We
are all familiar with the saying “you are what you eat.” However, many of us
take this with a grain of salt, and continue our lives with little awareness of
what we put in our bodies. We must remember that food is the body’s fuel and crucial
to a healthy life. Our diets impact our entire wellbeing, which extends beyond
our physical being to our mental health. Therefore, we should not focus on “fad
dieting” and instead place emphasis on refining our overall eating habits for a
positive lifestyle change.
Mind-Body Yoga was fortunate enough to
welcome Dietitian Ruth Douthett, DTR to the studio for a healthy eating lecture
on April 14, 2012. She shared fifteen practical ways to make healthy changes in
our diets in order to promote overall wellbeing. Below are Ruth Douthett’s
rules for healthy eating for a healthy lifestyle. Read, apply, and enjoy!
1.
If You Can’t Pronounce The Ingredient –
Don’t Eat It
Read
label and look at the ingredients. If you can’t pronounce it or never heard of
it – DON’T EAT IT! Many ingredients used are also used in other ways like paste/rat
poison (google the ingredients) Read the nutrition label – ingredients are
listed in the order of amounts in the product.
Try eating foods that have
only one ingredient or combination of them!
2.
Apple Pie Is Not A Serving Of Fruit
It’s
easy to play games with yourself when you are trying to eat healthy – eat the
real thing! There may be some broccoli hidden under the cheese or there may be
some juice in that favorite breakfast drink.
Be honest with yourself,
look for the real food.
3.
Eating All Your Pasta Is Not Going To Save
Any Starving Children
Stop
eating when you are full, box up the leftovers and save for tomorrow’s lunch.
Make your pasta healthier by substituting white pasta for a multi-grain, whole
wheat, brown rice, corn, or any of the other new pasta’s on the market. Look
for whole grains and check the fiber!
Listen
to your body. It takes 20 minutes for the message you are full to go from the
stomach to the brain. Portion control is key: everything in moderation.
Pasta-
½ cup. Meat/fish/poultry- 3 oz. deck of cards or size of computer mouse.
Fruit-
size of your fist.
No food is forbidden! Just
remember everything in moderation!
4.
Choose Whole Foods
Adam
and Eve ate the first fruit – Including the package! Mother Nature provides her
foods with their own package to protect them. Select whole fresh foods rather
than fruits squished into a “100%” fruit snacks or vegetables that are
dehydrated, salted, and backed into a cracker. Whole foods grow on trees and
out of the ground – fat, salt, and cholesterol free!
Eat 5-7 servings of fruits
& vegetables daily
5.
Try One or Two New Foods Each Week
Substitute
one or two foods a week for a healthier option. Involve the family in choosing
a favorite food to substitute for a healthier option.
Challenge each family
member to find new options and give a prize for the best!
6.
Go Meatless – Do a Meatless Monday
Rising
cost of meat should be a cure for high cholesterol! Anything with cholesterol
had 4 legs at one time. Reduce your red meat intake once or twice a week and
only serve 3 oz. portions (deck of cards). Look for low fat (90-10% fat or
lower on ground meat) try ground turkey! Use beans for a great protein
substitute they are fat, salt, and cholesterol free and a great source of
fiber.
Try:
Meatless- Monday, Turkey- Tuesday, Wrap-Wednesday, Tomato-Thursday, Fiber-
Friday, Saltless- Saturday, Smoothie- Sunday. Make your own ideas!
Need recipe ideas? Try
looking on your computer!
(Allrecepies.com or just
type in what you are specifically looking for)
7.
Eat the Rainbow –Different Colors
–Different Nutrients
Eat
different colors throughout the day. Each color has different nutrients –the
darer the color the more nutrients. Dark blueberries are on the most powerful
foods. Mix your colors for a meal with better eye appeal and nutrition. A good
salad always has at least 5 ingredients of different colors: vegetables, fresh
or dried fruit, buts, low fat cheese, and dressing. Instead of dressing try
fresh lemon juice.
8.
Don’t Skip Breakfast
Breakfast
is the most important meal of the day! Starting your day without breakfast is
like running a car without gasoline or starting a fire without wood.
Your body needs fuel!
Try
new ideas: yogurt parfaits (yogurt, fruit, cereal), smoothies (possibilities
are endless), whole grain pancakes or waffles topped with fruit, oatmeal with
dried or fresh fruit and cinnamon, or whole grain low fat muffins.
9.
Don’t Skip Meals
Skipping
meals can lead to uncontrollable food cravings and can put the body in
starvation mode that will cause it to hold onto fat and store it for future
use – you might call it hording. Eat every 3-4 hours. Eat Breakfast,
100-calorie snack, Lunch, 100-calorie snack, Dinner, and 50 to 100-calorie
snack in the evening. Try to include a low pat protein each time to help keep
your blood sugars level and prevent you from getting hungry for a longer period
of time.
Low
fat protein: handful of nuts, low fat or fat free yogurt, cottage cheese or
cheese, beans, peanut, almond or other types of nut butter, 1 oz. chicken
10. Chew Slowly –Mindful Eating
Take
time to chew your food slowly. This will not only enable you to truly enjoy the
flavor of the food, but will aid in proper digestion.
Take mindful bites! Use
your senses to enjoy your food!
Take
time to look at the food before you eat it, smell it, notice the texture as you
put it in your mouth and enjoy the taste as you chew.
Try laying your fork or
spoon down after each bite- amazing what you may discover.
11. It Takes An Apple A Day to Keep The Doctor Away. What Would
It Take To Keep A Heart Surgeon Away?
Limit
unhealthy fats and cholesterol. The American Heart Association offers these
guidelines:
Saturated
Fat- Less than 7% of your total daily calories
Solid at room temperature (butter)-
source- animal
Transfat
(hydrogenated oils) – Less than 1% (Translates to none)
It is the most dangerous and man
made to increase shelf life
Cholesterol-
Less than 300 milligrams for healthy adults
Foods that are animal
based (eggs, cheese, milk ect)
Healthy fats:
Olive oil- high % of
monounsaturated fat
Other foods
include avocados, peanut butter, nuts, and seeds
Omega 3- 3 fatty acids:
mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, tuna
12. Reduce Your Salt Intake
Eating a lot of salt can
contribute to high blood pressure, a major risk factor in cardiovascular disease. The recommended amount for a healthy adult
is 2,300 milligrams a day (about 1 teaspoon). The real culprit of salt is in
our diet processed foods. Almost anything you buy that comes from a can or
package will contain salt. Eating fresh foods, making your own soup, or buying
low-salt or salt free foods can reduce the amount of salt in your diet. Choose
your condiments carefully because many have hidden salt. Most of all avoid
breaded products of any kind; they are not only high in salt but also fat.
13. Clean Out Your Cupboards
As
much as you hate to part with some of the foods try your best to clean out your
cupboards of foods that do not fit into your healthy diet plan. Donate the food
to a food bank if you can’t just throw it away! Still too hard? Try disposing
of one food a week you feel you can be successful at doing without. While it
may be difficult to say goodbye to your favorite brand of snacks or cookies, if
you do, the temptation to satisfy your craving will be reduced ten-fold.
Better yet, remember what
goes in your cart, goes in the house, and goes in the mouth. Don’t put it in
the cart.
14. Drink In Moderation
Excessive
alcohol use increases your risk of heart disease. Limit your drink consumption
to the equivalent of less than 1 ounce of pure alcohol in a single day; 2 cans
of beer, 2 small glasses of wine, or 2 average cocktails. Another suggestion is
one drink per day for women and two for men.
15. Switch From Soda To Water Or Green Tea
Instead
of drinking soda or other sugary drinks switch to water or green tea. You never
go wrong with water and green tea has a long list of healthy benefits thanks to
the presence of antioxidants. Sodas are empty calorie culprits!
