Healthy Eating Means What ?

Healthy Eating Means What?
by Laura Crooks


Many people have “healthy eating” as a goal, but what does that mean? Eating healthier can mean any number of things, and usually something different to everyone. Defining what you mean will help you achieve it.

As with any destination, if you are not clear about where you are going how do you know when you have arrived. Being clear about your goal helps you know what to do and when you have done it.

Healthy eating can mean:
eating enough food/calories – For people who have severely limited their caloric intake and for them the best thing they can do is eat more quality food.

eating often enough – This means eating frequently enough to prevent the ferocious hunger feeling that can lead to poor food choices and eating too quickly.

eating a variety of foods – Expanding your repertoire of foods gives you a bigger variety of nutrients and antioxidants. Eating the same few foods over and over, even if they are healthy foods, limits the vitamins and nutrients your body has to work with.

eating smaller amounts/portions – Many Americans eat too much food, whether healthy foods or not. Eating smaller amounts of foods, and therefore calories, can help many people lose weight and minimize their blood sugar and insulin swings.

increasing fiber – Many Americans do not come close to getting the recommended 20 – 35 grams of fiber daily. Fiber helps keep you full longer, stabilizes your blood sugar, and keeps your bowels moving regularly. Some types of fibber can help lower LDL (the lousy cholesterol).

eating more antioxidants – the more antioxidants you eat, and the more variety, gives your body more to work with in running smoothly and warding off diseases.

eating more protein – Protein is a vital building block, but also helps keep us feeling full and stabilizes our blood sugar because it is digested more slowly than carbohydrates.

balancing the types of fats eaten –Switching to mono-unsaturated and omega 3 fatty acids are better for us than eating transfats and too many saturated fats.

making better snack choices – Snacks are ideally 100-200 calories and provide some nutritional value. They give us energy between regular meals. Snacks with both fiber and protein make great choices (an apple with peanut butter, or cheese and whole grain crackers).

prepping foods – Our food choices are often dictated by convenience. We may have healthy food in the house but do not feel like washing and cutting it. Having food ready to go and easy to use (whether buying pre-chopped vegetables or chopping them yourself when you have the time) will make you more likely to choose those foods.

pre-planning (shopping, prepping, having good choices available) – Spending the time planning meals and snacks, shopping for them, and preparing what you can in advance goes a long way to making those foods more appealing once you are tired and hungry. Simply having them available increases your chances of eating them.

paying attention to how you eat - Sitting down, eating slowly and enjoying your food can help you eat less and feel more satisfied. Eating should be a pleasant experience.

noticing why you eat – Ideally you should eat only when you are hungry. This means eliminating emotional and habitual eating. When you are truly in the mood for a piece of candy you can cruise past your coworkers candy dish and have one, but not every time you walk past.

changing what you eat when – Try eating more substantial food for breakfast. Coffee and toast or cereal may not be enough to keep you going comfortably until lunch. Dinner leftovers or a sandwich are not off limits for breakfast. A small bowl of cereal can be a great snack.


Think for a bit about what healthy eating means to you specifically. With that knowledge you should be better able to make clear and specific goals. When you are clear about your objective you can more easily get there.

The Easy way to Say No

How to Say "No" and Take Control of Your Life

By Nancy Stampahar



With life passing by at the speed of light and demands increasing each day, saying “no” sometimes is more critical than ever if you want to take control of your life and maintain your sanity.



By learning how to occasionally say "no" when you are already being stretched thin, you can take control of the demands you encounter. If you find yourself making offers to help with something, adding social activities to your schedule or saying "yes" to requests when you really do not want to, then you must learn how to make a conscientious effort to think before you react. You must develop assertive communication skills and not fret too much over your own feelings of guilt, insecurities of rejection or possible repercussions that may not even occur. You can still take care of others, but you must take care of yourself too.



You can effectively say "no" to your friends, loved ones, colleagues, even your boss by growing out of your comfort zone and applying the following mindset and dialogues:



It is necessary and okay to say "no" sometimes. Realize the goal of assertive communication is to express your thoughts and boundaries while being direct, honest and respectful of others.



Example: "I see why this is important to you. I am unable to help this time. Let's try to figure out some other possible solutions that could work."



Example: "This is what's on my plate currently. Which one of these priorities would you prefer I remove to accommodate your request?"



Example: "I'd love to join you but my schedule is already full that week. Please keep me in mind the next time. Have fun."



Once you develop assertive communication skills, you will be able to handle difficult people and awkward situations. More importantly, you will live your life with less resentment and stress and mostly, with more self-respect and confidence.



Nancy Stampahar, the author of award-winning inspirational, personal growth book Peace, Love and Lemonade: A Recipe to Make Your Life Sweeter, is pursuing her dream - a chance to work with Oprah. Oprah OWN TV and Mark Burnett (Survivor™ and Apprentice™) are providing a reality show contest that will allow Nancy to help people live better lives. A search for people to compete for their OWN Talk Show on OWN TV is currently taking place and Nancy Stampahar has submitted her audition video and headed to New Jersey for a casting call. Stampahar’s videos can be viewed and voted for at www.peaceloveandlemonade.com.

Yours for the Asking - Happiness

Happiness can be yours for the asking. What we know about happiness is that it is attainable, contagious, influenced by the people, food music and events we expose ourselves to, and is a constant attitude of choice. Yes, choice.


Former president of the American Psychological Association, Martin Seligman, Ph.D. reports that optimism can be learned and shaped so that you can choose an attitude of optimism consciously and with intention.


Author Steve Bhaerman adds that while pessimists may be very much in touch with reality that optimists are happier and live longer! Happiness and optimism, as your intention, is a powerful way to live and we plan to bring you clear guidelines and direction for creating this intention. Today, to start your progress toward happiness, set your intention to be happy. Steve lists five pillars that focus on the good life, a life worth living, flourishing, and well-being:


Positive emotions, including engagement and happiness.
Positive traits, including strengths and virtues and pursuing excellence.
Positive relationships.
Meaning and purpose.
Accomplishment.

Once you set an intention, it is the source from which you choose or desire to act. As you follow your intention, you learn about yourself more fully. You discover the ways in which you hold yourself back from joy and happiness. If you stay the course, you can experience transformation in a new way, taking on new beliefs and behaviors that create happiness and leaving old ones behind. And to assist in keeping you aware of how you create or destroy your happiness, see Dr Nancy's RxTV, a prescription of tips, based on 25 years of research. The tips are offered monthly in the Happiness newsletter to share the research on how TV can make or break your happiness.





http://drnancyonline.com/newsletters.html

RxTV

• Watch TV consciously, choosing programs rather than just sitting down to “watch and relax.”

• Choose programs that educate, entertain or inform in a way that makes you come away feeling that the time was productive.

• Avoid over-viewing and coming away saying to yourself,

“I can’t believe I watched the whole thing.”

JOIN DR. NANCY AND 12+ AUTHORS by signing up for the monthly HAPPINESS E-zine with many authors, experts, teleseminars and lots of other surprises at:

http://drnancyonline.com/newsletters.html