There's an old saying that goes, "You are what you eat". If that's true, do you know what you're made of?
Counting calories. Fad diets. Even surgery. There are lots of ways people deal with their weight and health. We're learning a pen and sheet of paper may be all you need.
We're also learning there are lots of people out there with no idea, exactly what they're eating, day to day.
So, it's a calorie consuming challenge. For one week straight they are writing down everything they eat. It's an honest look that's encouraging folks to truly see how they're nourishing our bodies. We're bringing in a dietician to figure out how we're all doing.
Eating right. Eating less of this and more of that. Sometimes, nourishing our bodies isn't simple. It's downright stressful!
Rita Sheldahl, Clinical Dietician at Mercy Medical Center North Iowa says, "We don't encourage drastic weight loss and we don't encourage fad diets. If you just do the balanced healthy way, it'll work out in the long run." Rita's putting each of us under the meal microscope.
There's Jake. The 18-year old high school athlete. 41-year old Leshia, a full time bank employee, wife and mother of three. 74-year old Pauline. She's a wife and apartment manager. There's 47-year old Craig. He's reluctant to join us. Fortunately he's finding the time between working 60-70 hours a week during tax season and a family. And Jaime.The 33-year old, married KIMT News 3 Anchor. Starting out this little experiment she thought of herself as a healthy eater! We can thank the so-called food diary for proving that wrong!
It's simple really. Just write it all down. You *must* be honest. Experts say write down everything you eat and drink. You may find harmless munching is adding hundreds of unintentional extra calories to your diet each day! With busy schedules and the simplicity of the drive-thru it's pretty easy to get stuck in some ruts. Rita is looking at *all* of our food diaries and noticing some similarities.
"The diets were all low in fruits. Vegetables, they were really good. Most people need to drink a little more milk."
Rita says calcium is good for our heart and bones. New research shows Vitamin D leads to a healthy immune system.
There are always outside factors tripping us up on the path to healthy living. Sometimes, quick eats, can mean turning to the treats. Our dietician says we need mono-saturated fats...like canola and olive oils. Sugar should only be roughly 10-percent of our total calories for the day. And, we need those carbs.
Rita says, "If you don't get that carb, your brain kind of functions off ketones, which gives you headaches, and you don't think as well.”
