Prevention & wellness

Healthy living and well thinking

1. Feel Good About Yourself Today

Be sure the people around you make you feel good about you -- no matter what your size or health condition. In addition, if close friends encourage you to smoke, overeat, or drink too much, find some new friends who have good health habits and also want a healthier you.

Elaine Magee, MPH, Rd, author of more than 20 books, says don't get hung up on pounds or what size dress you are wearing.

"Instead, focus on being healthy from the inside out," Magee says. "Eat well, and exercise regularly. And remember that you can be sexy and look and feel fabulous and not be thin."

2. Rethink Your Role Model

Barbie's still the first role model many young girls are drawn to. But let's be honest. For most of us to look like Barbie, we'd have to be nearly 6 feet tall, shrink our waist size by 8 inches, move the excess inches up to our chests, and then pose in the "suck in the gut/high heel" position all the time. Come on! There's a better way to live our lives than pretending.

Select positive role models. Choose role models that help you feel good about who you are, rather than ones who make you feel bad. Find a female role model who is strong, healthy -- and real!

3. Know What Makes You Overeat

The key to staying motivated is to know where your problem areas are and have a plan for dealing with them. Do you use food to cope with disappointment, rejection, boredom, or even personal success?

Brainstorm some healthier ways to cope with mood swings that do not involve food. In addition, control your environment to avoid bingeing on high-calorie foods when you do feel disappointed, rejected, or bored. Keep your kitchen stocked with lots of healthy options such as chunks of fruits and veggies, low-fat yogurts, flavored waters, and sugar-free gum.

Food and nutrition tips

  

6 tips for food and nutrition

1. Avoid Overeating
2. Think Like a Caveman
3.Eat Naturally
4.Join the Organic Movement
5.No Chemical Toxins
6.Control Your Portion Size

Staying Healthy Image Gallery

Optimal nutrition is essential for health. See these basic nutrition tips to get started. See more staying healthy pictures.

Publications International, Ltd.

When you finally make the decision to get healthy, you have to start somewhere. But what should you believe? Time after time fad diets fail. They come out strong but fall short at consistent weight loss. In addition, these get-thin-fast concepts don’t often include essential vitamins and minerals. Decide to take pride in yourself and your nutrition, and enjoy eating right. It is more expensive to buy healthy, natural food, but by doing so you might eat less. Yes, processed and refined foods are inexpensive and convenient, but they come with a higher price than you think. I encourage you to move the grocery bill up on your financial priority list. Optimal nutrition is essential for healthy function with age, and you can’t put a price tag on that.

There are so many pitfalls on the road to good nutrition in our society. Nearly every social gathering involves food, often of the high-fat, high-sugar variety. These basic nutrition tips are designed to help you take those first steps toward a healthier, happier way of living. Start here. Start today.

On the following pages, learn seven basic nutrition tips.

Focus on finding a balance of hunger and fullness as you eat. Stop eating when you are no longer hungry, not just when you are full. Remember all the times you ate until you were uncomfortable. How did that make you feel? You probably felt guilty, and certainly had some degree of abdominal discomfort. Be mindful that every time you eat those extra bites, they are not going to make you feel better. They will probably make you feel worse.