Healthy Eating

Lots of people are struggling with excess weight, trying various diet plans or exercising, and sometimes it seems that nothing works. I had a similar problem few years ago and I tried eating healthier, so at least I wouldn’t continue gaining weight.

Healthy eating was not easy then. It is a bit easier now. I never had a sweet tooth so that was helping. I had to cut down on fast food though, which was not easy. Luckily, I never really liked soft soda drinks, but I had to cut out on my Tropicana Orange and Cranberry juice. Still, although I wasn’t gaining any weight, I wasn’t losing any either.

One day, while talking to my co-worker, she advised me that through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) we have covered 3 hours of visit to Nutritionist. My co-worker is really good looking and slim, so I thought I should give it a try too. I called EAP and they gave me phone number for Nutritionist closest to the area I live.

It was easy to get appointment with Nutritionist and one day after work I went to visit her. On my first and only visit, I stayed there 1 hour only. Nutritionist checked my weight & height deciding that for my body it is required 1500 kcal a day. In order to achieve those 1500 kcal a day, she set up a diet plan for me. Now, when I say a diet plan, I actually mean portions of food I can have. She said that food plan is same for everybody, just portions are different according to each individual need of the person and weight goal that this person has.

Basically, I was permitted to eat all food groups, consisting of dairy, fruits and veggies, meat and starch. Of course, I had to drink at least 2 litres of water a day, preferably a glass half an hour before meal so I wouldn’t be so hungry. So, these are food portions I have every day:

Breakfast:
1 cup of milk
cereal bar
fruit (it doesn’t matter which fruit you eat, quantity allowed was size of a fist)

If anything not eaten during breakfast, it can be used as a snack. No additional snack allowed.

Lunch:
1 cup of milk
1 serving of meat (size of deck cards)
2 servings of veggies or fruits (size of 2 fists)
2 servings of starchy food (bread, potato, rice, pasta)

Again, if something not eaten during lunch, you can always snack on it afterwards, but before dinnertime. Usually, I wouldn’t drink milk as I would be working at that time, so as soon as I would get home, I would drink 1 cup of milk.

Dinner – same as lunch:
1 cup of milk
1 serving of meat (size of deck cards)
2 servings of veggies or fruits (size of 2 fists)
2 servings of starchy food (bread, potato, rice, pasta)

Usually I drink a cup of milk before I go to sleep, instead of having it with dinner. What I noticed with this diet plan is that I am never hungry ‘cause there is always some type of food that I didn’t eat, so I take that. Sometimes, instead of fruit, I am permitted to take dry fruits such as prunes, apricots, peanuts, pistachios, etc. Serving of dry fruit would be a size of one fist.

I think that this diet plan is excellent as you can eat all types of food and you can get all nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and proteins. Drink plenty of water, of course.

Forbidden foods are: cakes, fast food, any type of potato chips. Sometimes, I would take a piece of chocolate, or small cup of ice cream or anything that would be forbidden, but that is not everyday. Even if I take something like that every now & then, all other food I eat is very healthy so I don’t feel guilty about it. I think that everything depends on our self-control. I am already used to eating healthy food. I think it tastes better and I feel better about my body. It is important to understand that this progress is slow, with this type of diet plan; I could lose 10 pounds in 3 months. I think that is slow, but more efficient progress.

Experts say that we can develop a habit after doing a same task everyday for 21 days. I believe if we eat healthy for a month or so, we will start thinking about the food that we eat, how healthy it is for us and quantity of food that we eat. Now days, before I indulge myself in Strawberry Shortcake or Cheesecake, I decide how it will affect my body. Is it
worth it? If I really want it that much, then I may take a smaller piece, or half of serving size, even 1/3 would be ok… So I wouldn’t feel like I am restricting myself from certain food, but rather deciding how much of that food I really need or feel like eating?  Same goes with Pizza. I love Pizza but on this diet plan I don’t eat more than 2 slices. When I have 2 slices of Pizza for dinner, I still make sure that I eat some fruit afterwards or drink milk before I go to sleep.

Now, this diet plan outlined above works for me and is designed specifically for me by licensed Nutritionist. If you want to have a diet designed specifically for you and your body needs, contact Nutritionist in your area and find out what meal plan works best for you. If you need to lose more weight than I did, or if you have diabetes or any other illness, your Nutritionist can work with your doctor to serve you better in order to have healthy body.

Of course, no diet plan can work if you don’t exercise regularly. In order to have healthy body, and to feel better about oneself, exercise is the best way to go. If you don’t like jogging, but like walking, there is nothing wrong in a half an hour walk each day.

Remember, there is an old saying:Â Healthy body equals healthy mind.