Intuitive Eating Principle #1

Intuitive eating is an approach that teaches you how to create a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body. Over the next month or so we will focus each week on 1 of the 10 guiding principles of Intuitive Eating. 

1. Reject the Diet Mentality. Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight  quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating.

Radon Action Month

Do you know what Radon is and how it can negatively affecting your health?!  Read below for more info:

New BeWise Classes for 2014!

Join Us in February at the West Valley Library for the FREE BEWISE CLASSES!

Look at the Free Healthy Lifestyle Classes tab for more information!

Healthy Substitutions

Here are some healthy substitutions you can use as you make your yummy holiday meals and treats!

Ingredient                                                          Healthy Swap

Oil (baking)	One cup of unsweetened applesauce or ¾ cup Greek yogurt per cup of oil.
Oil (cooking)	Reduce by half or two thirds. Or use cooking spray instead.
Heavy Cream	Equal parts half & half and fat free evaporated milk. Depending on the recipe, you may be able to use all half and half or whole milk.
White Flour	Substitute half with 100% whole wheat, oat, or soy flour.
Sugar	1 tsp. of mashed banana per tsp. of sugar.
Salt	Garlic, chili powder, lemon, or salt-free seasonings.
Butter	¼ cup Greek yogurt + ½ cup butter to replace 1 cup of butter.
Eggs	Two large egg whites in place of 1 whole egg.
Gravy	Leave it out, or substitute with au jus.
Chocolate Chips	Reduce by one third or use dried fruit.

 

Healthy Weight Tip #3

Plan to have healthy snacks.

• Snacking is not always a bad thing. It just depends on what the snack is.
• Prepare healthy snacks ahead of time and keep them handy when you’re on the go.
• Healthy snacks include raw vegetables, fruit, a small handful of nuts, or unbuttered popcorn. Look at snacks as a way to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Understand recent weight gain.

• Sometimes people gain weight in a short period of time because they are going through hard times (death, divorce, or job changes). They don’t have the time or energy to watch what they eat or to get regular physical activity.
• Are you gaining weight because you are trying to quit smoking?

Understand how weight loss works.

• If you have tried losing weight but weren’t able to keep it off, don’t feel bad!
• Most diets lead to some weight loss, but keeping the weight off is much harder.
• Think about when you tried to lose weight: what worked and what didn’t work?

Healthy Weight Tip #2

Get rid of guilt.

• Feeling guilty about eating a “bad” food or eating too much isn’t helpful.
• Guilt is a type of negative thinking, and you can overcome it!
• Instead, make a list of the foods that you feel most guilty about eating, and replace them with healthier foods or eat them less often and in smaller amounts.
• Stop buying the foods that make you feel guilty. You can’t eat them if you don’t have them in the house.

Eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you’re full.

• Sit at a table to eat.
• Slow down! Eating slowly lets you enjoy your food and gives your brain a chance to figure out when you’re full.
• Put your fork down between most bites to help you slow down.
• Pay attention to portion size.

Healthy Weight Tip #1

Avoid emotional eating.

• Don’t let strong feelings turn into weight gain.
• Figure out what your eating triggers are.
• Pay attention to how much and what you are eating.

Don’t skip meals.

• Skipping meals does not help you lose weight!
• Your body needs a certain number of calories every day.
• If you skip a meal, you will probably snack or eat more later.
• Try to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.