocket ship), decorate food in ways that children can ‘see something else’ besides a plate full of veggies – think like a preschool child – let your imagination run.
4) If that happens to fail, be a sneak and sneak it in. Make carrot muffins with zucchini bread. Add pieces of fruit or shaved vegetables to virtually any baked dish. While dried fruit is high in sugar, it is also high in fiber so dried cranberries can be a hit. Kids love smoothies! A great way to hide fruit and vegetables is in whole-food smoothies and juices. The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious are two recently published cookbooks that offer more ideas on how to hide the healthy stuff!
5) Multivitamins are essential. In this day and age so many foods are processed so give a daily multivitamin as a safety net. Vitamins are compounds necessary in trace amounts for the normal functioning of children and adults alike.
I have great respect for the longstanding relationship between humans and their natural foods. By eating whole foods (fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains, etc.), your child can get the necessary vitamins in the healthiest way.
In order to see the world around us we need these vitamins to grow as they help bones and connective tissue to grow, stop us from bleeding to death, heal wounds, fight infections and cancer, and keep our teeth from falling out.
As we know most preschoolers and toddlers are often picky eaters. As children’s tastes change as they grow, and they do eventually get to eating a more well-rounded diet. So vitamins (the “safety net”) takes the pressure off feeding issues during the primary years. You can be free to be creative about increasing whole foods in your child’s diet, knowing that vitamins are present to help your child grow strong and healthy without pressure or worry.
Now that we have mass advertising, children’s fun meals, and peer pressure makes the battle all the harder. Never push or force them, entice them, persuade them and most importantly teach them. Battle bad nutrition rather. The battle should never be with your kids.