is an excellent guide to food - what to eat, what not to eat, how to shop smartly. It delves into the lengths that food industries will go to in order to convince us that their food is good for us (when it's not). It will (hopefully) change the way you eat. It's thick but I found it to be a pretty quick read. I borrowed it from our local library (to save money) but may have to buy a copy. It is that helpful. (And only $11.66 in paperback on Amazon.com.)
Here are the main guidelines that I took away from this book:
- EAT LESS AND MOVE MORE.
- Count Calories: When it comes to losing weight, it's the calories that count. You need to eat 2,000 calories or less per day to lose weight or maintain your weight if you aren't very active.
- 3,500 calories = 1 lb of body fat. To lose one lb. of body fat per week, you have to eat 500 fewer calories per day (or increase your activity levels so that your body uses 500 more calories than usual).
- Pay attention to the actual "serving size" listed on a food's nutritional panel! And eat smaller portions than you are currently.
- Read Labels: When shopping for food, start by reading the ingredient list - the shorter, the better. (My own rule: If I don't recognize the name of an ingredient or couldn't tell you what it is, I don't buy that product. Or go by Michael Pollan's advice in In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (another excellent book): Don't eat anything that your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.) Then check the food product's serving size, number of calories, amount of fat and saturated fat (don't buy anything with TRANS FAT) and sodium. If these are larger percentages of the daily value, don't buy this product (or only buy it on occasion).
- Sugar: Try to limit your intake of sugars to 10% or less of your daily 2,000 calories. That would be no more than 60 grams (about 4 tbsps) of sugar per day. If a product has more than 15 grams of sugar per serving, consider it a dessert and treat it as such.
- Shop the Outer Perimeter: For the healthiest (i.e. least processed) foods, stick to the outer perimeter of the grocery store. That's where you'll find fresh produce, dairy, meat, seafood and usually breads/grains. The more processed foods are shelved on all of those middle aisles. Look for food products with the least amount of processing - those that are pasteurized, frozen, jarred or canned are usually healthier choices than boxed items.
- Stop Buying Your Children "Special" Foods: You would never know it by going to a supermarket, but children are supposed to eat the same foods that their parents eat. The best way to get kids interested in real food is to teach them how to cook it. Better yet, teach them how to grow it.
Some of my own guidelines:
- Food is healthier, cheaper and tastes better if you make it yourself. And I promise it doesn't take that much time, either. For example, I love potstickers (Gyoza, dumplings, etc.). Instead of eating out or buying the frozen variety, I decided to try making them myself. (I'll be posting the recipe here soon.) Not only was it so much easier and tastier than I expected, but I fed the whole family for less than $10.00 (including a second batch that I froze for another meal). The ingredients: Ground pork, bok choy, ginger, garlic, egg white and Gyoza wrappers. (I dare you to pick up a bag of the frozen variety and find a list that short!) This is an easy and fun recipe to let your kids help with as well (up to the frying part)!
- Remember that food is processed to preserve it for much longer than Mother Nature EVER intended. The shorter the life-span of a food, the healthier because the ingredients used to preserve that food through the next decade isn't good or anything that your body recognizes. Exception: If you do your own canning (or buy jarred goods from a reputable source who does not use preservatives like partially hydrogenated oils).
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