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 Healthy eating is essential for everyone at any age. In a Recent study estimates of body mass index (BMI) indicated that 54% of adults, 12% of adolescents, and 14% of children in the United States are overweight.“Overweight” at its most basic term means having too much body fat. There are several different reasons why people get to this overweight level, but the main result is from someone regularly taking in more calories than they should. What doesn’t help people from over eating, is Americas famous portion sizes (and it’s not famous in a good way). Colleges and universities are potentially important settings for reducing the prevalence of overweight in the adult population through the promotion of healthy weight management practices. Which is why we made this website. In order to cut down our waistlines we must cut back on how much we consume and increase our knowledge of nutrition.

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Nutrition V. Diet

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We, as regular consumers, are sent so many mixed messages when it comes to what’s healthy, and what’s not. We are bombarded with fad diets, such as the Adkins diet, Paleo diet, and the South Beach diet. However, a fad is something that short lived, just like the weight that you shed off when you were on one.

Nutrition on the other hand is the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for heath and growth. Nutrients provide us with the energy we need throughout the day. There are two types: Macro, and Micro. Macronutrients include fats, water, carbs, and proteins. These are the main source of fuel for our brain to function. Then we have our Micronutrients, which are our vitamins, and minerals. These protect against muscle damage. Macro, and Micro nutrients are key things to know when becoming more knowledge-able on what you consume.

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How to read a nutrition label:

 

A nutrition label is can be found on almost everything, and if it’s not on the item, you can find it online (make sure that you use a correct site otherwise you may find that a snickers ice cream bar is zero calories, and super good for you), and if you can’t find it anywhere, maybe you shouldn’t eat it because that’s just sketchy, you want to know what you’re eating right?! So let’s get started!

 

Step 1: Start with the serving size, look at the portion you would typically eat as well as the amount per package. Check out the TOTAL calories (in case you accidently eat the whole bag, just kidding don’t do that). Find out how many calories you should be consuming.

Step 2: Let the percentage daily value guide you. They are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. If an item says 10% DV of fat that means that it’s 10% of fat a person should consume in that day. Low percentage is 5% or less while high percentage is 20% or more. For things like trans-fat, and sodium you want to aim for low percentage, and for other things like fiber, and minerals, you should aim for the high percentage.

Step 3: Limit added sugars and saturated fat. It’ll reduce your risk for chronic diseases. (remember step 2 when thinking about these things)

Step 4: Know that a percentage daily value for protein is not required to be on a label, which could be a factor as to why Americans consume more protein than they should. Just remember this, and eat moderately when it comes to lean meat, fish, eggs, peanut butter, and other proteins.

Step 5: (finally) Check the ingredient list, because again, we want to know what we are eating. The list is in order by weight. So the items used the most are listed first, items used the least are listed last.

 

 

A healthy eating plan that helps you manage your weight includes a variety of foods you may not have considered. If “healthy eating” makes you think about the foods you can’t have, try refocusing on all the new foods you can eat!