American Heart Association Complete Guide to Women's Heart Health by American Heart Association

Author:American Heart Association [Association, American Heart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-95320-9
Publisher: Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony
Published: 2011-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

Assess Your Eating Habits

As your body changes, you’ll need to balance your daily food intake with the energy your body is burning. It’s a simple equation: calories in = calories out. To do this, first assess your current eating habits. Are the foods you choose providing you with the nutritional value you need? Do you rely on too many convenience foods that are high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium?

To assess your calorie intake, write down everything you eat and drink for a week, and record the time you spend on physical activity. At the end of the week, calculate your average daily calorie count. Refer to the box in Appendix C to determine the number of calories you can eat each day to maintain your current weight. Compare that number with your actual daily calorie average. If your actual daily calorie intake is more than what you need to maintain your weight, you will gradually gain weight. If you need to lose weight, you will need to find ways to subtract calories from your daily average.

If your usual eating habits are adding extra pounds, make a plan that will allow you to decrease your intake of calories and increase your activity level to provide you with a healthy balance.

Here are some helpful weight-management techniques:

• Eat smaller amounts of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods.

• Plan wisely for cravings. If you need to feed your chocolate craving, try a square of dark chocolate rather than a candy bar. You can save yourself a couple hundred calories, if not more.

• When you eat out, plan to share your meal or take half your food home. Most restaurants give you much more food than the recommended serving size.

• Learn to eyeball your food for healthy portion control. For example, a serving of poultry or meat should be about the size of a computer mouse or deck of cards.

• Make simple lower-calorie substitutions for the foods you eat regularly. Perhaps you’ll choose fat-free, sugar-free yogurt instead of low-fat regular yogurt and save yourself about 90 calories. Try a cinnamon-raisin English muffin instead of a cinnamon roll and deduct about 300 calories.

• Choose a variety of types and colors of vegetables and fruits to replace higher-calorie foods.

• Choose heart-healthy sources of unsaturated fat such as canola and olive oils, nuts, and avocado, but use them sparingly since they are high in calories.

• Think before you eat, especially if the food doesn’t offer your body much of a healthy payoff. Ask yourself if you really want to spend your calorie allotment on that treat. If the answer is yes, enjoy it without guilt, but cut back on something else later to balance the indulgence.

• Stop using food as a source of comfort. When you feel emotional eating kicking into high gear, redirect those emotional energies toward something else. Try meditating, taking a walk, soaking in a bath, reading a novel, or just sitting outside in the sunshine for a short time, which is a great way to get vitamin D.

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