Nutrition Information

Have you ever looked up calories on a certain dish and been blown away by the large number? You catch yourself saying, “What!No way!”  I know I have and I’m sure much of the U.S. population has had a gut wrenching gasp from time to time. The fact is most of us have no idea how much we are putting into our bodies.

In a survey conducted by the International Food Information Council Foundation (IFICF) respondents provided weight status: 57 percent considered themselves overweight and 8 percent considered themselves obese. However, in reality, 33 percent of Americans are overweight and 34 percent are obese, meaning people are clueless not only about what and how much they should be eating, but on their own health and weight status.

If that isn’t a big enough number, I will put it in perspective for you. This means that 1 out of 3 people are over weight and 1 out of 3 people are obese. These are huge statistics, no pun intended.As our waistbands expand, our hospital bills do too. A person is more susceptible to heart conditions and diabetes then someone who has their weight under control.

Americans are doubling the size of medical spending on obesity-related conditions. In fact, the cost to the nation could soon reach $147 billion per year and account for 9.1 percent of total medical spending.

So what do we do to bring these numbers down? We take responsibility for what we put in our bodies which includes eating out or on the go. Here are some tips to help:

1. Know your area: You need to know the places to eat around your house and work. You should find the nutrition information from the places you eat and plan nutritional meals. This keeps you from guessing your calorie intake and putting you the right track toward a healthier life style.

2. Learn to cook: We are an”on the go” nation but we should learn to stay at home to eat. If you aren’t a good cook, you need to learn and don’t just settle for a pre-made frozen meal. This gives you full control on what goes in your body. Remember, less bread and more vegetables.

3. Make a realistic budget: When we don’t have a food budget, we tend to eat out more. You need to set a budget for groceries and eating out. This keeps your calorie count down just because you are not going out all the time.

4. Natural is the way to go: We eat more processed food then any other nation and most of that food has sugars and salts that keep our waistlines big. You should replace a processed product  with a natural product every week or every other week. This keeps your body from going into shock from the switch of processed sugars to natural sugars

5. Make a contract with yourself and your support group: As corny as it sounds, you should write a contract and have a fiend or family member sign as a witness.This gets your family and/or friends involved in this plan of action. You get more support and encouragement from the people around you.

6. This is a lifestyle: Remember, you are entering a lifestyle and not a diet. Many people enter into diets and almost always fail. Why is that you say? A diet is a band-aid to a lifestyle problem and you will consistently lose. If you treat your diet changes as a permanent lifestyle, you will come out as a stronger and healthier person.

The bottom line is we need to be held responsible. Weather we are on a budget or have a large bank account, we need to plan and take steps to improve our health. That is when we will see a decrease in hospital bills and dress sizes.

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