12 Tips To Start Eating Healthier (2)

By Carol Eustice, About.com Guide

Tip #7) Make Choices That Are Lean, Low-fat, or Fat-free

When buying meat, poultry, milk, or milk products, choose versions that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free. Choose lean meats like chicken without the skin and lean beef or pork with the fat trimmed off.

If you frequently drink whole milk, switch to 1 percent milk or skim milk. Many people don't taste a difference. Some mix whole milk with lower-fat milk for a while so the taste buds can adjust. This doesn't mean you can never eat or drink the full-fat versions.
Remember, that's where the discretionary calories come in.

Other tips to reduce saturated fat include:

• Cooking with non-stick sprays and using olive, safflower, or canola oils instead of lard or butter.
• Eating more fish, which is usually lower in saturated fat than meat.
• Bake, grill, and broil food instead of frying it because more fat is absorbed into the food when frying.
• You could also try more meatless entrees like veggie burgers and add flavor to food with low-fat beans instead of butter.

Look at these differences in calorie content of commonly consumed foods from, ARS Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 17

• 1 oz. Regular Cheddar Cheese = 114 Calories vs. 1 oz. Low-fat Cheddar Cheese = 49 Calories
• 3 oz. (cooked) Ground Beef (25% fat) = 236 Calories vs. 3 oz. (cooked) Ground Beef (5% fat) = 148 Calories
• 1 cup Whole Milk (3.24%)= 146 Calories vs. 1 cup Low-fat Milk (1%) = 102 Calories
• 3 oz. (cooked) Fried Chicken leg with skin = 212 Calories vs. 3 oz. (cooked) Roasted Chicken breast with no skin = 140 Calories
• 3 oz. Fried Fish = 195 Calories vs. 3 oz. Baked Fish = 129 Calories

 

Tip #8) Focus on Fruit

The Dietary Guidelines recommend two cups of fruit per day at the 2,000-calorie reference diet. Fruit intake and recommended amounts of other food groups vary at different calorie levels. An example of two cups of fruit includes:

• one small banana
• one large orange
• one-fourth cup of dried apricots or peaches

Eat a variety of fruits--whether fresh, frozen, canned, or dried--rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices. The whole fruit has more fiber, it's more filling, and it's naturally sweet. Some juices, such as orange and prune, are a good source of potassium.

Ways to incorporate fruit in your diet include:

• adding it to your cereal
• eating it as a snack with low-fat yogurt or a low-fat dip
• making a fruit smoothie for dessert by mixing low-fat milk with fresh or frozen fruit such as strawberries or peaches.

Also, your family is more likely to eat fruit if you put it out on the kitchen table.

 

Tip #9) Make Half Your Grains Whole

Like fruits and vegetables, whole grains are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
In general, at least half the grains you consume should come from whole grains. For many, but not all, whole grain products, the words "whole" or "whole grain" will appear before the grain ingredient's name. The whole grain must be the first ingredient listed in the ingredients list on the food package. The following are some whole grains:

• whole wheat
• whole oats
• oatmeal
• whole-grain corn
• popcorn
• wild rice
• brown rice
• buckwheat
• whole rye
• bulgur
• cracked wheat
• whole-grain barley
• millet

Whole-grain foods cannot necessarily be identified by their color or by names such as brown bread, nine-grain bread, hearty grains bread, or mixed grain bread.

Tip #10) Eat Your Veggies

The Dietary Guidelines recommend two and one-half cups of vegetables per day if you eat 2,000 calories each day.

Try adding vegetables to foods such as:

• meatloaf
• lasagna
• omelettes
• stir-fry dishes
• casseroles

Frozen chopped greens such as spinach, and peas, carrots, and corn are easy to add. Also, add dark leafy green lettuce to sandwiches. You can involve children by letting them help pick vegetables in different colors when you're shopping.

Eat a variety of dark green vegetables such as:

• broccoli
• spinach
• greens

Eat a variety of orange and deep yellow vegetables such as:

• carrots
• winter squash
• sweet potatoes

Eat a variety of starchy vegetables and legumes such as:

• corn
• dry beans
• peas
• chickpeas
• pinto beans
• kidney beans
• tofu

Eat a variety of other vegetables, such as tomatoes and onions.

Look for ways to make it convenient. You can buy salad in a bag. Or buy a vegetable tray from the grocery store and put it in the refrigerator. Everything's already cut up and you can just reach in and eat it throughout the week.

 

Tip #11) Lower Sodium and Increase Potassium

Higher salt intake is linked to higher blood pressure, which can raise the risk of stroke, heart disease, and kidney disease. The Dietary Guidelines recommend that people consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day (approximately one teaspoon of salt). There are other recommendations for certain populations that tend to be more sensitive to salt.
For example, people with high blood pressure, blacks, and middle-aged and older adults should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium each day.

Most of the sodium people eat comes from processed foods. Use the Nutrition Facts label on food products: 5%DV or less for sodium means the food is low in sodium and 20%DV or more means it's high. Compare similar products and choose the option with a lower amount of sodium. Most people won't notice a taste difference. Consistently consuming lower-salt products will help taste buds adapt, and you will enjoy these foods as much or more than higher-salt options.

Prepare foods with little salt. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends giving flavor to food with:

• herbs
• spices
• lemon
• lime
• vinegar
• salt-free seasoning blends

Consult with your physician before using salt substitutes because their main ingredient, potassium chloride, can be harmful to some people with certain medical conditions.

Potassium counteracts some of sodium's effect on blood pressure. Increase potassium-rich foods such as:

• sweet potatoes
• orange juice
• bananas
• spinach
• winter squash
• cantaloupe
• tomato puree

 

Tip #12) Limit Added Sugars

The Dietary Guidelines recommend choosing and preparing food and beverages with little added sugars. Added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods and beverages in processing or preparation, not the naturally occurring sugars in fruits or milk. Major sources of added sugars in the American diet include regular soft drinks, candy, cake, cookies, pies, and fruit drinks. In the ingredients list on food products, sugar may be listed as:

• brown sugar
• corn syrup
• glucose
• sucrose
• honey
• molasses

Be sure to check the sugar in low-fat and fat-free products, which sometimes contain a lot of sugar.

Instead of drinking regular soda and sugary fruit drinks, try dinking:

• diet soda
• low-fat or fat-free milk
• water
• flavored water
• 100 percent fruit juice

For snacks and desserts, try fruit. People are often pleasantly surprised that fruit is great for satisfying a sweet tooth. If ice cream is calling your name, don't have it in the freezer. Make it harder to get by having to go out for it. Then it can be an occasional treat.

 

Smart Snacks

• unsalted pretzels
• applesauce
• low-fat yogurt with fruit
• unbuttered and unsalted popcorn
• broccoli, carrots, or cherry tomatoes with dip/low-fat yogurt
• grapes
• apple slices with peanut butter
• raisins
• nuts
• graham crackers
• gingersnap cookies
• low or reduced-fat string cheese
• baked whole-grain tortilla chips with salsa
• whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk