Okay, you have been walking everday for a month or so now. You are writing down what you eat. Are you losing weight? Has the weight gain stopped? Do you feel better? If you answered yes to any of these questions, email me with your success story. I would like to share it on line. I will not use real names, just the story. You can email me by CLICKING HERE.
By the way, my success story is that on September 1, 2007, I weighed 234 pounds. On September 1, 2008 I weigh 193 pounds. It works!
So, lets get on the this month's health tip, how to evaluate what you eat.
WHAT ARE YOU EATING?
As I stated last month, you can not chart a path to where you are going until you know where you are. I have yo-yo'ed all of my life with my weight. I would "go on a diet" and lose all sorts of weight, only to put it all back on after reaching my goal. WHY?-----Because, I really did not know what I was eating and what it took to eat healthy. The journaling is the first step. Now lets look at what it takes to eat a balanced diet and how we should eat every day, not just on a "diet"
Last month, I suggested that you go to mypyramid.gov. On this site by answering a few questions about your lifestyles, the site will tell you what your food intake should be each day FOR LIFE
The first determination, is to establish your recommended calorie intake. We all understand that. And, it goes back to basic laws of physics. In order to lose weight, the calories burned each day must be greater than the calories taken in every day.
Now for the rest of the story. You must balance calories with the amount of Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates and Fiber that you take in. All of these are necessary for a healthy body. Lets discuss each.
PROTEIN
Protein is the most abundant material in the body aside from water. It contains hemglobins which carries oxygen in the blood. It is used to build muscle, It is an important part of insulin which regulates the blood sugar. It builds enzymes that digest food. So, you can see that you have to have it.
How much should you eat? There are 4 calories per gram of protein. If you are on a 2000 calorie per day intake, your protein should be about 20% of that 2000, or 2000X.2 =400 calories. Now with each gram of protein equaling 4 calories you figure 400 calories / 4 calories per gram = 100 grams of protein. So there is your goal.FAT
Oh no !! One of the most misunderstood elements of the daily diet. How many packages do you see that say "NO FAT", or "LOW FAT". If that fact is true because it is naturally produced that way, that is good. But if it is chemically altered to remove the fat, it may be worse for you than the natural foods. So how much should you eat?
A maximum intake per day should be no more that 30% calories by fat. So again, we will go with 2000 calories X 30% or 600 calories by fat. Each gram of fat contains 9 calories, so your intake should be no more than 600 / 9 or 66 grams.
CARBOHYDRATES
Carbs, as most people call them, are not bad. The Atkins diet encourages you to eat few. How many people have you know that went on the Atkins diet and lost a ton of weight, only to put it back on quickly. It is a good way to lose weight quickly, but to maintain is impossible, since carbs are needed for every day activities. So how many should I eat
Again, we will base it on 2000 calories per day. Each gram of carbs contain 4 calories, just like the protein. Your intake should be about 55% of the calories from Carbs, or 2000 X 55% for 1100 calories. Divide that by 4 calories per gram and that tells you that you should limit your intake to 275 grams per day.FIBER
The most important element in the diet and the one that we almost all the time do not measure and work toward taking in enough. You shoud take in a minimum of 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day. To to this, you must eat lots of fruits and vegetables and grains. When you eat breads, make it high grains bread like wheat or rye.So, there you have it. Compare you daily intake diary with these goals and good luck on buiding a healthier you.