Nutrition and Your Body: The Difficulty of Eating a Healthy Diet in the Modern World

Like many Americans, our lives are often over scheduled with work and other life to do's. If eating healthy was a player on a football team it would be sitting on the bench often. Why? Good question! There are many factors that can lead to unhealthy eating such as convenience, traveling, tastes, habits and cost (Sizer & Whitney, 2013). According to Sizer & Whitney (2013), there are six aspects to eating healthy,

certain foods are eaten regularly
they provide adequate nutrition
are balanced
are within calorie requirements
are consumed in moderation
offer variety

As Sizer and Whitney (2013) suggest, eating healthy can be obtained by eating the following natural foods,

whole grains
vegetables
fruits
nuts
unsaturated fats
lean meats
low fat dairy
soy
legumes

The most important aspect of eating healthy is having the mindset to want to eat healthy on a regular basis (Sizer & Whitney, 2013). Make time each week to plan and make all three meals and healthy snack options. Using prepackaged whole foods such as frozen vegetables and natural lean meats can be very beneficial to preparing a healthy meal quickly. Products such as the Purdue Short Cuts are all natural and provide people with an easy way to make a meal (Purdue, 2014).

Football Season and the Holidays

It is easy to see how we can get caught up in life's day to day activities and sometimes feel obligated to indulge and even overindulge in food. Social events often further encourage over eating. While in the vicinity of junk foods such as chips, dips, and anything that ends in o's, serve yourself on a small plate if possible and limit to one serving size, or handful (Sizer & Whitney, 2013). Moderating alcohol, sugary, and salty foods is beneficial to your health as well (Sizer & Whitney, 2013). Just remember, it is OK to have a piece of grandma's cheese cake at Thanksgiving. Moderation is key!

(Skin Sheen, 2014)

Keys for Success

According to Sizer and Whitney (2013) and the CDC (2011),

Do's

always bring snacks
drink plenty of water
preplan meals
make meals ahead of time
substitute bad foods for good foods (carrots instead of chips)
treat yourself in moderation
measure portions
use smaller plates and glasses
eat slower

Don't

overeat
eat from container or bag
eat while doing sedentary activities
make radical and sudden diet changes
eat when not hungry

Become aware of the triggers that result in the behaviors that cause eating bad foods and work towards changing these to habits of eating good foods (CDC, 2011). The choice is yours!