Brooklyn Queens Land Trust

Variety, Balance, and Moderation

Apr 19, 2004

Variety, Balance, and Moderation

There is no secret to healthy eating. Be sure to eat a variety of foods, including plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grain products. Also include low-fat dairy products, lean meats, poultry, fish, and legumes. Drink lots of water and go easy on the salt, sugar, alcohol, and saturated fat. Good nutrition should be part of an overall healthy lifestyle, that also includes regular physical activity, not smoking, and stress management. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.

Here are some tips for healthy eating at home, work, and elsewhere to help you get started. Try some of these ideas.

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Tipping the Scales in Your Favor
Weight management ideas.

Tips for Weight Loss and Maintenance

Have you decided to start eating healthier and become more physically active? Have you realized that healthy choices have a positive impact on not only yourself, but also those around you?

If your goal is to lose weight or maintain your current healthy weight, here are some tips to help you achieve that goal.

Remember, to maintain weight, you must balance calories with the energy you burn through physical activity.

If you eat more than you expend, you gain weight. If you eat less (reduce calories) than you expend, you lose weight!

Make healthy choices a habit.

This leads to a healthy lifestyle! Make a commitment to eat well, move more, and get support from family and friends. Even better, start eating healthier and being active together!

Remember to be realistic about your goals.

If you try to reduce the calories, fat, saturated fat, and sugar in your diet AND promise to make a drastic change in your physical activity level, you may be setting yourself up for failure.

Instead of trying to make many changes at once, set smaller, more realistic goals for yourself and add a new challenge each week.

Conduct an inventory of your meal/snack and physical activity patterns.

Keep a food and activity journal. Write down not only what you ate, but where, when, and what you were feeling at the time. You will see what triggers your hunger and what satisfies your appetite. What foods do you routinely shop for? What snacks do you keep in the pantry?

Eat at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits per day.

If you're adding fruits and vegetables to your diet, try substituting them for higher calorie, less nutritious foods. Check out the CDC 5 A Day Web site for great information on the 5 A Day Nutrition Program, suggestions on how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet, and healthy recipes that meet the 5 A Day recommendation.

Eat foods that are high in fiber to help you feel full.

Whole grain cereals, legumes (lentils and beans), vegetables, and fruits are good sources of fiber that may help you feel full with fewer calories.

Prepare and eat meals and snacks at home.

This is a great way to save money, eat healthy, and spend time with your family. When preparing meals, choose low-fat/low-calorie versions of your favorite ingredients and learn how easy it is to substitute. For example:

Switch to 1% or nonfat milk and low-fat cheeses.

Use a cooking spray instead of oil or butter to decrease the amount of fat when you cook.

Prepare baked potatoes with low-fat blue cheese dressing or low-fat plain yogurt instead of butter or sour cream.

Some good Web sites to help you plan a healthy meal:

National Institutes of Health's Interactive Menu Planner

American Heart Association's Delicious Decisions*

Start by using a scale and measuring cup to serve your food.

Read food labels to determine serving sizes. One bowl of cereal may actually be two ?¾-cup servings. A small frozen pizza may contain up to three servings (check the nutrition information label). This could add up to more calories than you think you?’re getting. Being aware of serving sizes may make it easier to avoid those extra calories.

Choose snacks that are nutritious and filling. A piece of fresh fruit, cut raw vegetables, or a container of low-fat yogurt are excellent (and portable) choices to tide you over until mealtimes. Take these snacks with you for a healthy alternative to chips, cookies, or candy.

Take your time!

Eat only when you are hungry and enjoy the taste, texture, and smell of your meal as you eat it. Remember, it takes approximately 15 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you are full.

If you choose to eat out, remember these important suggestions:

Watch your portions. Portion sizes at restaurants (including fast food) are usually more than one serving, which can result in overeating. Choose smaller portion sizes, order an appetizer and a leafy green salad with low-fat dressing, share an entree with a friend, or get a "doggy bag" and save half for another meal.



Forgive yourself. If you occasionally make mistakes, don?’t give up!

Forgive yourself for making that choice and keep working on it. Eat an extra healthy lunch and dinner if you had a high-calorie, high-fat breakfast. Add more physical activity to your day.

Remember physical activity! Aim for at least 30 minutes (adults) or 60 minutes (children) of moderate-intensity physical activity five or more days of the week. If you are just starting to be physically active, remember that even small increases provide health benefits. Check with your physician first, and then start with a few minutes of activity a day and gradually increase, working your way up to 30 minutes. If you already get 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a day, you can gain even more health benefits by increasing the amount of time that you are physically active or by taking part in more vigorous-intensity activities.

For more information on making physical activity a regular part of your healthy lifestyle, visit CDC's Physical Activity Web site.


Resources
CDC's Nutrition and Physical Activity

American Dietetic Association*

Shape Up America!*
http://www.shapeup.org/

Weight-control Information Network (National Institutes of Health)


Shape Up America!*
http://www.shapeup.org/

Weight-control Information Network (National Institutes of Health)


5 A Day Fruit and Vegetable Quick Tips
Quick tips and recipes to help you meet the "5 A Day" goal for fruits and vegetables.

Healthy Children, Healthy Choices
Advice and tips for parents to promote healthy weight in growing children.


Staying Strong: Calcium Cool-Cuisine Tips for Girls
Great ideas for quick ways to make sure you eat plenty of calcium every day.


Related Resources
5 A Day for Better Health, CDC
The 5 A Day Web site offers great nutrition information and advice.

5 A Day Program, National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute's 5 A Day For Better Health Program is a national nutrition program to encourage Americans to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day for better health.

American Dietetic Association*
The American Dietetic Association is the nation's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals.

Delicious Decisions*
The American Heart Association's nutrition Web site is dedicated solely to nutrition. It offers nutrition basics, a tailored cookbook for those with heart disease or looking to prevent heart disease, helpful tips for eating out and supermarket shopping, and a special section on maintaining a healthy diet.

Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC)
Food and Nutrition Topics from A to Z
This site complied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Information Center lets you search food and nutrition topics in both simple and detailed ways.

Healthfinder?®
Health information from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Nutrition.gov
This site provides a guide to nutrition and health information available on federal Web sites.

Shape Up America!*
http://www.shapeup.org/
Shape Up America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals achieve and maintain a healthy weight for life.

Surgeon General's Call To Action
This site provides the complete version of the Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.

Tufts University Nutrition Navigator*
The Tufts University Nutrition Navigator is an online rating and review guide designed to help Internet users find accurate nutrition information quickly.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
The USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion links scientific research with the nutritional needs of the American public. Dietary guidelines, the food pyramid, and recipes are among the resources available on this site.

*Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.


Make it a good day!