Importance of healthy living
Healthy Diet = Healthy Life
Your food choices each day affect your health — how you feel today, tomorrow, and in the future.
Our eating habits need help. Fast food, high-calorie desserts, sweet drinks, and more have filled us up — and out. Most adults and 1 in 3 children in the U.S. are overweight or obese. A healthy lifestyle involves many choices. Among them, choosing a balanced diet or healthy eating plan. Good nutrition is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (like heart disease and cancer), and promote your overall health.
The link between good nutrition and healthy weight reduced chronic disease risk, and overall health is too important to ignore. By taking steps to eat healthily, you’ll be on your way to getting the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy, active, and strong. As with physical activity, making small changes in your diet can go a long way, and it’s easier than you think!
Counting Calories?
It’s really not as hard as it seems! Calories are simply a measurement tool, like inches, cups or ounces.
Calories measure the energy a food or beverage provides from the carbohydrate, fat, protein, and alcohol it contains. They give you the fuel or energy you need to work and play – even to rest and sleep! When choosing what to eat and drink, it’s important to get the right mix – enough nutrients without too many calories.
Paying attention to those calories is an important part of managing your weight because the amount of calories you need is different if you want to gain, lose, or maintain your weight. Tracking what you eat and drink (and how much) can help you better understand your daily caloric intake. You can also use the Nutrition Facts label or nutrition information on menus and food boxes to see how many calories are in a specific food or beverage.
*Solid fats and added sugars count for about 800 of our daily calories. That’s almost half the calories an average woman should have in a DAY!
Healthy Portions
How much you eat and drink can affect your weight and risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
The amount of food you eat is one of the most important parts of building a healthy eating style. Choosing smaller portions can help you stay within your calories needs. Be aware of the amount of what you eat and drink during meals and snacks. Some commonly eaten foods can provide more calories than we realize. You can cut down on calories by choosing a smaller portion. For example, a large order of fries can contain over 500 calories, but a small order contains only half of that amount. The amount people eat has increased over time, and many of us eat far more than we realize. Start downsizing to healthy portions and your body will too!
