Improving your Eating Habits Part 1

When it comes to eating, we have strong habits. Some are good ("I always eat breakfast"), and some are not so good ("I always clean my plate"). Although many of our eating habits were established during childhood, it doesn't mean it's too late to change them.

Making sudden, radical changes to eating habits such as eating nothing but cabbage soup, can lead to short term weight loss. However, such radical changes are neither healthy nor a good idea, and won't be successful in the long run. Permanently improving your eating habits requires a thoughtful approach in which you Reflect, Replace, and Reinforce.

• REFLECT on all of your specific eating habits, both bad and good; and, your common triggers for unhealthy eating.
• REPLACE your unhealthy eating habits with healthier ones.
• REINFORCE your new, healthier eating habits.

Reflect, Replace, Reinforce: A process for improving your eating habits

1. Create a list of your eating habits. Keeping a food diary for a few days, in which you write down everything you eat and the time of day you ate it, will help you uncover your habits. For example, you might discover that you always seek a sweet snack to get you through the mid-afternoon energy slump. It's good to note how you were feeling when you decided to eat, especially if you were eating when not hungry. Were you tired? Stressed out?

Source:
Improving Your Eating Habits - CDC

7 Wonders of Water

Stay Slimmer With Water
Trying to lose weight? Water revs up metabolism and helps you feel full. Replace calorie-laden beverages with water, and drink a glass before meals to help you feel fuller. Drinking more water also helps amp up metabolism - especially if your glass is icy cold. Your body must work to warm the water up, burning a few extra calories in the process.

Water Boosts Your Energy
If you’re feeling drained and depleted, get a pick-me-up with water. Dehydration makes you feel fatigued. Water helps the blood transport oxygen and other essential nutrients to your cells. If you’re getting enough water, your heart also doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood throughout your body.

Lower Stress With Water
85% of your brain tissue is water. If you’re dehydrated, both your body and your mind will be stressed. If you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already a little dehydrated. To keep stress levels down, keep a glass of water at your desk or tote a sports bottle and sip regularly.

Build Muscle Tone With Water
Drinking water helps prevent muscle cramping and lubricates joints in the body. When you’re well hydrated, you can exercise longer and stronger without "hitting the wall."

Nourish Your Skin
Fine lines and wrinkles are deeper when you’re dehydrated. Water is nature’s own beauty cream. Drinking water hydrates skin cells and plumps them up, making your face look younger. It also flushes out impurities and improves circulation and blood flow, leaving your face clean, clear, and glowing.

Stay Regular With Water
Along with fiber, water is essential to good digestion. Water helps dissolve waste particles and passes them smoothly through your digestive tract. If you’re dehydrated, your body absorbs all the water, leaving your colon dry and making it more difficult to pass waste.

Water Reduces Kidney Stones
The rate of painful kidney stones is rising because people - including children - aren't drinking enough water. Water dilutes the salts and minerals in your urine that form the solid crystals known as kidney stones. Kidney stones can't form in diluted urine, so reduce your risk with plenty of water!

Source:
Web MD

New BeWise Classes for May and June 2013

Check out the Free Healthy Lifestyle Classes page for our new class calendar for May and June!

We will be continuing our BeWise Weight Workshop and BeWise Exercise classes!

We will be doing something new in June, which is our BeWise Be Active activities around the county on Saturday mornings!

Register for classes so you can join in on the fun!

Register by calling Alysia at 385-468-4055 or emailing bewise@slco.org

10 Tips to a Great Plate

10 Tips to a Great Plate

Making food choices for a healthy lifestyle can be as simple as using these 10 Tips. Use the ideas in this list to balance your calories, to choose foods to eat more often, and to cut back on foods to eat less often.

1. Balance Calories - Find out how many calories YOU need for a day as a first step in managing your weight. Go to www.ChooseMyPlate.gov to find your calorie level. Being physically active also helps you balance calories. 
2. Enjoy your food, but eat less - Take the time to fully enjoy your food as you eat it. Eating too fast or when your attention is elsewhere may lead to eating too many calories. Pay attention to hunger and fullness cues before, during, and after meals. Use them to recognize when to eat and when you’ve had enough. 
3. Avoid oversized portions - Use a smaller plate, bowl, and glass. Portion out foods before you eat. When eating out, choose a smaller size option, share a dish, or take home part of your meal.
4. Foods to eat more often - Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fat-free or 1% milk and dairy products. These foods have the nutrients you need for health—including potassium, calcium, vitamin D, and fiber. Make them the basis for meals and snacks.
5. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables - Choose red, orange, and dark-green vegetables like tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli, along with other vegetables for your meals. Add fruit to meals as part of main or side dishes or as dessert.
6. Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk - They have the same amount of calcium and other essential nutrients as whole milk, but fewer calories and less saturated fat.
7. Make half your grains whole grains - To eat more whole grains, substitute a whole-grain product for a refined product—such as eating wholewheat bread instead of white bread or brown rice instead of white rice
8. Foods to eat less often - Cut back on foods high in solid fats, added sugars, and salt. They include cakes, cookies, ice cream, candies, sweetened drinks, pizza, and fatty meats like ribs, sausages, bacon, and hot dogs. Use these foods as occasional treats, not everyday foods. 
9. Compare sodium in foods - Use the Nutrition Facts label to choose lower sodium versions of foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals. Select canned foods labeled “low sodium,” ”reduced sodium,” or “no salt added.” 
10. Drink water instead of sugary drinks -  Cut calories by drinking water or unsweetened beverages. Soda, energy drinks, and sports drinks are a major source of added sugar, and calories, in American diets.