Congratulations on taking the initiative to make your life healthier.

The Passport to Health is a program developed to increase health and vitality within our community. It is essential to meet your nutrition needs to experience optimum health. Once we focus our time to making our homes and lives healthier places, we feel better about ourselves. A healthy lifestyle is the secret to achieving your healthy weight range. Together let's begin the journey through the passport to health. 

Together let's do a clean sweep through a typical day and determine the things that deliver positive energy within your home. Is there anything you can replace to make your life a healthier place?

Assess your Life Style: The first thing you need to do is assess your present habits. You are your best judge for this, so do yourself a favor and be truthful. Analyze why you are eating. Are you truly hungry, bored, angry, or sad? Once we know why we are eating, we become aware of the behaviors associated with eating. Did you know that often we mistake hunger for thirst. Did you have enough water today?

Clean your fridge and cupboards:  Scan all food in the house and judge its quality. How much of the food is healthy for you or your family? This is a perfect opportunity to get familiar with reading a food label. You'll have it mastered by the time you get to the grocery store. You definitely want to avoid those nasty trans fats and high sugar items.

Write it down: Start by writing everything down so you become aware of the types and amount of foods you are consuming. Often, this is a big eye opener for people. This awareness if often assoicated with having success in achieving your goals of eating better.

Plan ahead: Post the Canada's Food Guide on your fridge and note foods you would like to include in your weekly meals and snacks. Get the help of your family and new recipes to increase colourful foods into the day.

Ask for help: You've joined a team to offer each other support so use your buddy system to help guide you through.

Set Objectives: Write down short term goals. Losing weight and keeping it off is a long term goal. Let's try things like adding 2 more cups of water a day and determine the best way for you to introduce this new behaviour into your day. Maybe, you would like to eat more vegetables to work towards your recommended 4-5 a day. Be realistic. Slow and steady wins the race! Try and start with one objective. Keep in mind we are all different. What works for you does not always work for someone else. 

Identify your weaknesses: Tell yourself or your team what you struggle with the most. Make this your first objective. Maybe you drink too much pop so working towards reducing your sugar intake will be a great objective for you.

There is damage control: We are rarely perfect so prepare an action plan if you do fall down the unhealthy path! Get up!!! You have time to get things back on track. Exercise more to burn off the calories when you over indulged at a birthday party. Get fresh air and take a walk. You'll feel better in no time. There is no reason that the rest of the day or the next day can't be healthier. Have faith in yourself and enjoy the treat when you have it without going overboard.

Praise yourself and your team: Encourage one another. Remember, this takes hard work. There is nothing easy about it. It takes discipline, dedication and delivery. Good luck.

A proper diet is the fundamental building block to good health. Getting to know the basics using Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating helps you to determine the number of servings you should be getting each day from each of the four food groups. Understanding the importance of the food groups is our first step to healthy eating.

 Grains:

Grains, also referred to as starchy foods, provide carbohydrates which are essential energy sources especially for brain functiong. We can select grains that have either been unrefined or refined depending on the processing to the grain after leaving the farm. Refined grains result when manufacturing processes remove heart healthy fibre (the bran and the germ). Unrefined grains contain fibre which helps to slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream. To eat healthy it is important to limit your intake of refined grain including sugary cereals, white bread, white rice, white noodles and pasta.

Dairy and dairy alternatives:

Dairy and soy foods will provide the calcium, various minerals and protein required to strengthen bones and teeth, contract muscles as well as transmit nerve impulses. There is evidence to suggest that people with a low intake of calcium are at an increased risk for osteoporosis and hypertension. For a heart healthy diet, consume lower fat dairy to reduce the amount of saturated fat in your diet.

Meat, fish, eggs and meat alternatives:

Protein is provided in meat, chicken, fish, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds and soy. Protein supports our immune system and keeps us strong for growth and repair. It is important to try and include a protein source with each meal while keeping in mind portion sizes outlined in Canada's Food Guide. For heart healthy it is best to choose lean cuts and remove skins from chicken and meats in order to limit saturated fat intake. Vegetarians need to consume a variety of plant products throughout the day to meet protein needs.

 Fruits and Vegetables:

Colour your world everyday. When aiming for optimal health, choose bright produce. The brighter the colour the more nutrients and antioxidants it contains. Research indicates that antioxidants protect our cells from diseases including cancer and heart disease. We should aim to get 2-3 fruits and 4-5 vegetables a day, which  will provide lots of fibre and vitamins. Remember when you choose canned items you should rinse before eating in order to remove unwanted sodium and other preservatives.

 WHY SHOULD I EAT HEALTHY.

 Obesity is on the rise in adults, teenagers and children. There are many theories as to why our weights are increasing. Obesity is caused by a surplus of calories and an insufficient amount of exercise. Obesity is linked to many diseases, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, sleep dissorders, degenerative arthiritis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, depression.

TAKE HOME TIPS

Adopt a healthy nutritious diet

Focus on lifestyle changes which you are able to maintain

Reduce your total caloric intake

Keep a journal for the frequency and amounts you eat as well as exercise

Set specific, realistic goals you can meet

Seek encouragement from family, friends, and co-workers to support your healthy choices

Try to think back to your original motivation and the benefits of achieving a healthy weight