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New Year’s resolutions aside, most of us find making and
sticking to the resolve to eat healthier a bit of a challenge,
to say the least. And that’s even though study after study
shows that people who eat healthier have a greater chance
of living longer, better lives. For example, a study published
last year of over 42,000 women suggested that women who ate
closest to the recommended number of servings of fruits, vegetables,
whole grains, low-fat dairy and lean meats and poultry definitely
lived longer.
So what’s the problem with eating healthier? Many times,
it’s all in how we define it.
Positive or Negative?
When we say the words ‘healthy eating,’ what’s the first
thing that comes to your mind? Is it a positive thought, such
as “I feel better” or “It energizes me”? Or is it something
negative, such as “boring,” “inconvenient” or “small portions”?
If you’re like the majority of women who come to Green Mountain,
the list of negative reactions is much longer than the list
of positive reactions. While we all recognize the positive
benefits of healthy eating, it’s our negative feelings about
it that end up creating obstacles to our doing it on a regular
basis. We often feel that healthy eating doesn’t taste good,
and we have pictures of ourselves spending hours in the kitchen
chopping vegetables.
Certainly, if that’s your vision, it’s easy to see why healthy
eating doesn’t particularly appeal. But take a moment to think
about why you choose the foods you do when you make an attempt
to eat healthy. We frequently choose foods that are lowest
in fat, sugar, salt, calories…and therefore, taste and convenience.
Why? Because we’re not seeking to eat healthy as much as we
are trying to lose weight.
Changing the Definition
The trouble is, many of us have perceptions of healthy eating
that are defined by diets. The diets that have “educated”
us about healthy eating, or our own desire to take weight
off fast, have led us to equate healthy eating with consuming
the minimum number of calories we can get by with. And that
often leaves us unsatisfied, or facing a great deal of difficulty
in feeding ourselves when we’re not in our kitchens preparing
our own meals.
The solution? Embrace the notion that healthy eating does
include higher-fat, higher-sugar, higher-calorie foods if
you like them. Within the context of an overall eating plan
that features lower-fat, lower-sugar, lower-calorie foods
the majority of the time, a few chocolate chip cookies or
small bag of potato chips can be just the thing you need to
make healthy eating work for you, for both weight loss and
good health.
So start today. Resolve to eat healthy. But remember, it
doesn’t matter how healthy a food is -- if it doesn’t taste
good, you’re not likely to continue eating it. Eat balanced
meals and snacks that include your favorite foods. And think
broadly about what your favorite foods are. Many of us love
carrot sticks and chocolate chip cookies. Maybe not at the
same time, but over the course of a day, it’s easy to fit
both in.
Here’s to a long, healthy life…enjoying eating in a way that
truly feels great!
For 37 years, Green Mountain at Fox Run has
developed and refined a life-changing program exclusively
for women seeking permanent strategies for healthy weight
loss and health. More than just another weight
loss retreat and spa, Green Mountain combines proven
science with what works in the real world, to offer an innovative
non-diet lifestyle program. Our core weight
loss program offers an integrated curriculum of practical,
liveable techniques that helps women take charge of their
eating, their bodies and their health. Unlike health
spas or adult
weight loss camps, our approach is not focused on just
losing weight but on how to keep it off for a lifetime.
Our participants' long-term weight
loss success is among the highest of any program, as
documented in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Learn more about our women's weight loss program
©2007
Green Mountain at Fox Run, Ludlow, Vermont. This information
is the property of Green Mountain at Fox Run. Permission
to use single copies for personal, noncommercial use is
authorized. For all other purposes, please see details.
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