To develop a healthy eating program to maintain a healthy weight, its a good idea to do some research on health and nutrition. If youre not trying to lose weight but just want to eat well for good health, then its important to understand how your body uses food. This makes it easier for you to choose healthy food and not be tricked when less-than healthy foods call themselves natural and healthy.

A healthy eating program should offer you much more than just a good balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates. But if that balance isnt in place to start with, the plan probably isnt all that healthy. Any plan that keeps fat at about 30% or less of the diet and stresses good fats over saturated fats probably has a healthy fat balance. There should be plenty of sources of protein other than meat, like lots of fish, healthy dairy sources like yogurt, and beans.

And carbohydrates should be mostly whole grain sources like whole grain bread and oatmeal. Whole grain pastas are better than regular pastas, and basmati rice is better than regular white rice. A healthy eating program that stresses these smart choices over things like instant white rice and instant pre-packaged sweetened and flavored oatmeal is better than one that includes too many convenience items.

A healthy eating program should follow the government food pyramid pretty closely. Whole grain carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, beans, fish, lean meat and dairy products can all be part of a very healthy diet. But there are other things to look at, no matter what kind of diet you choose to follow.

You want to make sure your healthy eating program has enough diversity so that you dont get bored, and you get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs. Baked chicken breasts, broccoli and a whole grain roll might be a healthy lunch, but no one wants to eat that several times a week. Your plan needs to include a variety of vegetables, not just one or two. There are more lean meats than chicken breasts, and many different ways to prepare these and other dishes.

Youll also want to make sure that unhealthy things arent creeping into your meals. Some diets stress that you use margarine instead of butter, for instance, because its lower fat and not full of saturated fat like butter. But margarine is mostly trans fat, a fat that even the government now agrees is worse for you than saturated fat. Its a fat that should be eliminated, or at the very least severely restricted, from our diets. A healthy eating program that allows certain commercially packaged low-fat cookies and treats might not take into account the amount of trans fats and sugar in those foods, either.

You have to be the detective and examine all the parts of the diet you want to follow. Yes, the balance of foods and nutrition is important, but dont forget to look at all the other parts of your healthy eating program.

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I’m sure you are quite aware of the fact that if your overweight your odds of developing Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes goes up dramatically. You also know that we aren’t talking about a few extra pounds; we are talking about 20 plus pounds. In other words we are talking about being obese. One of the best ways for you to have weight loss and lower the odds of being diagnosed with diabetes is exercise. Exercise for diabetics is critical.

Although Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented exercise is a phenomenal way to help control insulin sensitivity throughout the body. The exertion brought forth by the exercise causes the muscles to burn the glucose more efficiently. But a great side effect of the exercise will cause your metabolism to speed up, which in turn will burn calories thus helping your body to shed those extra pounds.

You should know that even though Type 1 Diabetes cannot be prevented, it is possible to prevent Type 2. One of the first steps you must take to prevent it is commence a weight loss program that combines exercise and healthy eating. You should then follow up step 1 with the proper vitamins and herbal supplements, which in turn reduce insulin sensitivity and help in maintaining a healthy weight.

Recent studies have determined that a 30 minute walk every day can dramatically decrease the possibility of an overweight person contracting Type 2 Diabetes. The natural swing of the arms and legs will increase the circulation to the heart and lungs. This in turn will reduce the chances for heart disease and help avoid the possibility of losing circulation in the lower extremities. This is a deadly side effect of diabetes.

Diabetics and overweight people often suffer from high blood pressure. This as you know causes a shrinking of the blood vessels and restricts blood flow to the extremities of the body, particularly the lower ones. Exercise of course lowers the blood pressure and in doing so opens the blood vessels. Thus increasing the blood flow to the lower extremities; which in turn prevents the terrible damage to the toes and feet of a diabetic or overweight person.

However, this does not happen overnight and it is imperative to your weight loss and control/prevention of diabetes. Because the exercise should be done every day there are some inherent dangers which can be induced by the exercise. The good thing is if you are aware of these dangers you can stay ahead of the game.

1. If you are diabetic or borderline diabetic exercise will lower the blood sugar levels and you may become hypoglycemic. If you exercise alone always have a candy bar or a natural juice (orange juice) or other fruit juices which can quickly restore your blood sugar level.

2. Closely monitor how you feel physically during and after exercise. If you notice that you are feeling weak and drained or experience a sudden onset of hunger it’s possible your blood sugar levels are dropping below the safe level. Again go for the candy or the juices.

Weight loss and exercise for diabetics go hand in hand. It is important you work with your doctor or other professional health provider to make sure you are doing things right. You can control both weight loss and diabetes, don’t let them control you.

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How To Succeed With Your Healthy Eating Weight Loss Plan

If you need to lose weight, youve probably looked at some healthy eating weight loss diets and groaned in disappointment each time. Youve looked at diets that are supposed to be good for you while letting you lose weight. Some claim you can eat things like fatty cheeseburgers and even fatty milkshakes (made with sugar substitutes). While other diets claim that you can eat whatever you want as long as you keep your fat intake low. But chances are that they all restrict or forbid something you really enjoy, and youre not looking forward to going without that favorite food.

What some people overlook is that you dont necessarily have to follow a healthy eating weight loss diet that someone else claims is the best. You can figure out how to eat on your own. The first step is to look at how youve been eating. Obviously, if you need to lose weight youve been following a diet that provides you with too many calories. If your diet is healthy overall but youve been eating too many calories, then you might not even need to change the way you eat much at all. Increasing your daily exercise could be enough to help you lose weight.

If your diet needs an adjustment to become a healthy eating weight loss plan, though, you should look at the parts of your diet that seem unhealthy and adjust them. If you make too big a change from the way you like to eat, youre setting yourself up to be unhappy with your new diet plan. Instead, try to incorporate the things you enjoy into your new plan.

Your healthy eating weight loss plan might not be able to include doughnuts 3 or 4 times a week like youve been eating. But the occasional doughnut as a treat might be acceptable if it fits within your allotted calories for that day. You might be able to have a substitution for a doughnut a couple of times a week, though. A whole grain bagel with fruit-flavored low-fat cream cheese, for instance, is a sweet treat that you could enjoy instead of a doughnut. It might give you the same satisfaction while remaining healthier and truer to your healthy eating weight loss plan.

If you eat a lot of sweets like chocolate, you can still enjoy them in moderation. Dark chocolate can be part of a healthy eating weight loss plan. Dark chocolate contains more antioxidants that many fruits and vegetables. So try dipping some of your favorite fruits like bananas, pineapple or strawberries in some high-quality melted dark chocolate for a powerful anti-oxidant punch that should satisfy your sweet tooth and keep you on your diet.

Almost any unhealthy treats youre use to having can be substituted with a healthier food that gives you at least some of the satisfaction of the unhealthy treat. Mashed cauliflower instead of buttery mashed potatoes, thin-crust vegetable pizza instead of take-out and other tricks can make your healthy eating weight loss plan more enjoyable.

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One of the most important things to keep in mind when youre evaluating healthy eating plans is moderation. Its very unlikely that any eating plan thats truly healthy will go to any extremes. It should stress moderation in all things, not just in the balance of food eaten but in the amounts, too.

For instance, some diets that are marketed as healthy eating plans make claims that should alert you to their problems. A diet that says you can eat unlimited amounts of almost anything probably isnt really all that healthy. One extreme example is a low-carbohydrate diet. Many low-carb diets can be healthy for certain people. But a few of the low-carb diets entice people to try them by talking about how you can eat all your favorite foods.

These supposedly healthy eating plans claim you can eat cheeseburgers, steaks, cheesecakes and a variety of other foods. And often theyll say that you can eat all you want of these foods and still lose weight. Theyre operating on the assumption that youll eat one or two cheeseburgers (without bread, of course), be full and stop. But they do make the claim that you can eat all of them, essentially all the fat, you want and still lose weight.

That should be a signal to you that somethings wrong. No diet that allows all the fat you want to eat can be truly healthy. And if it allows unlimited amounts of saturated fat in particular, its probably unhealthy. Other healthy eating plans youll see advertised go the opposite direction and limit the amount of fat you can eat down to almost none, while allowing almost any kind of bread, pasta, and other foods like low-fat cookies and desserts that contain a lot of simple carbohydrates and sugar.

While low-fat cookies or cakes might be a nice treat on a low-fat diet now and then, they certainly cant be eaten all the time. That would make the sugar content of the diet decidedly unhealthy. But that ability to eat low-fat sweet treats is often whats used to convince people to follow the diet, because they can still have sugar and desserts.

When youre judging healthy eating plans, checking whats allowed on the diet is important. But checking what isnt allowed is important, too. Moderation works both ways. A diet that tells you that you must give up coffee completely or never again eat any kind of bread is taking that limitation to the extreme. And if you like coffee or bread and still intend to have them at least now and then, each time you do youll feel like youre cheating. No one wants to have bad feelings about what theyre eating or drinking.

Choosing from among the diets out there can be daunting. Choose a plan that doesnt necessarily forbid you from eating anything, and doesnt allow unlimited amounts of anything, either. Choose from among the more moderate healthy eating plans, and youre more likely to find the healthiest one for you.

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