Central Florida Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles of the Villages
Related Articles
By Roana Bustin, MSN, ARNP
By this time, the New Year’s resolutions most of us have made regarding our diets have gone by the way-side. So, we’re back to our old habits. However, getting to the basics of common sense nutrition is probably a much more manageable goal than following the latest fad diet. With the holiday binge eating behind you, here are suggestions for doable nutritional targets for weight control.
1. Keep hydrated. Simple but often overlooked advice. Drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water a day can make a huge difference in how you feel as well as helping to prevent some illness like a urinary tract infection.
2. Eat your veggies. Vegetables and fruits help not only with essential vitamins but also with roughage needed for regular bowel movements. Buying fresh is always preferable to canned or frozen. Some experts recommend five to nine servings a day.
3. Make low-fat your goal. While a home-fried chicken dinner is delicious, it is loaded with calories and fat content. Lean meats are best. Try to select: broiled, baked or boiled preparations. Low-fat yogurt and milk are uggestions for dairy intake. Watch out for the subtle calorie rich traps!
Even though we choose a healthy green salad we can sabotage our selection when we add the extra salad dressings or sour cream.
4. Keep the starch consumption down. Breads, potatoes, rice are starches that can be great in moderation. Don’t eat them daily–save it for every once-in-a-while. A high fiber grain like oatmeal is a great breakfast choice and hass hown to decrease cholesterol significantly.
5. Limit sweet/sugar intake. Sugar is addictive. Try to wean yourself down to only an occasional desert. Drinking water instead of soda can drop your sugar consumption dramatically. Condiments like ketchup, salad dressing and other sauces often have high sugar content. Reading labels on prepared food or canned food can inform you of the sugar content.
Remember that diet drinks and foods with artificial sugar substitutes may also contain some risks that you want to avoid- even though they do not contain sugar.
6. Steer clear of fast food joints and most frozen prepared microwave meals. Food in these categories can put pounds on you quickly.
These are down-to-earth suggestions but valuable to keep in mind with a common-sense approach to good nutrition and weight control.
Family Care Givers have caregivers who are able and willing to help with all of your in-home needs including assisting you with shopping and preparing healthy meals. For the most part, eating at home can be more nutritious and will also save money in the long run.
Call today for a Free Assessment
352-307-8044 or 888-373-2500
License Number: 30211052
