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Weight control tips
Date posted: December 13, 2004
This sampling of tips are just a few rules of thumb from among many to help maintain a healthy weight. Kristyn Hall advises consulting with your doctor on any specific weight loss goals and approaches.
- Be Portion Wise. "If you at the environment we have today, where obesity is a major health issue, you can't look past the fact that portions of food in general have really increased. We're becoming accustomed to much larger portions than we really need." Read food labels -- compare the amount of food you eat to the serving size listed on the food label.
- Add variety. "Restrictive diets are not only often nutritionally unbalanced, they're often very boring, and that makes them difficult to maintain. Follow a sensible diet that includes a wide variety of food choices." Enjoy high fiber grain products, colorful vegetables and fruits, lower fat milk products, leaner cuts of meats and alternatives, and choose healthy fats.
- Don't forget beverages. Food is often the focus of weight loss diet approaches, but it's important not to overlook the role of beverages like pop, fruit drinks, fruit juice, alcohol, and some specialty coffee drinks. "All of these have calories and energy in them, and they're easy to overconsume. Be particularly cautious of soda and alcohol products, which have very limited nutritional value but often have substantial calories." If you are thirsty, drink a tall cool glass of water. Add a slice of lemon, lime or orange, or frozen cranberries for a new twist.
- Be supermarket smart. "It all starts at the grocery store," says Hall. Making overall healthy, balanced food choices at the grocery store is the first step to following a good diet. "What you put in the cart is what you'll eventually put in your body." It's also important to buy enough groceries to last until the next shopping trip, and to make these foods readily available at home and at work. "This reduces the incentive toward fast foods or irregular eating habits that can lead to less healthy food choices."
- Begin with breakfast. Eat a balanced breakfast every day to prevent the ravenous hunger that will eventually hit you.
- Daily physical activity. Enjoy daily physical activity as outlined by Canada's Physical Activity Guide
- Eat well, get active. Overall, there's no substitute for balanced diet and daily physical activity, says Hall. "This is the best way to maintain a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle."
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