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..... Nutrition and the study of food has interested me all of my adult life. Long ago I recognized that our state of health and well being can be directly related to our relationship with the food we eat. I love food and I enjoy eating. I eat mostly organic and strive toward wholesome nutritious food choices. I am thrilled that chocolate is now recognized as a health food!
..... I grew up in a family that has a tendency towards obesity and for 50 years I have been living in 		... year. That is not all that hard to do when you think about it. In food language, 100 calories is equivalent to; a large apple, 1 head of romaine lettuce, 4 ounces of red wine, 2 ounces of sirloin steak, about 5.5 Hershey Kisses or a tablespoon of mayonnaise.
..... When the Canada Food Guide recommends we eat a serving of grains, it means 1⁄2 cup of cooked pasta, or rice not a whole plate full. A serving of bread is equal to about 35 grams or 1⁄2 of a regular bagel. If
a body that has no problem packing on a few extra pounds. In fact, there are times when I have believed my metabolism to be slow and quite “defective”. I have always wished myself to be much leaner. I am active. I have run a marathon. Yet over the past decades those few extra pounds keep creeping up and with menopause and midlife now a valid excuse, I was beginning to just accept the fact that I am “metabolically challenged”.
..... I had an interesting reality check this summer. I purchased a food diary for my computer and out of curiosity I recorded a typical week of meals and snacks. I was brutally honest too and listed every morsel that passed my lips. What I realized in this exercise was just how out
you read the fine print on the side of the foods you buy, you will soon come to realize that the bag of chips you hold in your hand can easily equal your day’s worth of calories. It is no wonder that obesity is such a problem in North America. Not only is our perception of food portions distorted, the supermarkets are lined with products that cleverly hide calories in pretty packages that taste good and offer little nutritional value. Everywhere we look we are lured and encouraged to snack.
Educate yourself. Get a copy of the Canada Food Guide. Buy a simple kitchen scale and re-learn what proper portion sizes look like. You will be surprised. As
of touch I was with how much I was actually eating! Based on my caloric intake, I was eating enough to sustain a 6’ 4” college football player who runs marathons as a hobby! Whoa! Suddenly I felt a surge of compassion for my “faulty” metabolism and realized just how efficient it truly was. The results of this mindless eating could have easily been much more catastrophic.
..... In reflection I realize that my relationship to food portions has been distorted since childhood. My perceived genetic predisposition to obesity is very much linked to eating habits that have been passed down through my parents and encouraged by the trends in our society to supersize our portions. Calorically, you really get your money’s worth when you supersize those fries. For just a few cents more you can buy yourself about 400 extra calories! Eating or drinking as little as 100 extra calories every day can add up to a 10 pound weight gain over the 		... a general rule of thumb, proportionately, half of your plate should filled with fruits or vegetables and the other half divided between starches and proteins. It helps to eat off smaller plates so the visual impact of a full plate is satisfied with less food.
..... Dining out is where it can get tricky. Don’t be tempted to super-size anything other than water. Often a meal is large enough for 2 people to share or for one person to take a hefty doggie bag home and enjoy the leftovers the next day. Personally I find that an appetizer and salad are usually sufficient enough to satisfy me. Now if I could just keep my fingers out of the bread basket!
..... Eating beyond your own individual needs is not only wasteful, but can increase your waistline and lead to health challenges. And yes, chocolate may now be touted as a health food but this is one case where the “more is not better” rule definitely applies!
..... Be well, be happy and Good health to You!