Ask a Dietitian

As seen on BCTV April 25/00

• Don’t approach every meal like it’s your last opportunity ever to eat.
• Rate your fullness on a scale of 1-10 where 1 is starving and 10 is over full. Try to stop at level 5. This is the point where you feel psychologically and physiologically satisfied, but not stuffed.
• Don’t treat your body like a garbage can. If you have 2 tablespoons of food leftover but are full, put it in the fridge. An hour or two later when you get hungry, eat it.
• Don’t gulp your food – try to eat a little slower.
• Take less food on your plate in the first place. Much of eating is visual. We all want to feel like we have “cleaned our plate”. When taking less food, tell yourself “I can always have more if I need to.” You may find you don’t need to.
• A healthy meal includes a maximum of 2-3 cups of food with a large portion of vegetables and 3-4 ounces of both starch and lean protein.
• Treat your body with self-respect. If you don’t look after it, no one else will!
• There is no benefit from eating to the point of being stuffed. Focus on how uncomfortable you will feel, your waistband will be digging in, you might feel sluggish or have heartburn.
• Even if you over eat healthy food, you can still negatively affect your weight, cholesterol, energy and blood pressure.
• Ultimately, enjoy food and keep the perspective. In North America, there is no reason to gorge yourself. There is endless access to an abundance of healthy food!

Watch for the Eating for Energy segment every Tuesday on BCTV’s Noon News Hour!

Article written by Patricia Chuey and reprinted with permission