What lifestyle changes am I making to improve my health you ask? I'm happy to share with you; I am making wiser food choices and making thirty to ninety minutes of physical activity a part of my daily routine. (Physical activity is the current prudent way to describe "exercise.") Sounds like a done deal, don't you think?
Making wiser food choices is the easier of these two goals. Knowing what is healthy to eat is pretty simple, and you don't even have to look at the food pyramid. If the food has little or no flavor, textural, or image appeal, you can eat it--in fact, you should eat it. Another clue is food origin; if it came from the ground in its present form or perhaps one process ago, the likelihood is great that you can consume it with nutritional zeal. No, this does not include chocolate; chocolate may have come from a cacao bean, but that was many evolutions ago. That sort of thinking will only spawn other unhealthy thoughts.
Okay, so maybe that's not completely true. Some of the "good" food choices actually taste good and are satisfying to eat. What it boils down to is retraining our taste buds, and more importantly, our inner "food eye" to crave, or at least derive satisfaction from, food that hasn't been bathed in fat. Initially, I was surprised to learn that doughnuts and candy bars weren't in the food pyramid at all, but re-read above paragraph if you have any doubts.
Portion control is another issue in a healthy lifestyle. Who knew? We are supposed to keep a meat portion to the approximate size of the palm of our hand. I say no fair--I have really small hands. One chicken breast could last me for days and a can of tuna stretches into eternity.
I have a habit of exaggerating a bit, so maybe portion sizes aren't that minuscule. Again, it is about retraining the eye to be satisfied with what it sees. One suggested method of aiding in this retraining is to use a smaller plate than what you normally would. The smaller portions will take up about as much space on the smaller plate as the more generous portions did on the larger plate. A salad plate is the best size to use for this lesson to your eyes and tummy; if the diet you are contemplating urges portions so small that a saucer would be adequate, run--do not walk--away.
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