Healthy Eating

Benefits of a Healthy Eating Style

• Increase your energy level
• Enhance your immune system
• Improve your stress response
• Fuel physical activity
• Enhance concentration
• Improve memory
• Prevent digestive problems
• Manage weight
• Reduce risk for heart disease, cancer and other health problems

Components of Healthy Eating

• Listen to your body
  • Know your body's physiological hunger signals (lightheaded, headache, stomach growling), as opposed to psychological signals (social gatherings, emotional triggers, smelling food)
  • Eat until you are content, not stuffed. Know when you have had enough. Remember that it takes about 20 minutes for your body to realize it is full.
• Fits into your lifestyle
  • Healthy eating is a lifestyle; make it a part of your everyday behavior.
• Balance, variety, and moderation
  • Include all the food groups to achieve balanced meals
  • Choose and consume a variety of foods within each food group
  • Know and eat appropriate portions of foods; nothing to extremes
  • Don't deprive yourself of certain foods - just keep in mind portions!

Tips to develop healthy eating habits

• Schedule and plan regular meals and snacks.
• Eat until you feel content - take your time when you eat, and savor each bite.
• Incorporate into your daily eating: water, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, protein-rich foods, and beans/nuts/seeds.
• Take a daily multivitamin.
• Try some healthy snacks and recipes
• Notice the size and number of servings and the nutrient content of your food so that you know if you've achieved your nutrient goals.
• Read food labels and look at serving size, servings per container, nutrients and ingredients.
• Take note of your sensations of hunger and appetite and whether they vary in response to emotions, schedule, proximity to food, and external influences.
• Think of food as one part of life, not as the center of it. Don't over plan or overanalyze your meals; Bon Appetite!