Eating Healthy Foods and Making the Right Diet Choices

You Are What You Eat

Prepare to gain weight and become unhealthy if you plan to eat out at the local burger barn every day. People, for the most part know what should go in their diets but just don't listen to their common sense. Eating healthy foods is the first, and in many ways the most important step in becoming a healthy person.

It's not a struggle or a hardship. It's not a moral imperative. It's not a sign of elitism. It's the simple reality that what you eat literally becomes you. You metabolize those carrots or that chicken, or that hot fudge sundae with caramel and extra whipped cream, and it becomes more of you one way or the other. Think about that the next time you reach for the bag of potato chips.

With that in mind, it's time to take a look at what eating healthy foods entails, exactly. Because there are different standards and different lists for what different people consider health food.

Take my father-in-law, for example. He's a doctor, a nephrologist. That means he works on people who have kidney problems, and from that perspective he has about thirty five years of seeing what an unhealthy diet can do to your vital organs.

From his firsthand experience then, as well as the experience of his family (a family with a rich history of cancer, heart disease and diabetes) he came to the conclusion that the best thing he could do for his own diet is to cut out foods that have a high fat content.

And that's it. He'll snack on gummy bears, or load up on carbs morning noon and night. As long as he's not taking in high fat content, he's fine. Of course, he runs six miles a day every day, so he's in better shape than most.

Me, I have a different approach. I'm not as concerned about fat content, but I'm much, much more concerned about eating stuff that's processed. Because stuff that's processed isn't actually food; it's just chemicals combined with a few nutrients (if you're lucky). I try not to touch that stuff.

So for me, eating healthy means eating fresh foods. If I'm having a salad I'm going to buy from a fruit stand or store that gets its produce locally, rather than getting some bagged salad that's been shipped halfway around the world. And I'll use olive oil for a dressing because olive oil actually has some beneficial fats rather than malignant fats.

But there's more. One of the keys to getting on that healthy food list is that too much of a good thing is still too much. Portion control and moderation are always important - obviously more so when talking about stuff that's not good for you, but still when you're talking about stuff that is good for you.

The Diet of 1200 Calories

Americans are very serious about dieting and making sure they do their best to maintain their weight. While it is debatable whether dieting works, many people invest a lot of time and money each year to try new diets, hoping it will work wonders. The controversy lies in whether or not the diets have lasting effects and whether or not diets are a good way to maintain someone’s overall health.

Counting calories is a common dieting method. Weight is lost when someone burns more calories than they consume in a day. Calories are used by the body as energy but some contain more fat than others.

To find out how many calories a certain food has, people can look at the back of the box or carton the food is packaged in and check how many total calories and how many calories from fat the food contains per serving.

Nutritionists and dietitians can work with clients to develop meal plans and diets that are safe to consume daily. There are many cooking methods and fast food options that can help people stay on track and make sure they stay within a 1200 calorie diet each day.

Since the average recommended daily caloric intake is 2000 calories, a 1200 calorie diet leads to quick weight loss. The key is to find foods that are low calorie but very filling so that you are not constantly hungry. Fresh foods are always best nutritionally and whole foods are the purest way to consume all the nutritional potential a food has.

Some people drink eight glasses of water daily to make sure they can stay within a 1200 calorie diet. Water is filling and has no calories, so sometimes people try to supplement it for food, which is not the healthiest choice. If you are always hungry trying to maintain the diet, you may need to speak with an expert to see what a realistic weight loss goal should be for your body type.

Exercise generally is not recommended with a 1200 calorie diet because people may not be able to sustain high levels of activity if they are not eating very much. The problem with not incorporating exercise into one’s life is that if they begin eating more than 1200 calories, they will gain the weight they lost back very quickly. It is best to eat healthy and exercise at least three times a week to achieve optimum health.

If you're making the best choice, but you're still eating 4000 calories a day, chances are you're not improving your overall health. If you're putting away about 2000 calories on the other hand, then you're likely on the right track. So, take the time to look at your daily diet and ask yourself; "Is the food I'm eating really healthy?" Betcha it's not!

List of Healthy Food Choices - Snacks are fine if you pick ones like vegetables or fruits like apples. These are on the healthy food top list.

Bob Pardue