Recipes are fun, and we share them frequently. But it’s also important to remember the basics of proper nutrition as we get older. Here are a few tips from the National Institute on Aging to keep in mind.
Drink plenty of liquids.
That means water, yes, and also low-fat or fat-free milk and 100 percent juice, if you like. Watch out for added sugar, and stay away from diet sodas.
Mix your vegetables.
Brighten your plate with different colors vegetable – red tomatoes, green lettuce, orange carrots, etc.
Socialize around eating.
Potlucks, church socials, meals with families or lunch with a friend -– eating well is always more fun when you do it with others.
Add herbs and spices.
We lose our ability to taste flavor as we get older, and some medications interfere with taste and smell as well.
Ask your doctor about supplements.
Food should give us most of what we need, but talk to your doctor to learn if you should add vitamins or other supplements.
Keep it lean.
Make sure the meat you eat is low in fat.
Keep it whole.
As in whole foods – an apple over a slice of processed dessert, for instance.
Limit fried foods.
It’s just as easy to have a roasted chicken breast as it is fried chicken wings. And the first option is much lower in calories and fat.
( Quivering voice is “Brisk” walking/talking at the same time!)
Many of you who follow my blogs and follow my e-newsletter know that I have a couple of new tools and I’m pretty excited about them. One is the Weight Management University and the other one is the MAP System, MAP standing for Meal and Activity Planner. I’ve been privileged to sit with several of clients over the past few weeks, especially with the MAP System. Watching them and helping them to write their own diet with the tools we have now.
What’s on my mind this morning is, “Food is Medicine.”
I worked with a nurse the other day and I could see her light up a little bit when I finally started explaining to her “Food is Medicine.” She is an under eater and she’s struggling to eat even 1200 calories a day. Which if any of you are calorie counters, you know that is not very much.
As I began to visit with her that this system breaks down the calories into the right proteins, the right carbohydrates, and the right amount of fat specifically for her. Just like, you know if a doctor told her to take medicine, she would take it. She would take it in the quantity that she was told to take it in and she would take it at the time of day she was told to take it in. Well, as a professional, what I know how to do is prescribe, with the tools I have, the right amount of food at the right amount of time in the right quantities based on the individual.
I do not have a commercial diet plan that is “One Size Fits All.” That is not what I advocate and that is not what I teach. I don’t even write your diet, I just help you write it with the foods you want. I have clients that have dark chocolate in their diet; I have clients that have wine in their diet. You know. But, even though some of those things are empty calories it is still part of their habit and if they can get the pieces put together they can be successful with their nutrition.
So, “Food is Medicine.” If you think about eating based on how your body is designed, the tangible parts of your body are protein. Your activity requires carbohydrates and the fat that you take in is going to lubricate all those systems.
So, think about it from that angle. And, if that helps you out, give us a call, I would love to visit with you about the tools that I have that can help you be successful with your nutrition. So, not to coin an old cliché but “Just Call, That’s All.” I do not charge you for a phone call. I’m available, Marcia’s available, Juan’s available, we’re good at what we do and we’re not kids. We’re full grown adults and we practice what we preach, at least most of the time. (Laughs)
