Healthy Eating Tips

Plan your meals in advance, grocery shop once a week, and batch cook on the weekend. You’ll eat healthier – and save time and money.

Don’t skip breakfast. Eating breakfast revs up your metabolism and replenishes your body’s fuel source.

If you’re on the go, order a low-fat muffin with fruit. You’ll get less than 3 grams of fat and up to 5 grams of fibre. And don’t forget the latte for a calcium boost.

Order your salads – tossed, chef’s, etc – with the dressing on the side, and don’t use it all. It’s the dressing that contains the fat!

Give up high glycemic ‘white’ refined carbohydrates such as cakes and pastries. Whole-grain starchy foods, legumes, fruit and vegetables are low-glycemic carbohydrate foods that keep you feeling full and energetic longer.

Butter does not have more calories than margarine. Don’t use margarine made with hydrogenated vegetable oil. Hydrogenated oils contain trans fatty acids that raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower your HDL (good) cholesterol. The best choice is one of the heart-healthy margarines containing Omega-3.

Spreading out your food keeps your stomach always partly full and prevents overeating at any one time. Between-meal snacks should be healthy choices, such as yogurt, fruit, low-fat lattes, veggies and humus, or nuts and dried fruit.

If you want your breakfast to provide a good start on your daily fibre requirement, reach for a cereal that provides at least 10 grams of fibre per serving. Kellogg’s bran buds with psyllium is an excellent source.

Take all new nutrition reports with a grain of salt. Stick to the tried and true – a low-fat diet with plenty of whole grains, vegetables and fruit has decades of research to support its health benefits.

If you really don’t have time or energy to prepare and cook fresh foods, try these time-saving options:
     -use frozen or ready-to-use vegetables and salads
     -prepare meals in advance to shorten prep time
     -choose simple meals like brown beans and cheese rolled in a tortillia