What does Nutrition for a Healthier Lifestyle actually mean?
Protein - In general, we usually eat too much protein.
You only need 4 to 8 ounces of protein a day. Any excess protein you eat will
either be used as expensive glucose or get stored as adipose tissue (AKA fat).
The trick is to use meat,
chicken & fish as a condiment within a meal, instead of the main attraction.
Instead of an overstuffed deli sandwich, which typically has enough meat in it to feed the
entire city of Miami (!!) have 2 or 3 thin slices of turkey breast, lean roast beef or
boiled ham & add as much tomato, lettuce, onions, sprouts & any other vegetable
you can find. This way you can satisfy your protein urge at lunch & still have 4
or 5 ounces of protein left for dinner.
Now, if you can't fathom a
meal without a nice, large piece of meat, then eat like a vegetarian would for breakfast
& lunch and save the 6 oz of protein for dinner. Eat cereal or toast & fruit
for breakfast and then eat pasta & vegetables or a baked potato & chili for lunch.
Believe me, if you make your alternatives tasty, you won't miss the meat a bit.
Use meat as a condiment
at your meal, not the main attraction.
Carbohydrates - About half of your daily calories should come
from complex carbohydrate foods. If you follow this tip, you will be able to satisfy
your hunger & cut back on your protein intake without feeling deprived because these
foods add bulk to your meals. If you eat a large portion of vegetables with lunch
& dinner, you can help satisfy your hunger with less calories. 1 cup of
vegetables is only 25 calories, whereas a cup of pasta or rice about 200 calories.
If I asked you to eat 200 calories worth of vegetables - or 8 cups!! - you can bet you'd
be FULL! Not to mention it would probably take you a good hour or so to eat
them. Heck, you'd probably get tired half way through!
Nearly half your daily
calories should come from complex carbohydrate foods.
Fat - Fat should be the smallest part of your daily
diet. The major health organizations recommend we eat <30% of our total calories
as fat. I usually recommend <25% for optimal health. This doesn't sound
like much of a sacrifice until you realize that a regular hamburger contains more than 50%
fat.
The easiest way to eat less
fat is to be selective. Limit fried foods, use less high fat condiments on your food and
less oil in your cooking. When you use butter, margarine or oil to cook, the food
soaks up the fat like a sponge.
Every Tablespoon of fat the
food soaks up adds 100 calories to the food. You may not see the fat but it's in
there!
The smallest part of
your diet should be fat - eat it selectively.
Monitoring the amount of fat
added to foods is especially important when you go out to eat. Restaurants are very
generous when it comes to giving you fat because, whether we like it or not, the truth is
fat makes food taste good.
A few good things to practice
when you eat out are:
- asking for the dressing and sauces on the
side
- asking for things broiled dry
- asking for vegetables, potatoes and noodles
without butter or sauce
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Notice I didn't
say avoid the sauce. Instead, get the sauce on the side. When you do this, you
will have control over how much fat you actually eat.
- next
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Part I II III IV
Will
I have to give up any foods?
How quickly foods turn to blood sugar
Bottom line on absorption of foods for controlling
blood sugars
Pulling it all together |
