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Tag: healthy eating

Cooking and Grocery Tips for Post-Secondary Living

At times, student life can be so stressful that you often skimp on the things you should do to take care of yourself. Unfortunately, when juggling multiple responsibilities, maintaining a healthy diet often takes a hit. Moreover, by ordering Chinese food one too many nights a week, you’re hurting your wallet as well as your body. It’s important to prioritize your health as well as your finances by developing healthy routines, and making wise decisions about your groceries and meals is one place to start.

Here are some cooking and grocery tips for student living. The following ideas will help you stay healthy and on track.

Groceries

Make it a routine. Set a reminder to grocery shop on a weekly basis. You should schedule a time when it’s most convenient for you to go shopping, when produce is the freshest, or when the grocery store has discounts for students. Even if it seems like you don’t need much at the time, this will prevent you from putting groceries on the back burner, and winding up with an empty fridge.

Necessities first. When compiling your grocery lists, start with the bare bones. Include fruit, vegetables, and the basic components of future meals before you go crazy with the cookies and candy. Plus, if you organize your groceries in this way and you’re short on cash, you can start at the top of your list when you’re shopping and leave the more indulgent items for a later date.

Sharing is caring. If you have roommates, consider collaborating with them and buying groceries together. You’ll save money and waste less when you avoid buying duplicate items. If you live alone, consider working out a similar arrangement with a friend who lives nearby—for example, if you live near a bakery and they live near a fruit market, you can divide and conquer and take care of one another’s shopping in those specific areas.

Cooking

Keep recipes on file. Take an hour out of your weekend and look up easy, quick, and healthy lunches or dinners that you can whip up whenever you’re out of culinary inspiration. Print the recipes out or keep the files on your hard drive for later perusal—you’ll be thanking yourself when you’re hungry and studying for midterms.

Consult nutrition guides. Ensure you’re cooking healthy meals by looking up nutritional information about the ingredients beforehand. It’s definitely okay to treat yourself every once in a while, but you probably shouldn’t be eating ramen for dinner every night. When in doubt, make a side salad.

Be practical. If you know you aren’t the greatest chef, you don’t need to go to great lengths to make elaborate meals. Sometimes, the simplest meals are also the most nutritious. Furthermore, consult your fridge before you start cooking: if you have ingredients you need to use up (or leftovers you should probably get rid of), let that guide your process before you get cracking.

March 18, 2016
The Importance of Breakfast!

I’m sure you’ve heard it many times in your life, “Make sure you eat your breakfast.” Especially when you’re a university, or even a high school or elementary student, having breakfast in the morning isn’t something that’s necessarily easy. But, when you’re rushing to class, it might be beneficial to hear about why breakfast is so important and why you shouldn’t skimp on it.

Bottom line, you need to eat breakfast. If you’re busy spending time studying or cramming for a reading you didn’t finish, you need it even more than you think. Breakfast provides glucose levels, which is an essential carbohydrate for memory and concentration levels, according to shakeupyourwakeup.com’s report on results from several studies. They also reported that it can even make us happier and lower our stress levels. Consumer Reports also published an article in August of last year specifying the benefits of breakfast. Quoting James Betts, Ph.D., and lead researcher and senior lecturer in nutrition and metabolism, “eating breakfast seems to have a ‘second-meal effect.’ It primes your metabolism to maintain stable blood sugar levels after subsequent meals.” The article went on to say that, according to Eric Rimm, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, skipping out on breakfast will have such negative impacts as encouraging you to eat more during lunch, which will cause spikes in your glucose levels.

Similarly, The Washington Post published an article in August of 2015 discussing how the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee discovered through their research that skipping breakfast may in fact lead to weight gain. Reported as being found in the committee’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines, The Washington Post quoted, “eat a nutrient-dense breakfast. Not eating breakfast has been associated with excess body weight, especially among children and adolescents. Consuming breakfast also has been associated with weight loss maintenance.”

There are tons of things for you to eat that are healthy for you and can also help you in the morning- not only to wake up but also to keep moving with your busy schedule. Health.com recently released a list of the best breakfast foods to have, which include things like oatmeal, Greek yogurt, wheat germ, grapefruit, bananas, and almond butter, to name a few. Basically, you don’t really have any reason not to be eating breakfast and given all the benefits you can reap from it, would you really want to skip it?

January 26, 2016
Everything in Moderation: The Balanced Approach to Healthy Eating

Healthy eating is important for reasons I’m sure you already know about: to keep your energy levels high and to allow your body to function at its peak. But eating well is just as important psychologically as it is physically and, from a mental health standpoint, it’s important to practice a balanced rather than an all-or-nothing approach.

To me, “eating well” means focusing on whole foods, minimizing processed foods and consuming lots of fruit and vegetables. “Eating well” means choosing whole grains instead of white starch, and brown rather than white rice and pastas. It means eating a healthy and balanced breakfast, eating every 4 hours or so and staying well hydrated.

What “eating well” does not mean is dieting, or staying away from anything containing sugar. “Eating well” doesn’t mean never eating dessert, and it definitely doesn’t mean not enjoying what you eat and using food as punishment. Thinking that you need to eat a perfectly clean diet with no treats whatsoever is dangerous, and can lead to disordered eating.

Enjoying and indulging in treats once in awhile will not make a dent in an otherwise healthy diet. Rather, it will keep you balanced psychologically, and it will result in a healthier attitude toward food. Denying yourself the piece of cake you really want does not always mean that you’re disciplined; instead, it means that you’ll probably binge on it later and “start again tomorrow.” This can result in a vicious cycle; rather, be friends with desserts. If you really want to be healthy, have a little; if you’re still thinking about it and want to have some more, have some. Don’t get trapped into believing that having dessert means you aren’t eating well.

You can also make healthy, unprocessed treats and desserts for yourself using natural sweeteners like honey and agave nectar. There are lots of websites with ideas for delicious and chemical-free desserts that will fuel your mind and body with clean energy. Just remember that, as important as it is to provide your body with the fuel it needs to work well, it’s equally important to enjoy the food you eat in order to keep your mind calm and balanced.

January 31, 2015
What Are C.O.W.S.?

Today’s world is filled with fast and convenient foods which fit in to our busy lifestyles. How many of you have given any thought to how the foods you eat make you feel and their affect our long-term health or appearance?

At age15, my parents bought a convenience store and suddenly I had access to all of this junk food.

I was in heaven for a while. Until my pants started getting tight and I felt terrible.

I made the connection between what I ate and how I felt and looked. Small changes I made way back in high school paved the way for a healthy life.

Together, let’s explore what today’s experts are saying we should eat to live a long and healthy life. The earlier in life we start, the better. In ‘The PH Miracle’ written by Dr. Robert O. Young and Shelley Redford Young, they talk about an acronym we should all remember COWS.

C is for chlorophyll.

“Vegetables are your new best friends,” especially the green ones. Chlorophyll helps the blood cells deliver oxygen, reduces the binding of carcinogens to DNA in our organs and help to neutralize dietary acids in the blood and tissues. They are nutrient dense and rich in antioxidants.

O is for Oils.

Know the good from the bad. Saturated fats found primarily in animal protein, partially hydrogenated oils found in processed foods are to be avoided. Good fats contain essential fatty acids. EFAs strengthen immune cells, lubricate joints, insulate the body against heat loss, provide energy, protect us from heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. It improves asthma, PMS, allergies, skin conditions, some behavioral disorders and brain function. Good sources of oils include fish, seeds, avocados, olives and flax.

W is for Water.

In the earliest stages, dehydration can lead to muddled thinking, short-term memory problems, trouble with math and expressing yourself verbally, difficulty focusing on a printed page, cold hands or feet, anxiety, irritability, depression, sugar cravings and cramps too. Water neutralizes acids and literally washes them (and all toxins) out of the body via urine and sweat and the bowels. When you don’t get enough water you will feel tired and weak. About two liters of water a day is generally recommended.

S is for Salt.

Salt is as essential as water or air. You cannot consume too much natural, unrefined salt. Processed foods are laden with the bad salts. The salt test: mix a teaspoon of the salt you use in a glass of water and let it sit overnight. If the water is clear in the morning, it’s a natural salt. If you can see salt in the bottom of the glass it’s processed salt. Salt that does not dissolve in a glass of water will not dissolve in your body and will collect in your body organs and tissues. This can lead to heart disease, arthritis, hardening of the arteries and calcium deposits in joints.

Following COWS is an easy first step to a healthy life.

December 10, 2013
10 Tips For Healthy Eating

1. Start Your Day With Breakfast

Breakfast fills your “empty tank” to get you going after a long night without food. Eating a good breakfast can help you do better in school. Easy to prepare breakfasts include: cold cereal with fruit and low-fat milk, whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, yogurt with fruit, whole-grain waffles or even last night’s pizza.

2. Get Moving

It’s easy to fit physical activities into your daily routine. Walk, bike or jog to see your friends. Take a 10 minute activity break every hour while you read, do homework or watch TV. Climb stairs instead of taking an escalator or elevator. Try to do these things for a total of 30 minutes every day.

3. Snack Smart

Snacks are a great way to refuel. Choose snacks from different food groups – a glass of low-fat milk and a few graham crackers, an apple or celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins, or some dry cereal. If you eat smart at other meals, cookies, chips, and candy are okay for occasional snacking.
4. Work up a sweat

Vigorous work-outs, when you’re breathing hard and sweating, help your heart pump better, give you more energy and help you look and feel your best. Start with a warm-up that stretches your muscles. Include 20 minutes of aerobic activity, such as running, jogging or dancing. Follow-up with activities that help make you stronger such as push-ups or lifting weights. Then cool-down with more stretching and deep breathing.

5. Balance your food choices – don’t eat too much of one thing

You don’t have to give up foods like hamburgers, french fries, and ice cream to eat healthfully. You just have to be smart about how often and how much of them you eat. Your body needs nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, fat, and many different vitamins and minerals such as vitamins C and A, iron, and calcium from a variety of foods.

6. Get fit with friends or family

Being active is much more fun with friends or family. Encourage others to join
you and plan one special physical activity event, like a bike ride or hiking, with a group each week.

7. Eat more grains, fruits, and vegetables

These foods give you carbohydrates for energy, plus vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Besides, they taste good! Try breads such as whole-wheat, bagels, and pita. Spaghetti and oatmeal are also in the grain group.

8. Join in physical activities at school

Whether you take a physical education class or do other physical activities at school, such as intramural sports, structured activities are a sure way to feel good, look good and stay physically fit.

9. Foods aren’t good or bad

A healthy eating style is like a puzzle with many parts. Each part, or food, is different. Some foods may have more fat, sugar or salt, while others may have more vitamins or fibre. There is a place for all these foods. What makes a diet good or bad is how foods fit together. Balancing your choices is important. Fit in a higher-fat food, like pepperoni pizza, at dinner by choosing lower-fat foods at other meals. And don’t forget about moderation. If two pieces of pizza fill you up, don’t eat a third.

10. Make healthy eating and physical activities fun!

Take advantage of physical activities you and your friends enjoy doing together and eat the foods you like. Be adventurous – try new sports, games, and other activities as well as new foods. You’ll grow stronger, play longer, and look and feel better! Set realistic goals – don’t try changing too much at once.

December 31, 2011