The Need To Eat Healthier As We Grow Older
Eating Healthier as we Age If you are slowing down activity-wise as you age, you will most likely not need to eat those extra large portion sizes. Good nutrition is important at any age, but more so when battling disease, which many of us who are 50+ years of age and older are doing. What we eat and how much can also impact weight gain. Women and men tend to pack on the pounds as we age. Paying attention to what we eat and our activity level can help us to age more gracefully when it comes to our weight. Healthy eating requires knowledge of food groups and portion sizes. Physicians and nutritionist can assist us in understanding what our bodies need at whatever age we are at. Normally avoiding fats and sweets or at least limiting the amounts that we consume is a good rule for anyone to follow. Here are some other good healthy eating tips. Make sure you are choosing from all the food groups during the day. The food groups are: meat and meat substitutes, dairy, fruits and vegetables, grains, and then fats & sweets. Plan your meals around these food groups and make a shopping list around your planned meals. This way the food you have around the house will be the healthy foods you need and not the junk food that you do not need. Junk food, sweets and fats are just extra, empty calories that take the place of healthy nutrients that your body requires to function properly. Understanding our food habits sometimes requires paying close attention to what we are eating. It helps to keep a food journal and honestly record everything we put into our mouth for a period of 1 week. Examining the results of this food journal and comparing it to a healthy food plan will help you to slowly make good food choices. Don't try to remake your entire diet overnight. Make one change and then when you are used to that change make another. If you slip up and overeat one day, don't stress too much, just make a better effort the next day.
Drink plenty of water. Food is not the only requirement of a healthy body. Substitute water as a beverage for meals that you may normally have soda or another empty nutrient drink. Don't go overboard on drinking juice. Most juices contain a lot of added sugar, so read the label. Portion sizes can make or break your healthy intentions so read food labels carefully as they often times will state how much is considered a serving size.
Try to keep in mind that as we age, it may seem that pleasures are being taken away from us, one by one; eating does not have to be part of that statistic. Eating healthy can be fun, if you eat in moderation, and plan to include your favorite foods into your healthy food selections. Having a sweet now and then can brighten your day and chocolate has always put a smile on my face.
Just eat responsibly and balance what you eat with other areas of your life. If you know that you really should not have that extra cookie, but it is calling your name, go ahead and splurge, just walk it off with a friend after supper to take off those extra calories. Healthy Aging Issues Today
01/25/2012 |
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