Michelle's Tips on Healthy Living

1. Eat in moderation 
• Snacks and sweets are tasty, but are only meant to be eaten in small amounts.
• When eating a meal, try and gauge how full you are to avoid over-eating. A 7 out of 10 would mean that you're content, but not bursting at the seams. Save the rest of your meal for later and then you'll have room to enjoy some dessert!
• Try using smaller plates to control portion sizes.
2. Self-control 
• Don't go for that second piece of cake. It's not worth it! 
3. Education
• Check the serving sizes before eating or drinking to avoid over doing it.
• Limit eating out and skipping meals.
• Eat often (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack) -- depending on your eating schedule, you may want to omit the afternoon or night snack. Then you won't get to the point where you feel like you're "starving" and just eat whatever is in sight and regret it later. 
• Control your carbs -- about 45-60 grams of carbs for meals and 15-30 grams of carbs for snacks. Then you can better maintain your sugar levels and your body won't need to store any unused sugar as fat.
• Use whole-grain or wheat vs. white if you can for pasta, bread, and rice. It takes longer for your body to process and will help you stay full longer.
4. Exercise
• Do some sort of activity after meals instead of plopping down in front of the couch. If you haven't over eaten, you shouldn't feel stuffed to the point of feeling exhausted. 
• Examples: walking, playing at a park (try those monkey bars out!), active Wii games, dancing in the living room, exercise DVDs, etc...

There's more that I could write, but these are a few healthy tidbits that I've been wanting to share. Healthy living can still taste good and be fun. As long as you're smart about it, you don't have to give up any of those foods and treats that you love.