Eating 101

Count points? You've been on Weight Watchers. Log your meals? You're doing My Fitness Pal. Remove carbs? Atkins. Food come in a box? NutraSystem. More than half of all women are on diets. Almost everyone tries to watch their food intake. Very few throw caution to the wind. Even less know how to eat. Myths, advertising campaigns, peer pressure and propaganda surround out tables. I can't begin to address everything, but let's tackle this like counterfeit money; let's study what is correct so you will know when something is "off."

Your food will not come in a pill. You have to eat. In my experience, people who struggle with obesity are underfed and malnourished. The body craves more food because what you are eating is not nourishing you. The roller coaster of withholding food and then caving is a hard ride. Even if you are not your best weight, you have to eat. You are allowed. Principle number one: eat.

I know schedules can be crazy, but a general plan of what you will eat will go a long way. It is a form of making no provision for the flesh. If you have a ready to go, healthy meal, you will be more likely to choose well. Included in this, is knowing your pitfalls. Mine is fatigue. I need to use my mornings to have my dinner set up. At the end of a day, I get busy and tired and, frankly, I stop caring about what I eat. Anything will do. Principle number two: plan.

In general, the average woman should eat around 2,000 calories a day. It is a good practice to take an accurate count of how much you are actually eating. I do like the My Fitness Pal app to give yourself an idea of what you do. It also accounts for exercise. If you exercise, you need more food. Now, you can fall into the pitfall of being a slave to the math. Balance. The Zone recommends eating every 3ish hours and using your hand as a guide: Protein, the size of your palm. Fat, a cupped serving. Non-starchy carbohydrate, what you can hold in two hands, or one hand, if starchy. It is a good guide as it takes your size into account. Under eating, burns muscle. Overeating, builds fat. Principle number 3, there is an amount to eat.

For starters, eat breakfast. Lots of people do not eat breakfast. Smaller, frequent meals are better for us. It controls our hunger. If you starve yourself, you can tend to over eat. It controls and levels blood sugar. Now math skills need to be utilized here. Take your total calories and divide by 5 or 6 meals. I need 6 so I can eat throughout my whole day. The main goals are to not snake eat.., having nothing and then a giant meal.. and not to make it 5 or 6 big ol' meals. Principle number four... eat frequently.

How about getting the big picture first? Sugar and junk food has no necessary nutrients. Eat simply. You need protein, but you don't need it in the form of meat. You need vitamins and minerals and vegetables have them. You need fat. My grandma kept a fat jar. I don't, but I do eat fat in my diet. Organic? If the finances allow, great. If they don't, frozen and canned food will do just fine. Principle number five, eat simply.

Do your best and realize it takes time to learn and apply healthy practices.