Eat Real Foods

Eating Healthy isn’t about losing weight(although that can be a good side effect). Eating healthy is about taking the time to eat real foods! Our bodies know how to process real foods. Real foods give us better feed back when we are full - and they keep us full longer. Real foods in combination don't make our blood sugars go up too quickly. It is important to plan ahead and have real whole foods as they come from the earth: fresh vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices and lean meats on hand to cook with and to eat when you are hungry. When we are rushed - which is often the case - being prepared makes it so much easier to grab real food on your way out the door.

The more naturally BRIGHT colors in the foods that we eat, the better! Foods that can sit packaged on a shelf for a long time without spoiling are not likely healthy foods- and unless artificial color has been added, are pretty white or colorless. In processed foods, most or all of the healthy oils in the grains have been removed for stability, the fiber has been removed and there are often preservatives and additives to keep it fresh. Try to eat a rainbow of foods every day.

Breakfast is an important meal to eat every day. It should be eaten within an hour and one-half of getting up. Breakfast should be made up of a mix of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Eating a good breakfast helps prevent food cravings later in the day. Make sure that you are getting fiber in your breakfast. 5 to 10gm of fiber is ideal for breakfast. Also, try to avoid added sugar. One way cereal eaters can do this, is by dividing the number of grams of fiber in their cereal into the number of grams of carbohydrate. If the result is 7 or less the cereal does not have too much added sugar and is probably a good choice. For example if there is 25 gm of carbohydrate and 5 gm of fiber the result is 5 so that it is good choice for a cereal.