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Healthy Eating

The WOMAN Challenge Newsletter
May 20, 2008

Healthy eating contributes to your overall health by lowering your risk of disease and making you feel good inside and out!

In this issue...

• WOMAN Challenge Tip
  
  
• Healthy Eating - 18 and Older
  • Tips for eating healthy
  • Take action!
  • Healthy eating resources
    
    
• Healthy Eating - 17 and Younger
  • Eat up! A look at food groups
  • Healthy eating resources

WOMAN Challenge Tip

• Bonus Challenges are a way for you (and your team) to move further ahead on your route, and even make up for the days when you may not be able to reach your goals. Completing a Bonus Challenge will move you half a point further along your individual route.
• If you are participating with a team, each of your team members must complete the Bonus Challenge in order for your team to move half a point forward on the team's route (don't worry - you'll still move forward the extra half point on your own route even if all of your team members don't complete the Bonus Challenge).
• There will be four Bonus Challenges offered during the 8-week Challenge. At the start of weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8, a new Bonus Challenge will become available, and you will have the remaining weeks of the Challenge to complete it.

Healthy Eating: 18 and Older

You can make simple changes to improve your eating habits. A little learning and planning can help you prepare food that tastes good and is good for you! Try following the recommended food guidelines for food choice and portion size at www.mypyramid.gov. Eating healthy food and controlling portion size is within your reach! Check out these suggestions...

Tips for eating healthy

• Teach yourself proper portion sizes and work steadily toward eating these amounts. What is a portion size? You'll find more information on portion size and healthy eating throughout your 12-month tracking log.
• Not wild about veggies? Try preparing meals with fresh produce instead of canned, frozen, or pre-packaged produce. Shop in-season, in-season produce is not only more available than off-season produce, but often more affordable as well. Do a simple search of "what's in season" in your state or home town to find what fruits and veggies are fresh.
• Eat a variety of foods. Don't cut anything completely out of your diet. Just make a few small changes like adding vegetables to your dinner plate or switching to low-fat milk.
• Rid yourself of food temptations. Take an honest look at your kitchen pantry and remove all personal food traps. You know what they are...
• Can't stop at just one serving of your favorite snack? Make a habit of eating snacks on a plate, not from the package to get an idea how much you are eating. Try measuring and storing single servings into individual baggies or containers when you get home from the grocery store.
• Slow down! Pay attention to what you eat and fully enjoy the smell and taste of your foods. Eating slowly and savoring your food will allow you to recognize when you're full and help you to reduce overeating.

Take action!

• Track your eating habits with a food diary. Write down when you eat, what you eat, how much, where, and why. This can help you to be aware of the times and reasons you tend to eat too much and will help you to make different and healthier choices in the future. You can even track what you eat online by visiting: www.mypyramidtracker.gov

• Make Your Calories Count - Try this interactive learning program with information to help plan a healthful diet while managing calorie intake.

• Check out this interactive quiz that shows you how today's portion sizes differ from 20 years ago.

• If you are pregnant or planning to be, learn more about what to eat while you're pregnant.

Healthy eating resources

• Nutrition.gov - A gateway to reliable information on nutrition, healthy eating, physical activity, and food safety for consumers.
• Staying Active and Eating Healthy - Nutrition and fitness information from womenshealth.gov.
• How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label - Learn how to make it easier for you to use nutrition labels to make quick, informed food choices that contribute to a healthy diet.
• Nutrition Through the Life Span - Find information and activities for all life stages.
• Eating Well As We Age - Learn why many older people have trouble eating well and get ideas on what you can do about it.
• A Healthier You - View this booklet chapter-by-chapter and learn how to make smarter choices from every food group, find balance between food and physical activity, and get the most out of the calories you eat.

Healthy Eating: 17 and Younger

Eat up! A look at the food groups

In general, teen girls need about 2,000 calories each day. Teen girls who are really active may need more calories. Check out the chart below to find out how much teen girls need from each food group.

Mix up your choices within each food group!
	Focus on fruits. Eat a variety of fruits — whether fresh, frozen, canned or dried — rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices. Try melons such as cantaloupe, berries such as blueberries, and citrus fruit such as grapefruit. Teen girls need 2 cups of fruits each day.
	Vary your veggies. Eat more dark green veggies, such as broccoli, kale, and other dark leafy greens; orange veggies, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and winter squash; and beans and peas, such as pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, split peas and lentils. Teen girls need 2½ cups of vegetables each day.
	Get your calcium-rich foods. Teen need 30% more calcium than adults need! To get 1,300 milligrams each day, drink and eat a variety of foods that are high in calcium, such as fat-free or low-fat milk, fat-free yogurt, American cheese, ricotta cheese, and fruit yogurt and consume the recommended amounts from the other food groups.
	Make half your grains whole. Of the about 6 ounce-equivalents of grains teen girls need every day, at least 3 should be whole-grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta. Look to see that grains such as wheat, rice, oats, or corn are called "whole" in the list of ingredients. Bread that is just called "wheat" bread is not the same as "whole wheat bread."
	Go lean with protein. Choose lean meats and poultry that are baked, broiled or grilled. And vary your protein choices by also eating more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds. Teen girls need about 5½ ounces of lean protein each day. A 2-3 ounce serving of meat, poultry, or fish is equal to the size of a deck of cards.

Healthy eating resources

• Nutrition & Healthy Eating - Nutrition and healthy eating information from girlshealth.gov.
• The Deal with Food Labels - Learn how to read a food label and make smart eating choices.
• MyPyramid.gov - Try some fun games and activities from MyPyramid.gov.
• Avoid Portion Size Pitfalls (PDF file, 816.3 Kb) - A great board game to print, play, and learn about healthy eating habits.

Content last updated May 20, 2008.