Dear Nurse Bonnie,
The holidays are over and my clothes are tighter. What can help me to get back on track?
Mrs. S. C.
Dear Mrs. S. C.,
- Step #1: Keep a Food Journal
For 24 hours make a commitment to keeping a 'Food Journal.' Record every morsel of food that passes your lips. READ THE FOOD LABELS. Note the portion size and record the amount you actually ate. Note the Calories, grams of Fat, Carbohydrate, Sugar, Salt and Protein, and list for each serving of food. This can be a truly consciousness raising experience and the first step to jolt you into more productive habits.
Our bodies burn simple sugars and carbohydrates quickest so we feel hungry again sooner. Protein is burned more slowly and fat slowest of all. Eating a couple chomps of breast meat chicken, 1% fat cottage cheese or tuna throughout the day will keep your body's furnace burning at a more even level....without the dips that lead to hunger, overeating and unwise food choices.
Brightly colored vegetables steamed lightly in large quantities give a full feeling, keep bowels moving and offer your body wonderful 'raw material' for the rebuilding and renewal of your tissues and organs. Melt a slice of low sodium, low fat cheese over the veggies, add chopped red pepper and a couple tablespoons of (soy) baco-bits. Deee-licious and healthy!
- Step#2: Read those food labels at the store and home.
- Step #3: Eat Less--Walk More.
- Step #4: Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day.
All chemical reactions take place in solution. Think of your body as a big manufacturing plant. Aging bodies don't utilize food as efficiently and require highly nutritious food choices.
My own personal nightmare is thinking of older people munching on saltines and tea...or baked goods and coffee---temporarily filling but ultimately sets up a cycle of poor eating that perpetuates poor nutrition and sets the stage for disease and illness.
- Step #5 Remember....Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes !