Overweight in America
There are many reasons why Americans are overweight. Our food portions have grown to immense sizes, causing the general public to consume more calories on a daily basis than we really need to be consuming.
Lack of Physical Activity
Lack of physical labor causes a person to become sedentary. Everything is convenient in today's world. We have dishwashers, washing machines, and clothes dryers; it seems we have a machine for just about anything we want to do. Those machines use electric energy; therefore, we do not have to burn calories or exert energy in order to get our chores done.
Sedentary Entertainment
Entertainment, we have television, computers, video games etc.... These things keep us entertained without the use of physical energy. Physical energy burns calories yet we do not use our physical energy.
Fast Food
We have become a junk food/fast food generation. There is no preparation involved in fixing a meal today. In addition, the food choices out there that are so simple to heat & eat or open and eat or drive thru and eat are loaded with excess calories, sugar and fat.
Becoming Healthy in America
Just as there are specific reasons many Americans have become overweight there are also some very easy changes we can take in order to gain our figures and our health back.
Learn Portion Sizes
It would amaze most people to realize normal portion sizes are for most foods. Most often, we go to a restaurant and assume the serving they serve us is a normal serving. Many times we slip into thinking the bigger the serving the better.
However, just because we have become used to eating more does not mean its right. A general rule of thumb is a deck of cards or the size of your palm is a normal size for one serving of meat. Two dice equals one serving of cheese.
Learning portion sizes is not difficult but it will take some time to get used to new serving sizes. As a rule when going out to eat it is best to assume you are being served enough for two servings.
Read Labels
By reading labels on food before purchasing it, you will be able to make better quality choices for yourself and your family. Watch out for and avoid foods that have added sugar, saturated fats, trans fats, partially or fully hydrogenated oils.
When possible it is best to buy the reduced fat versions of your favorite foods. Reduced fat versions generally taste the same as their higher fat versions without the added fat. Whereas, fat free versions many times are not as palatable.
Fruits and Veggies
Some people go days without eating a piece of fruit or a serving of vegetables. When watching your weight and living a healthy dietary lifestyle it is important to eat your fruits and vegetables every day. Everyone should eat a min. of two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables.
Avoid Liquid Calorie Overload
By switching to water instead of sugar loaded soft drinks and specialty coffees the average person will be able to cut back many calories per day. If you generally drink three 16-ounce sodas per day, you could save approximately 300 calories per day by simply reducing the size of each drink down to 8 ounces. Alternatively, if you replace two sodas with water and only drink one 16-ounce soda you could save approximately 400 calories per day.
Simply changing your drinking habits and cutting your daily calories by 300 to 400 calories per day could result in a loss of approximately a pound in less than two weeks. Stop drinking the daily soda and you could save a whopping 600 calories per day and lose almost a pound a week.
Get Moving
Find a way to get your body moving. Exercise, go for walks, take up a sport, join a gym or park your car farther away from the door when shopping so you can burn a few extra calories walking across the parking lot. The more you move your body the more your body will want to move.
Keep a Diary
A food diary accompanied by a workout log will help you track your progress. When keeping a food diary many people are shocked to see just how much food they have consumed on a daily basis. Both the food diary and the workout log will help keep you honest with yourself.
Choices
As Americans, we have an abundance of choices. We just have to learn how to make the right choices. By making healthier food choices and adding physical activity into each day, you will be able to enjoy all the foods you love in moderation.