EATING SMART
By The Nutrition Team
Monday, April 7, 2008.
Are you one of those people who not only skip breakfast but also wait until 3 pm to take your first bite of food? Or are you someone who snacks on crisps and chocolate all day long? Then again, maybe you eat the usual three meals… but your daily intake includes enough food to feed a small army!
Welcome to the club of unhealthy eaters. Anyone can be a member and plenty of us are – whether we know it or not.
Unfortunately, this club is far from exclusive. Levels of overweight and obesity are soaring as many of us have less time to devote to healthy eating and exercise.
These tips will help you identify your bad eating habits and change them, once and for all, to healthy habits:
Here a meal, There a meal!This is common when someone is not in touch with what they eat. They’re not paying attention to how they eat, when they eat or what they eat. It’s the person who eats on the run and the person who realises it’s after lunchtime and they’ve forgotten to eat. The danger in this is that at some point you are going to overeat to compensate for how long you’ve gone without eating. You’re more apt to make unhealthy choices. And if you’re eating out, you run the risk of eating foods that are higher in calories and fat.
Survival tips: Don’t leave home without having breakfast… even if it’s simply a bowl of cereal, wholemeal toast or yoghurt with fruit. Pack a goody bag of healthy snacks at night to take to work so you need never be stuck for a healthy bite. Good choices include fruit, low fat yoghurt or fromage frais and low fat cheese. And don’t forget to drink plenty of water. Also make time for a sit-down dinner. This will give you an opportunity to relax and enjoy a satisfying and nutritious meal.
Snack Attacker!These are the people who eat a little bit here and a little bit there. We’re talking about the snacker who’s always nibbling on something but never counting the calories. Well, those numbers quickly add up. When you fill up on snacks, you usually put off having a well-balanced meal. This is a lost opportunity to get all the vitamins and nutrients you need from fruits, vegetables and proteins.
Survival tips: When hunger strikes, reach for low-fat cheese and crackers, hummus and pitta bread, wholemeal toast with reduced fat peanut butter or a bowl of homemade soup. Get in the mood for a meal. Make sure you get at the very least one balanced meal a day. If you find yourself hitting the drinks machine constantly, replace those wasted calories with water, skimmed milk or fruit juice.
Eager Eater!This guy loves food and gets plenty of it. You won’t find any vitamin or nutrient depletion here! What you will find is too much of a good thing and that can wind up as an expanding waistline. The eager eater gets too many calories and lack of portion control is usually responsible for those unwanted pounds.
Survival Tips: Think in terms of trade-offs. If it’s dinner-and-a-movie night, eat dinner and skip the popcorn and fizzy drink. If you eat a big breakfast, have a salad or other light lunch. Be aware of why you are eating. Are you hungry or are you thirsty? Drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes before you dig in. Choose your snacks wisely. If you want a couple of biscuits, take two and put the box away.
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