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Nutrition Tips
Start your day with breakfast
Don’t skip meals. Skipping meals actually lowers your metabolism, causing you to burn food more slowly and it can lead to binge eating later
Inlcude foods from all food groups including grains, fruits, vegatables, milk, meat and beans, and fats.
Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are generally low calorie sources of many nutrients to keep you healthy.
Make your plate colorful. This will help to include many of the over 50 nutrients your body needs.
Eat healthy fats such as Omega 3 found in nuts and fish. Avoid trans fats.
Eat more frequently to avoid getting too hungry and to keep your metabolism up.
Pack healthy snacks such as fruit or crackers, or cereal bars to avoid vending machines or fast food.
Watch calorie consumption through beverages such as sodas, juices, and alcohol.
Make a shopping list that includes healthy snacks and meals and stick to it when shopping.
Avoid having sugary or fattening snacks easily available.
When Eating Out:
No matter where you eat, the same smart eating strategies apply and should guide your eating:
Plan ahead
Consider your menu options
Choose foods to match your needsPlan ahead by doing the following.
Map out your restaurant plan of action
Avoid skipping breakfast or lunch to “save up” for a fancy restaurant dinner
Visit a restaurant that can meet your needs
Go with a “smart-eating” mindset
Learn the menu language to help eat healthfully.
Look for foods with simple preparation
Remember, the servers are there to serve you. So, have it your way.
Be assertive, ask questions, make special requests in advance… but be realistic
Ask how food is prepared or served
Find out about portion sizes
Can you order “off the menu”
Ask for sides or sauces to be left off plate
Higher fat entrée balanced with lower fat side item
If the food isn’t how your ordered it, send it back or ask for something else
Help yourself. If you won’t, odds are no one else will do it for you.
Get “nibble foods” removed from the table
Need help curbing a big appetite? Order a salad first.
Eat slowly so you can stop before you feel too full
These are tips that can help you eat more healthfully when dining out. However, you have to choose to make the decision to order what’s best for you.
| Less fat | More Fat | More sodium |
| Braised | With cream sauce | Barbequed |
| Stir-fried | With mayonnaise | Cured |
| Steamed | With gravy | In Broth |
| Roasted | Sauteed | Marinated |
| Poached | Rich | Pickled |
| Lightly sautéed | Prime | Smoked |
| Grilled | Pastry | Teriyaki |
| Cooked in its own juices | Pan fried | With cocktail sauce |
| Broiled | Marinated (in oil) | With creole sauce |
| Baked | Hollandaise | With soy sauce |
| Au gratin | ||
| French-fried | ||
| Escalloped | ||
| En croute | ||
| Double crust | ||
| Deep-fried | ||
| Crispy | ||
| Creamed | ||
| Buttered | ||
| Breaded | ||
| Battered | ||
| Bearnaise |
Use Portion Control
Too much of a good thing can be bad, including food. Eating appropriate portions of all foods will help maintain weight and give you a varity of nutrients.
1)Break Leftovers Down
Instead of using one large container to store leftovers such as casseroles, side dishes, or pasta, why not separate them into individually-sized containers? That way, when you reach in the fridge to find something to reheat, you're retrieving just enough for one helping. Breaking down meal-sized servings into single servings will help you limit your food intake with no additional effort.
2) Say Yes to Salads
Eating a salad before lunch or dinner is a sure-fire way to keep from overeating. It will help curb your appetite and give you a sense of satiety sooner. Of course, we're not talking a little bit of iceberg lettuce here. To reap full portion control benefits from rabbit food, load up your salad with veggies or even lean meat like turkey cubes. The fiber in the veggies will help you feel fuller and lean meat's protein will give you an instant energy boost.
3) Single out Trigger Foods
Buy snack foods in single serving sizes or divvy up full size packages into smaller, individual bags.
4) Master Mini Meals
You can make sure your blood sugar stays at an even keel and keep hunger at bay by eating healthful small meals throughout the day.
5) Keep Seconds Out of Sight
Don't serve family meals family-style. Keep pots and dishes away from the table where it's all too easy to go for seconds.
6) Make Meat a Side Dish
Treat meat or meat-based entrees as a side dish rather than the main part of your meal. By loading up on veggies and healthy grains as the bulk of your meal instead of using them as sides, you'll feel full sooner and get extra vitamins and fiber. Experiment with new vegetables and preparation methods to keep things interesting.
7) Meet Yourself Halfway
Make lunch a two-fer. Your mid-day meal can work double duty by being shared or serving as dinner. At work, why not split take out with a buddy? At a restaurant, pack up half of your meal before you even start eating: Voila! You have an instant dinner!
8) Be a Kid at Heart (or Tummy?)
Order a kid's size meal when you go to fast food places to automatically control portions (and save money!). Don't be embarrassed about asking for a child's meal. It's really no big deal.
9) Serving Standards
Learn to "eyeball" standard portion sizes and stick to them when dining out or dishing up meals. Keep these tips in mind: 3 oz. of meat is the size of a deck of cards or an audio tape; 1 oz. of meat is the size of a matchbook; 1 cup of potatoes, rice or pasta looks like a tennis ball.
10) Treat Yourself
And last, but not least ... indulge! Treating yourself once in a while to a "forbidden" food will keep you from feeling deprived; a sense of deprivation can easily lead to overeating. Stop a binge before it starts by indulging every now and then.
Fad Diets:
Diets are everywhere. Open a magazine or turn on the TV and someone is discussing the latest diet. Think of a diet as one of those “bad” 4-letter words, especially fad diets. Don’t do it! But what is a fad diet and how do you recognize and avoid them?
Basically a fad diet is any quick and easy weight loss plan—any plan that promises more than 2 pounds of weight loss per week. They often have rigid meal menus or patterns. Fad diets seem trustworthy because they include “scientific claims,” personal stories and testimonials, and state they are backed by research. However, the claims are often nonscientific and unproven and the studies are poorly controlled and possibly biased . Fad diets often target or distinguish “good” and “bad” foods and sometimes rely on special products, supplements, or treatments to be successful. If a diet states it has gimmicks, gadgets, and other “miracles,” be leery—it might be a fad diet!
Fad diets are basically “very low calorie plans” that are disguised by clever marketing gimmicks. These diets are often so low calorie that they are dangerous and unhealthy. A very low calorie diet should only be considered with help from a physician and dietitian, and even then is not a long-term solution. Other than being risky and dangerous, fad diets are almost impossible to maintain. After a while, most people cannot maintain the strict regimen of the fad diet and return to eating how they were prior to attempting the fad diet. Then, the same problems arise that they were suffering from before—being overweight, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.
So, stick with the old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Additional Resources:
Pyramid
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