Stay Healthy – Eat Healthy

Posted on 27 August 2009 by Summer

Jennifer Salerno asked:




There is an increasing awareness about maintaining health and wellness, and the best way to stay healthy is to eat healthy. There are three main factors, which helps us in developing a complete healthy body: good diet, regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle.

Let us begin with diets and have a look on some healthy food groups, which we should consume. It is also essential to see the calorie-content of various foods as elevated calories in food results in health problems such as obesity and diabetes. Health experts believe that a healthy diet can lower the risks of number of life-threatening diseases such as diabetes, heart attack and osteoporosis. Hence, developing, managing and maintaining a good diet has become an essential part of our health routine.

And for doing this we should know the basic difference between a well-balanced diet and a nutritious diet. Although, most of us believe that a well-balanced diet and a nutritious diet are one and the same, in reality they are not!!! A nutritious diet would comprise of foods, which contain all the essential nutrients such as protein, vitamin, fats, carbohydrates and minerals. A well-balanced diet implies a diet that not only contains foods with all the essential nutrients, but also, in correct proportions and adequate amount. Even if you take all the essential nutrients through your daily foods, but if they are not in correct proportions or adequate amounts, you may still have to face the health problems. Therefore, instead of opting for just a nutritious diet, every health-conscious person should opt for a well-balanced diet.

The ingredients of a well-balanced diet differ according to the sex, age and physical fitness of an individual. An older adult may be unable to eat certain foods required to fulfill his/her nutritious requirements. However, a well-balanced diet can help an older adult to get the essential nutrients even through a sparse diet. For example, 100 grams of wheat and 100 grams of rice contain nearly 12 grams and 6.4 grams of protein, respectively. Similarly, 100 grams of ragi and 100 grams of rice contain 344 mg and 9 mg of calcium, respectively. Therefore, by planning a well-balanced diet we can give all the essentials nutrients even with the small amount of foods.

To derive all the essential nutrients from the foods, we shall always need to choose a variety of healthy foods. All the five essential nutrients can be derived, if a diet includes foods from the following groups:

· Green leafy vegetables

· Fresh or seasonal fruits

· Cereals and pulses

· Fish and meat products

· Dairy products such as curd, cheese etc.

Today, obesity and overweight are one of the major factors for life-threatening diseases such as atherosclerosis, heart attack and diabetes. Obesity and overweight problems are essentially caused due to not eating correctly and consuming lot of calories. Calories are needed everyday by our body for proper metabolic functioning. However, over-consumption of calories can lead to various health problems. Daily calorie needs of an individual depend on various factors such as age, physical fitness, height and weight and body composition. Hence, you also need to be conscious about the foods, which are calorie rich. Take a look at following figures:

· 28 grams of butter = 200 calories

· 37 grams of potato chips = 200 calories

· 75 grams of burger = 200 calories

· 66 grams of hot dogs = 200 calories

· 385 grams of apples = 200 calories

· 357 grams of green peas = 200 calories

· 588 grams of broccoli = 200 calories

· 1425 grams of celery = 200 calories

Knowing this you would surely choose to buy a few kilograms of apples that provide you other nutrients also rather than to eat burgers or hot dogs to avoid unnecessary calorie intake. Ideally, women require 1940 calories and men require 2550 calories intake in a daily basis. You may also plan a well-balanced and optimum calorie-intake diet by discussing it with your dietician.

Remember, you can avoid a lot of future treatments and medications by maintaining a well-balanced diet and optimizing your health-care.

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Living A Healthy-Long Life

Posted on 23 August 2009 by Summer

Gabriel J. Adams asked:




Do you want to live a long life? Do you want to feel healthy as you grow older each day? Living healthy means more than keeping away from junk food. It means taking the initiative to say I care enough for my self and my family that I am going to make sure I am there for them.

Living healthy means you are making choices daily that effect your health in positive ways.

Eat Healthy!
Eating is one the most loved times of human existence. We live to eat and eat to live. But watching what you put in that body is important. Eating healthy is easier when you plan your meals and chose the right food groups. Don’t avoid the vegetables! They are an important part of keeping you healthy. If you need help planning healthy meals, you can find healthy recipes on many different websites.

Manage Your Weight
Be in control of your weight. Make conscious decisions on whether to loose or gain weight. Its not healthy to look like a twig, but pushing the 20 lbs plus over mark places your body in a position where it asks you to shed those pounds and it needs you to choose how much you will weigh and for that choice to be healthy.

Move, Move, MOVE!
Get up and move! Get off the couch, away from the computer, Playstation and any other electronic “toys” that hold you attention and get active. But its not enough to move, you need to exercise daily, take walks, run jog, bicycle, etc. Exercise is often easier to do when you have a friend willing to share your desire for healthy living, even if that only means taking a daily walk together.

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Eating Healthy

Posted on 19 August 2009 by Summer

Calli Smith asked:




Go Organic

These days, synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used on crops nearly everywhere. Selecting organic produce enables you to know you are eating all-natural produce sans the harsh chemicals. But organic does come at a higher price, so make sure you get the most bang for your buck by buying the organic produce that retains the highest levels of pesticides. These include peaches, apples, celery, and strawberries.

Buy in Season

Try to buy fresh produce in season – it not only tastes better with peak flavor, but it is a much better value as well.

Splurge on Convenience

A great way to implement more fruits and vegetables into your diet is buying the pre-washed and pre-cut produce. They do cost more but they make up for it in convenience and you will be more inclined to eat them if readily available.

Begin with Breakfast

Don’t skip the first and most important meal of the day! When you start the day, you are running on empty, so breakfast refills the tank and gives you energy for the day. There are a myriad of different breakfast foods that are not only healthy but delicious too: try multi-grain toast, yogurt with fresh fruit, a smoothie, waffles, or even cold cereal.

Mindful Snacking

Snacks are a great way to keep your energy levels up all day long – just make sure you select the right foods. Choose from different snack groups and keep it low-fat and low-sugar. Try (pre-cut) fruit and veggies, yogurt, crackers, rice cakes, or pretzel sticks.

Healthy Meals

Sitting down to plan your meals for the entire week allow you to sit down and thoroughly plan healthy meals and ensure all the food group requirements are met. When you make a healthy meal that freezes well (such as soups, stews, or casseroles), make some extra and freeze it so you can use it later for a quick dinner.

Vitamins

The latest trend in the vitamin and supplement industry is customized vitamins [http://codenutrition.com/products/essentials]. Companies (such as industry leader Code Nutrition) provide customized supplements based on your own genetic code. A simple at-home DNA test is administered to determine exactly what nutrients you need.

Go Brown

Don’t forget to eat your grains! Get plenty of whole grains, barley and wheat. Try wheat bread instead of white and eat whole-wheat pancakes, pasta, or bread.

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Eating Healthy On A Budget

Posted on 17 August 2009 by Summer

Gary Gresham asked:




Think eating healthy on a budget is impossible? Many people believe that cutting back on food costs means that you can’t buy healthy food anymore.

Some people even convince themselves that healthy weight loss is not possible unless they spend a lot of money.

But eating healthy on a budget as well as healthy weight loss is not only possible, with a little planning you can cut food costs and still eat healthy food.

Here are a few tips to make it easier for eating healthy on a budget.

Plan your weekly food menus with healthy eating recipes and make a grocery list with those items before you shop. This saves you time in the store and can save you a lot of money because you are less likely to buy on an impulse.

Stock your fridge and cupboards with healthy foods, and to keep costs down, stay away from extras like soft drinks, chips, baked goods, and other high-calorie items.

Children and sometimes even spouses are usually the ones asking for junk food. Remember, food choices are a big factor in what determines the health of you and your family.

Buy more water or milk instead of soft drinks when shopping and you’ll save money. You can still enjoy your favorite soft drinks at a
sporting event or night out. For healthy weight loss just make it a diet soda.

Buy fruits in quantity when they are in season and freeze any extras. Just wash the fruit well, dry thoroughly, then freeze in plastic zipper bags.

While lean meat and seafood are a great source of protein, they can get expensive. To cut your costs, use beans a substitute for meat on a few occasions.

Beans are very economical and makes eating healthy on a budget really simple. There are several varieties of beans and preparing them in a crock pot and making a salad turns into an easy meal.

Another great way for eating healthy on a budget is brown-bagging your lunch. It takes a little more time, but with the right food choices, it is both healthier and less expensive.

Peanut butter is also great for those on a budget and almost everyone likes it. Use it for sandwiches along with jam instead of expensive lunch meat.

For healthy weight loss try adding sugar free jam because it has a lot fewer calories and fat than regular jam but still tastes great.

If you eat foods that have a high content of water like watermelon, salads and even sugar free gelatin, they are inexpensive, ideal for healthy weight loss and work perfect for eating healthy on a budget.

It easy to fall into a rut of eating the same unhealthy and expensive foods. But once you take back control by planning your weekly food menus with healthy eating recipes, you can enjoy a nice variety of meals again.

Eating healthy on a budget can be as simple as just making different choices.
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Eating Healthy in a Fast Food World

Posted on 02 August 2009 by Summer

James D. Clark asked:




Most of us today have very busy lives dealing with our careers, families, friends, etc. This often leads to most of us living very unhealthy lives when it comes to other parts of our life, ESPECIALLY diet and exercise. During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States.* Everyday you turn the tv on or every magazine and newspaper article you read, you hear of the increasing numbers of those dying everyday from health related conditions (diabetes, heart disease, stroke…the list goes on and on)

Making time to make sure we take care of our bodies and health should become the number 1 priority. There are many excuses (believe me, I have used them all!) that can prevent us from even taking 30 minutes a day to devote to our bodies. Think about that…there are 24 hours in a day. Most people work a 9 to 5 and may avg around 5-6 hours of sleep. That leaves 10+ hours per day that the AVERAGE person has available to them. When most think of getting a workout in, it can seem overwhelming, especially when that “big” project is looming or little Billy needs to make it to soccer practice on time. These are all valid reasons to devote extra time to but no excuse to hit the “drive thru” day after day. After all, the body you have is the only one you will get this lifetime.

I like to tell clients that you have to treat your body like a baby. A baby is totally dependent on the parents to make sure they get adequate rest, proper food and stay active and take care of them. Likewise, our bodies depend on us in this same aspect. We are amazing beings if you really look at how the body works but it truly depends on us as individuals to provide it with the proper fuel and exercise to operate at peak performance. You would never put garbage in the gas tank of your $60,000 sports car…why would you load your body with it??? There are fast food places on every corner in America, which makes it no wonder we have such an obesity problem in the US. While we all have the need to indulge and have our little treats here and there, too many in America have turned to fast food in PLACE of balanced, home cooked meals. Following these tips below can help you get on the start to whittling down your waste line and feeling better!

1. Prepare meals in advance. This will help “commit” to eating what you make and not eating something quick and unhealthy.

2. Pack lunches for the entire family. Make it something all members of the family can help with. This helps control exactly what you eat instead of letting the Drive Thru dictate it!

3. Make a grocery list in advance and try to stick to the outer portions of the store. Most processed and fatty foods are located on the inner portion of the store. Pay attention the next

time you are grocery shopping and you will notice the fresh produce, fresh meats, dairy are all on the outer perimeter of the store.

4. Pay attention to Fat Free and Low Fat. While some foods may indeed be fat free, they can compensate for that with extra sugar, which is just as bad and in some cases, worse.

5. The fresher your selections, the healthier and better!

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