Nutrition

Proper nutrition is a huge part of a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, nutrition in the United States isn't held to the highest standard, which has led to the obesity epidemic in children and adults, a rise in type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, prevalence of heart attacks and strokes, and a multitude of other health problems. Fast and processed food has become the "norm," people rarely cook because of "time restraints," and grocery stores are full of cheap, easy, quick meals that are the furthest thing from healthy and nutritious. People tend to shop in the center of the grocery store, instead of the other edge where most of the nutritious food is located (more on this later).

I'll be sharing nutritional facts based on my educational and personal experiences, and scientific research. I'll focus on specific foods,their health benefits, and share recipes. I'll also focus on common processed and fast foods, their ingredients, and the problems they can cause.

Log Your Food

One of the most important (to me) ways to check your nutritional habits is to log your food. I use My Fitness Pal. Logging your food keeps you thinking about what you're eating (or drinking), which is very important!! You should never eat non-chalantly, because the calories will catch up with you faster than you'd believe.

Drink More Water

It is so critical that you get plenty of water each day. The standard is 64 ounces daily. Ideally, you should spread it out over the course of the day: 32 oz. before noon and 32 oz. after noon. Many times, we mistake hunger for thirst. Drink a glass of water when you feel like snacking. (If you're still hungry, grab a healthy snack.) Once you start doing so, you'll realize just how thirsty you've been!

Don't Waste Calories

Food is fuel. Remember that. Eat for a purpose. Sure you can treat yourself to something sweet and delicious every now and then. Most importantly, don't waste your calories on sugary drinks! You know what that means! No soda. No juice (make it yourself). I'll talk about nutrient dense and calorie dense foods in a blog post later. :)