Do you know what you're eating?

Eating healthy is not only about making sure you consume all of the items on the Food Pyramid every day. Eating healthy is also about being careful about the quality of the food you and your family are consuming.

1. Avoid sugar - found in cakes, biscuits, confectionary, chocolate, candy, desserts, soft drinks, even flavored waters, and many other foods.

2. Use whole grains rather than refined carbohydrates - white bread, white flour, white pastry, white pasta and white rice should be replaced with brown rice, quinoa, millet, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat and red rice.

3. Avoid artificial additives - these may be sweeteners, preservatives, colorings or flavorings.

4. Avoid stimulants - caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and other recreational drugs.

5. Eat vegetables or salads with lunch and dinner - variety is important, so experiment with those that you don't normally eat.

6. Include some sources of essential fats every day - these include oily fish (such as salmon, mackerel), pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts and avocadoes.

7. Avoid processed fats such as low fat spreads and margarines.

8. Skip or limit the breading on meat, poultry, or fish. Breading adds fat and calories. It will also cause the food to soak up more fat during frying.

9. Have at least 2 vegetarian days each week - good vegetarian proteins include chickpeas, kidneybeans, lentils, butter beans, aduki beans, tofu, tempeh, quinoa, nuts and seeds.

10. Avoid processed meats - ham, salami, chorizo, hot dogs, bacon and any smoked or cured meats. These all contain nitrates. Nitrates have been linked to stomach cancer and are high in saturated fats, and salt which are linked to cardiovascular disease.

11. Cook from scratch whenever possible - this means buying whole, natural ingredients and preparing them yourself. Avoid processed and packaged foods, as much as possible.

11. Buy organically produced, locally grown, seasonal, fresh produce whenever possible - check out your local farmer's markets and pick-your-own farms for the freshest produce. Better yet, learn to grow your own produce! Who knows? You may absolutely love it!!

~ Live Well ~
Trinity Fitness