8 Tips for Healthy Eating

following some basic dietary guidelines, you can turn healthy eating into a lifestyle instead of a chore. Follow these suggestions:

• Eat breakfast every day. People who eat breakfast are less likely to overeat later in the day. Breakfast also gives you energy and helps you think and learn.
• Choose whole grains more often. Try whole-wheat breads and pastas, oatmeal, brown rice, and bulgur.
• Select a mix of colorful vegetables every day. Vegetables of different colors provide different nutrients. Choose dark, leafy greens such as kale, collards, and mustard greens, and reds and oranges such as carrots, sweet potatoes, red peppers, and tomatoes.
• Choose fresh or canned fruit more often than fruit juice. Fruit juice has little or no fiber.
• Use fats and oils sparingly. Olive, canola, and peanut oils; avocados; nuts and nut butters; olives; and fish provide heart-healthy fat as well as vitamins and minerals.
• Eat sweets sparingly. Limit foods and beverages that are high in added sugars.
• Eat three meals every day. Don't skip meals or eat snacks instead of meals.
• Have low-fat, low-sugar snacks on hand. Keep them at home and at work, and carry them with you to combat hunger and prevent overeating.

EASY TIPS FOR PLANNING A HEALTHY DIET AND STICKING TO IT

Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible– all of which can be achieved by learning some nutrition basics and using them in a way that works for you.

Healthy eating begins with learning how to “eat smart”—it’s not just what you eat, but how you eat. Your food choices can reduce your risk of illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, as well as defend against depression. Additionally, learning the habits of healthy eating can boost your energy, sharpen your memory and stabilize your mood. You can expand your range of healthy food choices and learn how to plan ahead to create and maintain a satisfying, healthy diet.

Healthy eating tip 1: Set yourself up for success

To set yourself up for success, think about planning a healthy diet as a number of small, manageable steps rather than one big drastic change. If you approach the changes gradually and with commitment, you will have a healthy diet sooner than you think.

• Simplify. Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories or measuring portion sizes, think of your diet in terms of color, variety, and freshness. This way it should be easier to make healthy choices. Focus on finding foods you love and easy recipes that incorporate a few fresh ingredients. Gradually, your diet will become healthier and more delicious.
• Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time. Trying to make your diet healthy overnight isn’t realistic or smart. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking.  As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
• Every change you make to improve your diet matters. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a healthy diet. The long term goal is to feel good, have more energy, and reduce the risk of cancer and disease. Don’t let your missteps derail you—every healthy food choice you make counts. 

Healthy eating tip 2: Moderation is key 

People often think of healthy eating as an all or nothing proposition, but a key foundation for any healthy diet is moderation.  Despite what certain fad diets would have you believe, we all need a balance of carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to sustain a healthy body.

• Try not to think of certain foods as “off-limits.” When you ban certain foods or food groups, it is natural to want those foods more, and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. If you are drawn towards sweet, salty, or unhealthy foods, start by reducing portion sizes and not eating them as often. Later you may find yourself craving them less or thinking of them as only occasional indulgences.
• Think smaller portions. Serving sizes have ballooned recently, particularly in restaurants. When dining out, choose a starter instead of an entrée, split a dish with a friend, and don’t order supersized anything. At home, use smaller plates, think about serving sizes in realistic terms, and start small.  Visual cues can help with portion sizes—your serving of meat, fish, or chicken should be the size of a deck of cards. A teaspoon of oil or salad dressing is about the size of a matchbook and your slice of bread should be the size of a CD case. 

Healthy eating tip 3: It's not just what you eat, it's how you eat

Healthy eating is about more than the food on your plate—it is also about how you think about food. Healthy eating habits can be learned and it is important to slow down and think about food as nourishment rather than just something to gulp down in between meetings or on the way to pick up the kids.

• Eat with others whenever possible. Eating with other people has numerous social and emotional benefits—particularly for children—and allows you to model healthy eating habits. Eating in front of the TV or computer often leads to mindless overeating.
• Take time to chew your food and enjoy mealtimes. Chew your food slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of our food. Reconnect with the joy of eating.
• Listen to your body. Ask yourself if you are really hungry, or have a glass of water to see if you are thirsty instead of hungry. During a meal, stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly.
• Eat breakfast, and eat smaller meals throughout the day. A healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, and eating small, healthy meals throughout the day (rather than the standard three large meals) keeps your energy up and your metabolism going. 

Healthy eating tip 4: Fill up on colorful fruits and vegetables 

Fruits and vegetables are the foundation of a healthy diet. They are low in calories and nutrient dense, which means they are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.

Try to eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day and with every meal—the brighter the better. Colorful, deeply colored fruits and vegetables contain higher concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants—and different colors provide different benefits, so eat a variety. Aim for a minimum of five portions each day.

Some great choices include:

• Greens. Branch out beyond bright and dark green lettuce. Kale, mustard greens, broccoli, and Chinese cabbage are just a few of the options—all packed with calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, and vitamins A, C, E, and K.
• Sweet vegetables. Naturally sweet vegetables—such as corn, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, yams, onions, and squash—add healthy sweetness to your meals and reduce your cravings for other sweets.
• Fruit. Fruit is a tasty, satisfying way to fill up on fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. Berries are cancer-fighting, apples provide fiber, oranges and mangos offer vitamin C, and so on.

Fat Free Friday

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  We've all heard about Meatless Mondays.  Today, I'm going to suggest Fat Free Friday.  If you make every Friday a fat free day and your day to eat healthy before the onslaught of the weekend pizzas, wings and everything else that goes with winter television/bar sports, you might just think twice about messing it all up on Saturday and Sunday.  Try it on today and see what happens over the weekend!

Health Tips about Affect of Blood Glucose

HealthNFitness Tips: People with diabetes should monitor the amount of glucose (sugar) in their blood. Insulin and certain drugs often are keys, but so is understanding what causes blood sugar levels to fluctuate.

The Diabetes Association mentions these factors:

• The foods you eat.
• How much you exercise, and when.
• Where in the body you inject insulin.
• The time of day that you inject yourself.
• Being sick.
• Being under stress.

Related Sites: Pharmacyproductinfo, Pharmacy News.

My AARP Card

Well, it finally came in the mail yesterday....my very own AARP card.  I have mixed feelings about this card.  Great discounts, no doubt, come with the membership.  On the other hand, it reminds me that I'm not 25 years old (and forget that '50 is the new 30' crap!).  So, here's my advice for all you 'goldens' out there today:

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Have you just received your very own AARP card in the mail like I have?  Well, if you haven't gotten onto the wellness wagon yet, I suggest that there's no better time than the present!  I'm still kicking a heavy bag, doing serious cardio, riding a motorcycle, and doing everything in life that comes my way...and ,in most cases, better, faseter and harder than most 25 year olds out there.  So, don't be a loser in life - hop onto my wellness wagon and you'll have the ride of your life!

Acupuncture Study Brings Hope for Parkinson's Patients

Acupuncture Today,(Feb 2012, VOl 1, No 2) has reported that a current research study, funded by the Michael J. Fox Foudation for Parkinson's Disease, will deal with the most debilitating side effect of the disease which is fatigue.  Parkinson's patients experience chronic fatigue, which does not improve with rest or medication.  This study's objective to prove that acupuncture can help alleviate the chronic fatigue in Parkinson's patients.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  The WHO (World Health Organization) has determined that acupuncture is highly effective in the treatment of fatigue.  I have treated many patients with autoimmune diseases, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's Disease for various symptoms, including fatigue - all with great success.  I utilize the basic principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine that are thousands of years old.  Treatment is drug free and there are no side effects.  If you or someone you know is suffering from chronic fatigue, contact my office at 917-701-7582 or k@kmondesire.com .  Take control of your life today!

Almond Milk...Give It a Try

I purchased almond milk the other day and finally broke open the container to give it a taste....pretty tasty!

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Almond milk per 1 cup serving contains:
60 calories, no saturated or trans fat.  total fat 2.5g, no cholesterol, 8g carbs, 1g dietary fiber, 7g sugar and 1g protein.  10% vit A, 30% calcium, 50% vit E and 2% iron.  It's lactose free, vegan, non dairy.  It's pretty tasty in my tea and good for the diet.  Try it, you might like it!