Healthy Eating: How To Get Started

Two years ago I lost 30 pounds. I had decided to lose weight because I was tired of being heavy and wanted to feel comfortable in my clothes. Once I lost the weight I realized how much more energy I had, I realized that I was able to think clearer and my self-esteem sky rocketed. I quickly gained it back in less than 6 months, this was very devastating to my ego and at that time instead of getting back into the healthy habits that had allowed me to look and feel so good, I continued to eat fast foods, drink sodas, and not exercise. I realize now, that my problem was that I dieted to lose the weight and once I was happy with my appearance, I went back to my old unhealthy habits and that had cost me to lose something I had worked so hard to achieve. So this time around I have decided that I must commit to changing my lifestyle to include more healthy habits. I also realize that there is nothing wrong with relapsing, as long as that in the end I achieve my goal. There is nothing wrong with eating out and having the occasional high calorie high fat, high sugar content meal, but it should only be done occasionally. If along the way, I wind up eating more calories than I am allotted, I now know that I must be willing to exercise to burn those extra calories. I have decided to take my life back and I am looking forward to enjoying the way I felt when I had got the extra weight off. When I first decided to start this healthy journey again I realized that I needed to research exactly what healthy eating is, so with that being said, here is some of the information that helped me to realize where I had been going wrong with eating.

Most of us know that the biggest benefits of healthy eating are that we will stay physically fit, feel better, and will have fewer illnesses. Eating healthy lowers our risk of illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. These are facts that many of us are well aware of, but the concept that many of us struggle with, is figuring out exactly what is considered healthy eating?

Physical fitness is a major concern of the United States government. It is a well-known fact that we are one of the unhealthiest nations in the world, and the government has been aggressively campaigning to correct this growing problem. By promoting healthier lifestyles for its people the government helps to ensure that we will live longer and healthier lives that healthcare costs will not sky rocket, because eating healthier helps to reduce the risk of developing a so called “preventable” disease, and in the long run it will save both the taxpayers and the government money. Diet and exercise is a “hot” topic in the media these days, and with that being said there are many companies waiting to capitalize off of the lack of knowledge that we the consumers have about how to really become healthy. “There are many gimmicks out there promising overnight weight loss success and there are just as many fad diets as gimmicks promising to make you look like a movie star, there is no wonder the average consumer doesn’t know where to begin to start living healthier”, (Sizer & Whitney, 2007. P. 734).

One of the first steps to eating healthy is learning how to read a food label. Food labels list the nutritional facts about packaged foods, and can be found on the back, side, or bottom of the packaging. When reading the food label it is very important to first establish exactly what is considered a serving of a certain food. Servings are measured in different ways; some companies go by ounces, cups, pieces, and etc. Knowing what is considered a serving is very important in keep track of your intake of calories, and other vitamins and minerals in food. Not only does knowing the serving size of food help to make sure you don’t consume too many calories, it also helps to ensure that you don’t consume more than the allotted amount of sodium, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that best fits your nutritional needs. Vitamins and minerals are also listed on food labels, as well as the daily suggested allowances each person should consume of these vitamins and minerals, this helps to make sure your diet is not only healthy but well balanced.

(Sizer & Whitney, 2007. p. 513) 

Now that we know how to read the food labels we can now keep track of our daily caloric intake. Consuming fewer calories than the body actually uses is the key to shedding those extra pounds. There are many calorie calculator tools available online, the one I use is on the website MyFoodDiary and I have found this calorie calculator to be pretty reliable and to include a lot of fast food restaurants, which really helps when I have to eat on the go. Not only can you track your daily caloric intake by using this tool you can also calculate the amount of calories you should consume each day while trying to lose weight and it also helps you figure out how many calories to consume to maintain your weight, once you reach your goal weight.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) suggests that you drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily (64 ounces total), instead of consuming sugary drinks, which waste your daily allotment of calories. Not only does drinking plenty of water help you stay fit and trim, and helps you to have clearer skin, drinking water most importantly it helps to keep your kidneys functioning and healthy. It is also suggested that when fixing food at home, that each meal should consist of at least half the plate being fruits and vegetable (orange, red, and dark green leafy vegetables). When choosing meats, it is suggested to look at leaner and lower caloric options; such as poultry, fish, and other seafood. Try to stay away from fried and breaded foods, and beef and pork because they are high in calories and have been recently been the topic of being linked to other health issues. When choosing dairy products, opt for skim milk or 1% milk, with these two options you will get the same amount of calcium and vitamin D that is in whole milk, but you won’t get all the fat and calories.

Now that we have looked at some ways to cut down on calories, to start on our healthy journey off right, try to incorporate exercise into the equation and you will be well on your way to a healthier and fitter you.

                                                          (Sizer & Whitney, 2007. p. 514)

Works Cited:

Sizer, F. & Whitney, E., (2007). Nutrition Concepts and Controversies. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, pp. 513-514, 734