Show Your Ambition for Nutrition this National Nutrition Month by creating a great plate for a healthy lifestyle. Here are just a few helpful tips from the United States Department of Agriculture to a perfect nutritional plate!
1. Balance calories - Find YOUR optimal calorie level for managing a healthy weight and exercise regularly to maintain your balance of calories.
2. Pace, don’t race when it comes to enjoying your food – take time eating and make sure to recognize your body’s fullness signals. Eating too fast may lead to eating too much calories.
3. Trust your thighs, not your eyes – Don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach. Use smaller plates, bowls, and glasses to give portion control to the foods you eat.
4. Health is wealth when it comes to your nutrition – By eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products, you can up your potassium, calcium, fiber, and vitamins to give your body the fuel it needs to control appetite and get you through the day.
5. Skip the sweets and treats – Cut back on foods with high solid fats, added sugars, salts, etc. Things like cake, pizza, cookies, ice cream candy, soda, and fatty meats use should an occasional treat and not eaten every day.
6. Water is your friend – By switching out sugary drinks like soda, energy drinks, and sport drinks for water, you can significantly lower your daily intake of added sugar and calories.
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"10 Tips Nutrition Education Series." 10 Tips Nutrition Education Series. 1 June 2011. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.choosemyplate.gov/healthy-eating-tips/ten-tips.html>.