Stay Healthy

"Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible"

-Gina Kemp, M.A.
Maya W. Paul, Certified Holistic Health Counselor
Melinda Smith, M.A

Avgerage Dinner Plates 2010 (left) 1950 (right)

Red- biggest offenders, go organic!

Orange - a little better, but wash well and go organic when possible!

Green - usually safe, but wash well!

Blue - best of the bunch, trust these foods!

Peaches	Carrots	Lemon	Onion
Apples	Domestic Grapes	Blueberries	Cabbage
Sweet Bell Peppers	Green Beans	Broccoli	Bananas
Celery	Oranges	Grapefruit	Kiwi
Nectarines	Cucumbers	Honeydew Melon	Asparagus
Strawberries	Mushrooms	Tomatoes	Mango
Cherries	Cantaloupe	Sweet Potatoes	Avocado
Lettuce	Hot Peppers	Watermelon	Pineapple
Imported Grapes	Raspberries	Eggplant	Papaya
Pears	Plums	Cranberries	Fresh Sweet Corn
Spinach	Tangerines	Winter Squash	Frozen Peas
Potatoes	Cauliflower	Summer Squash	Anything Organic!

Reduce Cancer Risk

Eat Healthy Get Exercise

Everyday tips to eating healthy:

Plan to slowly evolve your eating habits over time and celebrate small improvements to keep yourself motivated to keep up the good work!
Reaching for a soda or other sugary drink? Train yourself to grab water or 100% fruit juice instead!
Try to eat at least five servings of fruit and veggies a day. This is hard, but fruits and veggies can be convenient as well! 100% fruit and vegetable juices count as 1-2 servings, tomato sauce counts as a serving of veggies (just watch the sodium- we’ll talk about this in a minute), and these days you can buy snack packaged carrots, peaches, grapefruit, and many others!
On the road and don’t have access to fruits and veggies? It is still possible to make healthy snack decisions at the gas station convenience store! Read more...
In a rush? Sometimes the value of the food you eat is in the choices you make- and believe it or not, it is possible to make healthy decisions anywhere - even McDonalds! Read more...
At a party? Munch on the veggies or pretzels instead of the high fat chips and dip snacks.
Replace salad dressing with hummus or balsamic vinegar with a little extra virgin olive oil to reduce fat and sugar intake.
Alcohol contains a lot of empty calories (calories with no nutritional value), and can cause health problems including an increased risk for cancer and liver disease. Read more...
Decrease portion size: these days it’s difficult to consume the right amount of food or drink simply because we are served more. Read more...
Many restaurants are guilty of serving much more than one portion of food per meal. Eat slowly until you are satisfied, and take leftovers home for lunch tomorrow! Another tip – if you’re visiting a restaurant known for large portions, ask that half your order be placed in a “doggie bag” prior to serving. That way you can enjoy a plate-full and relinquish the responsibility of portion control when your meal is directly in front of you.
Keep red meat to a “special occasion” food. Each serving should be about the size of a deck of cards, so be sure not to eat too much!
Love bread, pasta, and other carb-full foods? That’s ok! Just replace white bread, regular pasta, white rice, and pastries with whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, and granola bars!
Bake, sauté, or steam your food rather than frying, broiling, or grilling it to keep as many nutrients as possible and to avoid adding extra fat from cooking oil.
Need your morning coffee fix? Try replacing your coffee with green or black tea with honey to sweeten at least once a week to reduce sugar or cream intake and to gain the many nutrients that tea offers.
Stay hydrated! Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water per day. Having a water bottle at hand all day definitely helps with this one!
Are you a fan of seconds? Serve yourself at the kitchen counter and bring your food to the table to eat, wait at least fifteen minutes after you finish your food to go back up for that second round and only do so if you’re still hungry. Placing serving dishes on the table makes it much easier to eat too much!
If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, don’t eat it!
Make a habit of eating healthy by recording/ tracking what you eat each day in a journal can help you to avoid unhealthy snacking and help you to stay on track.
Grabbing for a mid afternoon snack? Only allow yourself to eat naturally red, orange, or yellow foods! Some ideas include apples, bananas, or carrots!
At dinner time, make sure at least 50% of your plate is made up of veggies and at least a quarter is dark green!
Brightly colored foods are great… when they come from nature! Avoid bright snacks like Doritos and skittles, but instead try raspberries, oranges, or kumquats.
Like to garden? Try growing your own fruits and vegetables! Replacing just a few of the veggies you buy at the store with your own can add a lot of fresh nutrition to your diet!
Back to sodium. Remember this number – 2300 (or 2000 if you like the feel of that better). An individual should consume no more than 2300mg of sodium per day. Check out those canned soup, jarred pasta sauce and marinade labels – you’ll be stunned! Keep in mind serving size!!!
If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, don’t eat it!
A final thought – if you look at nothing else on a food label look for these TWO things: High Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated (or Partially-Hydrogenated) Oils.
If you have grabbed a product that contains either or both of these ingredients, put it back on the shelf. Both have been linked to diseases including osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, MS, obesity, and many many others. Your body has NO idea what these ingredients are – don’t force it into figuring out what the heck to do with that junk!