With Spring Break approaching many students are rushing to the Sanderson Center or trying the latest diet trend. Losing weight or getting in shape cannot be done by simply working out or cutting all the carbohydrates from meals. It is all about balance and being an intuitive eater.
Wednesdays and Thursdays at noon the nutrition department of the Longest Student Health Center offers a free health seminar for faculty,staff and students. Each session is filled with tips on how to eat better and why trend diets do not usually work.
These weekly sessions give tips on how to avoid falling into traps of dieting and exercise.
For example, many believe that cutting out carbohydrates is the way to loose weight. In fact, if you completely cut out carbohydrates from your food menu, your body will take the energy and nutrition found in carbohydrates from your muscles.
The U.S. Department of health and social services suggests that eating a variety of foods can help to reduce the excessive weight gain attributed to poor eating habits.
People often choose higher or lower amounts from some food groups than suggested. Achieving a healthful, nutritious eating pattern with many combinations of foods is as simple as reverting to something everyone learned in kindergarten-The food pyramid, or otherwise known as the five basic food groups.
The Pyramid shows that foods from the grain products group, along with vegetables and fruits, are the basis of healthful diet.
These groups include fats, meats, breads, fruits and milk products. Choosing from the five major food groups is a good way of ensuring healthy eating. Eating a variety of foods within each group also helps to make your meals more interesting from day to day. For those who shun most meat products, there is a vegetarian food guide pyramid to follow as well. This includes the same menu as the regular basic food groups, but it substitutes meat with foods such as nuts, dry beans and eggs. For vegan dieters, to substitute dairy products, other food sources rich in calcium are just as beneficial.
Many confuse snacking as a myth that leads to obesity and poor habits, when actually, snacking can help to control eating between eating periods. Some tips to snacking effectively include eating smaller portions of meals throughout the day or planning a snack for every three to four hours each day to control and improve appetite.
Fad diets are also misconceptions dieters have, although the industry makes several millions of dollars each year, their main drug ephedrine is potentially dangerous if taken in large quantities. Ephedrine stimulates the central nervous system and it increases heart rate and blood pressure and contrary to popular belief, there is no medical evidence that it enhances exercise performance like claims in many advertisements.
The weight loss program includes valuable information on what kinds of foods to eat, when to eat and how much. The program will continue for seven more weeks and the public is invited to attend. For more information about the weight loss program contact nutrition graduate assistant Allison Dye or Jennifer Fuller at 325-8455.