Eating a healthy diet is integral to maintaining good health and feeling good. This blog post is about nutrition, it’s importance to a healthy body and a few action steps that you can take to start, today!

We need a balanced diet, including selections from all the food groups, to obtain necessary nutrients. Critical to maintaining a good diet is finding healthy foods you enjoy. Proper nutrition is one of the keys to maintaining good health, well-being and thriving.

It’s time to take action steps in your eating and make the rest of your life the best of your life.  Look at the list below and pick one area to start with, or maybe two.  Don’t feel you can do it all overnight.  Pick one or two areas of focus that you feel you will have the most success with, then after accomplishing your first goals, add in another area of focus for improve your overall diet and well-being. 

Remember:

• Balance food groups – use MyPlate or Harvard MyPlate as a guide. The above diagram shows the breakdown, 1/2 or 50% your plate should be fruits and veggies - or 3 servings of veggies and 2 of fruit a day minimum. 1/4th or 20-25% protein and the last 1/4th or 20-25% complex carbohydrates (or at least 80% of the time)

• There are seven major classes of nutrients: carbohydrates, fats, dietary fiber, minerals, proteins, vitamins, and water.

• Get needed macro elements (Macros) or nutrients are the ones you need the biggest amounts of. carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fiber, and water. These are needed for proper body system function.

• Get needed nutrients – microelements (Micros), those nutrients we only need in trace amounts which are vitamins, and minerals

• Find enjoyable healthy foods. Food is fuel for well-being. We will not thrive when we eat junk. Stay away from empty calories.

  
  

Start with one or two of the tips below. It will take effort to create a new healthy habit. Pick low hanging fruit, meaning, select the goal you have the most confidence, readiness, and willingness to accomplish.

Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Substitute healthy snacks, like apples or carrot sticks, for cookies or chips.

2. Drink six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day. Work to half your body weight in ounces of water per day.

3. Order healthy alternatives when eating out. Pre-check a menu and decide on your order BEFORE you go out. Do not get the menu, the pictures can change your mind.

4. Check food labels for nutritional value. Eat close to the source. Ingredients at the top of the label are important. If it says sugar (in any form corn syrup), salt or chemicals first – put it back.

5. Don’t eat of a box or drive through on a regular basis.

6. Make good, better, and best choices with foods. Raw and fresh are best. Frozen and packed in natural juices is better, minimal processing is good.

7. Avoid white foods like cream sauces, white or partial grains (like wheat bread), and refined sugars or hydrogenated products.

8. Go for WHOLE grains, don’t be fooled by contains whole grains…

9. Plan a healthy grocery list before each food shopping trip.

A deeper dive into the food groups:

Daily foods - It’s never too late to improve your health. When you grocery shop, eat out or snack from a vending machine, you can make better food choices. To get daily required nutrients, eat a balanced diet with foods from the five major food groups: fruit, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) replaced the old food pyramid with new “MyPlate” guidelines. MyPlate recommends an average meal contain 30% vegetables, 20% fruit, 30% grains, 20% protein and some dairy. Consult the dietary guide for more information. Harvard MyPlate adds in healthy oils.

Veggies, Fruits and Grains - Vegetables are rich in carbohydrates, dietary fiber and other nutrients. Good vegetable choices include asparagus, beets, carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, peas, spinach, tomatoes and leafy greens.

Grains are generally low in fat and rich in carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Grains include whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, popcorn, oatmeal, whole-grain cereal and whole-grain breads.

Fruits are rich in carbohydrates, dietary fiber and vitamins. They come fresh, canned, frozen or dried. If canned, make sure the fruit is packed in fruit juice rather than syrup.

Dairy, meat and oils Dairy foods are high in protein, calcium, riboflavin and vitamin D. Dairy group foods include milk, cheese and yogurt.

Meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs and nuts provide protein, iron, vitamin B6, zinc and other nutrients. Protein group foods include chicken breast, ground turkey, eggs, beans, almonds, tofu, tuna and salmon.

Oils have more calories than other nutrients and include olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, safflower oil, avocados, ground flaxseed, flax oil and nuts.