Nutrition 101

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Introduction

Why Should I Eat Healthier?

Your body does not belong to you.

  • Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own. I Corinthians 6:19

God wants you to be healthy.

  • I pray above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. III John 2
  • Present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1
  • If you do not eat healthier, you are slowly taking years off of your life.

Myths and Misconceptions About Food & Dieting

A diet is a method of losing weight that consists of eating healthy foods that are bland and nasty.

  • Diet is defined as food and drink consumed by a person or animal. In others words, a diet is your everyday eating habits.
  • A diet is not something you do for two months to lose weight, and so, it can be described as good or bad in nature (ie. healthy diet or poor diet).
  • So, when you hear the word "diet", don't get caught up with the negative connotations that accompany the word. (Ex: Diets are hard, time consuming, and nasty.)

It is okay to eat as much food as I want as long as it is healthy food.

  • What you eat is just as important as how much you eat. As we will discuss later, the portion size of your daily meals will play heavily into managing the amount of calories your body intakes.
  • Regardless of the nutritional value of your food choices, more calories equal more stored fat.

My diet is healthy because I only eat once or twice a day.

  • Eating once or twice a day does not correspond with the Recommended Daily Allowance. It is recommended that you eat five times a day, three meals and two snacks, in order to receive the proper amount of nutrients that are essential to growth and development.
  • By eating once or twice a day, you doing several things to your body:
    • ...depriving your body of the nutrients and energy it needs for everyday functioning, which slows down the body's metabolism.
    • ...overeating, which can cause gastrointestinal complications.
    • ...causing the body to store extra fat after a meal as a defense mechanism to maintain homeostasis.

I am not concerned about my diet because I naturally have a fast metabolism, so I can eat anything I want… Or, because I do not have a genetic predisposition of getting diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other fatal diseases.

  • It is true that for some people, not eating a healthy may not show immediate health risk signs such weight gain; however, it is still possible for the body to be nutrient deficient, which effects bodily functions such as energy levels, blood levels, digestion, vision, skin pigment, and cholesterol.
  • Also, by not eating healthy foods that contain disease-fighting nutrients, in which the body cannot produce on its own, can make you more susceptible to health problems regardless of your genetic history. (Example: Phytochemical in broccoli has been linked to preventing various cancers.)
  • The opposite side of this is that eating unhealthy foods may introduce toxins and other foreign chemicals into the body that the body can not fight off, which could lead to potentially severe conditions. (Example: Substances in French fries has been liked to causing cancer.)

Eating healthier takes too much time for preparation and costs too much money.

  • Consider this… Can you afford to purchase those $50 or $100 pair of shoes you just bought, which took you an hour and a half to find in the shoe store? What about that new outfit? Or, how about the 21/2-hour wait you had last week just to be seated at your favorite restaurant? This doesn't include how long it took you to get served.
  • Time is always an issue when it comes to doing something that requires work. I think we all need to reestablish the means by which we allot time in our lives according to what takes more precedence and priority, not what is more gratifying. Your health should defiantly have precedence over a shoe sale!
  • With little effort, preparation, and renewing of your mind, you should be able to plan ahead of time to prepare for nutritional meals. This should be easy for women because they are the true master planners. Women know exactly how long it will take to shower, do their hair, apply make-up, and get dressed all in time to go out with friends with only ten minutes notice!