Eating Healthy and Dieting

It is always a good thing to eat a healthy balanced diet but there is more to it than the foods you choose.  We have all heard to eat a good breakfast.  To eat three healthy meals a day.  To eat a mixtures of vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates, and proteins.  To not over eat.  These are all good advice but one major component is often overlooked, eating the right amounts at the right times.

The purpose of eating is to give your body fuel so it can operate on its optimum level.  To do this it is a good idea to heed the advice we have all heard, as mentioned above, but to add one more component.  Eating consistently through out the day.  To keep your body from being hungry and to keep it working properly it is best to eat 5 or 6 small meals a day.  These meals should be spread out through out the day as evenly as possible.

As a teacher, and many of you as students, you have a consistent schedule built into your day.  Here at Patrick Henry Middle School you have the opportuntiy to have breakfast at 8 AM in the morning, your are given a nutritional break at 10:45 AM, lunch at 12:46 PM and snack is provided at 3:02 PM.  During our day we have 4 opportunities to eat approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours apart.  If you have a good dinner around 6 PM you will have had 5 meals spread out throughout the day. 

By following our nutritional guidelines, if you have made good choices on what you have eaten and meal size, you will have given your body what needs to work at it's normal level.

Many times we do not adhere to this and we eat 3 large meals, or we skip meals.  This causes two things.  If we eat to much we feel lethargic and can be fatigued and we are not at our best for learning.  If we eat to little our body goes into starvation mode because it doesn't feel it is going to get enough food.  Both of these situations can lead to weight gain.  When the body is over or under fed it will store the extra food stuffs to use later because you either can't metabolize everything you ate (eating overly large meals) or the body stores it becuase it isn't getting enough food (skipping meals or eating too little).

This brings me to dieting.  Dieting, as a word that has a stigma to it.  It means we have to lose weight.  While this may be true it doesn't always mean you eat to much.  Dieting should mean the following:

Definition of DIET http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diet

1

a :  food and drink regularly provided or consumed

b :  habitual nourishment

As I have described, eating 5-6 small meals consistently throughout the day.

Remember, I am not a doctor and if you wish to embark on a specialized diet discuss it with your doctor.  

But there is nothing wrong with sharing this with your parents or children and giving this kind of diet a try.  Whether it is to live a healthier lifestyle, to feel better, or to try to lose some weight it the possible benefits should be noticeable.

I have been doing this since November 2014 and have lost 25 pounds at a slow consistent level and I feel better.

If you give it a try please write me and tell me how you and your family feel and what benefits or pitfalls you have noticed.