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Healthy Eating Redefined
New Year's resolutions aside, most of us find making and
sticking to the resolve to eat healthier a bit of a challenge,
to say the least. And that's even though study after study shows
that people who eat healthier have a greater chance of living
longer, better lives. For example, a study published last year
of over 42,000 women suggested that women who ate closest to the
recommended number of servings of fruits, vegetables, whole
grains, low-fat dairy and lean meats and poultry definitely
lived longer.
So what's the problem with eating healthier? Many times, it's
all in how we define it.
Positive or Negative?
When we say the words 'healthy
eating,' what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Is
it a positive thought, such as "I feel better" or "It energizes
me"? Or is it something negative, such as "boring,"
"inconvenient" or "small portions"?
If you're like the majority of women who come to Green Mountain,
the list of negative reactions is much longer than the list of
positive reactions. While we all recognize the positive benefits
of healthy eating, it's our negative feelings about it that end
up creating obstacles to our doing it on a regular basis. We
often feel that healthy eating
recipes don't taste good, and we have pictures of ourselves
spending hours in the kitchen chopping vegetables.
Certainly, if that's your vision, it's easy to see why healthy
eating doesn't particularly appeal. But take a moment to think
about why you choose the foods you do when you make an attempt
to eat healthy. We frequently choose foods that are lowest in
fat, sugar, salt, calories...and therefore, taste and
convenience. Why? Because we're not seeking to eat healthy as
much as we are trying to lose weight.
Changing the Definition
The trouble is, many of us have perceptions of healthy eating
that are defined by diets. The diets that have "educated" us
about healthy eating, or our own desire to take weight off fast,
have led us to equate healthy eating with consuming the minimum
number of calories we can get by with. And that often leaves us
unsatisfied, or facing a great deal of difficulty in feeding
ourselves when we're not in our kitchens preparing
our own
meals.
The solution? Embrace the notion that he
althy eating does include higher-fat, higher-sugar,
higher-calorie foods if you like them. Within the context of an
overall eating plan that features lower-fat, lower-sugar,
lower-calorie foods the majority of the time, a few chocolate
chip cookies or small bag of potato chips can be just the thing
you need to make healthy eating work for you, for both weight
loss and good health.
So start today. Resolve to eat healthy. But remember, it doesn't
matter how healthy a food is -- if it doesn't taste good, you're
not likely to continue eating it. Eat balanced meals and snacks
that include your favorite foods. And think broadly about what
your favorite foods are. Many of us love carrot sticks and
chocolate chip cookies. Maybe not at the same time, but over the
course of a day, it's easy to fit both in.
Here's to a long, healthy life...enjoying eating in a way that
truly feels great!
For 35 years, Green Mountain at Fox Run has developed and
refined a life-changing program exclusively for women seeking
permanent strategies for healthy weight
loss and health. Based on a combination of proven science
and what works in the real world, our innovative non-diet
lifestyle program offers an integrated curriculum of practical,
liveable techniques that helps women take charge of their
eating, their bodies and their health. Our approach is not
focused on just losing weight but on how to keep it off for a
lifetime. Our participants' long-term weight loss results are
among the highest of any program, as documented in peer-reviewed
scientific literature. Learn more about our Healthy Weight Loss
Spa - Fitness and Weight Loss Retreat.
About the author:
Alan H. Wayler, PhD is executive director of Green Mountain at
Fox Run, a women's weight loss
program and healthy eating program since 1973. The program
provides an integrative health lifestyle approach for achieving
long-term weight and health management for women. He is also
co-author of a healthy
weight loss blog.
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