Food for Living

AN OVERVIEW OF HEALTHY EATING

SisterTalk will support your journey to a healthy diet in the Food for Living and In the Kitchen segments. SisterTalk is NOT a diet, but a way of living and eating that will support your jouney to your best body and your ability to keep that best body.

While we think of healthy food and achieving that best body, we have to consider the calories we eat. All foods have calories and we need them to provide our bodies with energy. We also know that some foods have more calories than others. So, your weight will stay the same when the calories you eat and drink equal the calories you burn. You will lose weight when the calories you eat and drink are less than the calories you burn. The best way to lose weight involves exercising more to use more calories and consuming less of them.

So what foods have fewer calories? Well, vegetables and fruits have fewer while fatty foods, sweets and alcoholic drinks are high in calories. Grains can add in too many calories when we over do it. So, you should limit foods with lots of calories.

SisterTalk will focus on adding in fruits and vegetables, which are naturally low in fat and calories as long as we’re not topping them with butter or other sauces. We’ll be switching our beverages to healthy choices like water and lower calorie options. Then we’ll get better at choosing lower fat and calorie foods at the store and in restaurants. We’re going for great tasting and healthy food without excessive time or extra calories!

One excellent tool available for all of us is the Choose My Plate website, which you can use as your guide in thinking about calories (www.choosemyplate.gov). You can click on the  Menu Planner, enter your age, height, weight and activity level, and you will be shown recommended daily goals just for YOU. You can then enter foods you want to eat and see how they match up with the food plan provided. Check it out!

ADD FRUIT!

During SisterTalk we will focus on ideas for adding more foods that are full of nutrition and low on calories. Fruit can be added to your meals and recipes quickly and easily. Here are some ideas on how to add fruit to different dishes:

fruit

SALADS

Apple slices
Dried cranberries

STIR FRY

Orange slices

DESSERTS

Berries on ice cream or yogurt

FRUIT INSTEAD OF DESSERT

Fruit salad
Canned or fresh fruit

JELLO WITH FRUIT

Mandarin oranges
Canned pear chunks

BREAKFAST CEREAL

Bananas
Raisins

CALORIES

All foods have calories.

“The way calories work in your body is like a seesaw. When
you eat more calories than you use, you will gain weight.”

Which food choice has fewer calories? How many calories did you save?

Choice Calories
2 Oreo Cookies 160
2 Fig Newtons 110
   

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Choice Calories
1 bag plain M&M’s 236
1/2 cup grapes 31
   

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Choice Calories
1 oz. potato chips 152
1 oz. pretzels 108
   

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Choice Calories
1 tsp. margarine 36
1 tsp. light margarine 17
   

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*REMEMBER

Staying active helps to use up more calories, KEEP MOVING!