Health Resources
Health Newsletter
Receive the latest health news, feature articles, and other health resources by subscribing to our FREE monthly Health Newsletter.
Columnists
Columnists News
 |
|
|
| Renew your resolution | Dec. 30, 2002 | |
|
||
|
||
| Provided by: Sun Media | ||
|
||
| The end of a year and the beginning of a new one -- time to reflect on the past and look forward to what's coming. It's also a time for making (and usually quickly breaking) resolutions, many of which often involve losing weight and/or getting fit. Here is some food for thought.
This past year has seen more and more positive, promising research that links the goodness of fruits, vegetables and grains with decreasing risk of disease. The research is continuing to unravel the complexity of these foods which are rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre and key plant chemicals, all working together to provide us with health benefits. If you're looking for a resolution you can keep, try increasing your intake of these wonder foods by one or two servings a day. Try a few new foods or look for some new recipes so that they'll easily fit into your daily life. If convenience is a factor, buy already cut up veggies or fruit salad or even pick up take-out grilled vegetables or salad. It's winter and fresh is expensive and not as tasty, so buy different varieties of frozen mixed vegetables. When you eat out, order a side of vegetables, fruit as an appetizer or dessert, dress your burger or sandwich with extra vegetables, or put extra tomato sauce on your pasta. For more information and tips look at www.5to10aday.com.
TRANS FAT LABELLED The New Year will welcome the long awaited new food label and some new health claims. The label will have much more information on the nutritional content of all the foods you buy, including a listing for trans fats. These fats, a product of hydrogenation, have not been on the food labels in the past and this has made evaluating the fat content of products much more challenging. As the new labels start to appear on the shelves, I'll write more about them to help you interpret all the new information. The high carb vs high protein debate continued in 2002 along with lots of other gimmicky, fad diets and I know that it will continue in 2003. If losing weight is on your resolution list this year, I urge you to forget the fads and instead look for a way to alter your eating style to include foods that you enjoy and a way of eating that you can continue long after the pounds have been shed. If you're making diet changes, go slowly, start small. Change is difficult and too much, too quickly is destined to fail. Pick a few diet/behaviour changes you want to try and work at them until they feel they belong to you. And then find a few more. If you have a few spare dollars, invest in a session or two with a dietitian or a personal trainer who can help you achieve your personal goals. If your resolution list includes working on important relationships in your life, add your relationship with food to the list. This is one of the most difficult relationships to alter, but well worth it in the long run. A positive, healthy relationship with food is a first step in conquering weight problems. As the year ends, think back to all the great things you did last year and resolve to keep doing them. If you made some positive changes, pat yourself on the back and reward yourself in a non-food way. And then set realistic goals for the year ahead. |
||
|
||
|
||
MORE COLUMNS BY  |
||
|
||
