Learning about Healthy Eating Never Ends!


Teri Gentes, A Certified Nutritional Consultant and Recipe Author of Gourmet Natural Foods Nutrition
Teri Gentes, A Certified Nutritional Consultant and Recipe Author of Gourmet Natural Foods Nutrition

As long as I’ve been focused on eating better and moving more, I always believe there’s room for improvement. As I head in to the last year of my 40’s, now more than ever I want to be the best I can and the way to make that happen, is to learn what  things I can improve upon.

When I look back 20 years ago, I too was sucked in to the whole “low-fat, high carb” diet. I read everything that came along on the subject and believed that I knew it all and that my nutrition was set. Little did I know that not only was eating that way not conducive for me feeling great, I was eating a lot of processed foods. You see, many choices that we make that seem healthy, are not always the best choice. But through brilliant marketing and deceptive labeling, it makes it awfully tough to know just what your eating and how it actually affects the way we feel and our overall health.

In the early 90’s it was all about Oat Bran, touted as the new miracle food!  In the late 90’s, The Atkins Diet resurfaced and we had a whole new generation following the Atkins philosophy. Unfortunately, it was rarely about the health, more about the weight loss. Here’s what I mean, whether it’s low-fat, high oat, or low-carb, if you’re eating junk which stays in the parameters of the diet, you may be losing weight, but what are you putting in to your body? And that’s where the lack of education comes in. A good example is 100-calorie packs. It’s basically processed bags of food that people are led to believe are more healthy. The truth is that folks may be getting less calories, but like a diet drink, what they save on the front end they end up making up in the back end, so it’s commonly a wash. I’m not making this up, I see this with my clients all the time.

So, like you, I get frustrated with the information that comes out about nutrition and the confusion that comes a long with it. High Carb? Low Carb? High Protein? Low Protein? Low- Fat? Low Calorie? Fat-Free? Preservative free? And on and on the questions go.

In my search to learn more, I have just started working with a lovely lady, Teri Gentes,  someone you should know. Teri has taken me to a new  level in my quest to understand more about food and what constitutes a good choice vs. a misinformed choice. I love learning as I believe the more I know, the more I can positively grow. There are plenty of things she’s shared with me that many of us know, eat more veggies and fresh fruit, avoid processed, chemical filled foods, etc. But I’m also learning so much that I didn’t know. Although healthy eating can be very, very detailed, ultimately it’s about making choices that can make you stronger, healthier and happier. I’ve always believed there is a direct correlation between food and mood and as I make my way through this educational process, I believe it now more than ever.

I try and do my best with giving straight forward advice in my columns and blogs about healthy eating, and with that are some amazing resources out there that can help explain things in a way that’s easy to understand and implement bit by bit. Like anything, you can’t go and clean out your cabinets and expect that in a day you are going to completely alter your eating and it’s going to stick, it won’t.

Making small changes is the best way to alter and positively change your diet. It can be as basic as adding in a new vegetable each week. Working to move away from boxed foods and focus more on whole, natural state foods. Trust me, when I got in to this business I thought I had healthy eating all figured out. Not even close!  So as I learn, I will share with you. Following are just a few resources for you.  I’d love to know your thoughts about food deception and the confusion when seeking a healthy eating plan that you can stick with for life. After all, that’s what healthy eating is all about saving and enhancing your life!

Here’s to your health!

Nicki

Nicki Anderson’s Single Step Weight Loss Solution

An End to Overeating by Dr. David A. Kessler

DVD – Food, Inc.

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes

Jamie Oliver – Food Revolution

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

Feeling Light- The Holistic Solution to Permanent Weight Loss and Wellness by Shoshanna Katzman and Wendy Shankin-Cohen w/ Melinda



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