Educate yourself - your path to nutritious meals and bundles of energy! Xx

Part of the work that I am involved with currently means that I am regularly moving around different workplaces and meeting new people daily.
I still find it interesting at the amount of people, particularly women who 'think' they are doing the right thing to lose weight by 'dieting' using diet shakes for every meal, being fearful of carbohydrates (whilst eating fruit, which is naturally filled with carbohydrates for very meal!) and choosing to eat empty nutrient foods or beverages under the assumption that because they are lower in fat than some things - they must be the 'healthier option'. It seems that the majority of women are dieting most days of the week, not eating healthy, varied and nutritious foods but are self proclaimed dieters.

This is worrying for many reasons..
- The impact of the media promotions and 'Hollywood celebrities' has left many people learning about nutrition education through gossip magazines. Many of these celebrities promote quick fix, but not long term weight loss solutions. Many of these celebrities 'interesting' new diets are used without scientific research to back up their effectiveness and are often either experiencing constant weight fluctuations or have extreme eating disorders.
Might I add - Hollywood is not real. The real nutrition knowledge comes from information sources such as Nutritionists, Dieticians, Doctors, Physical and Health Educators, Naturopaths, Personal trainers and a large range of new accessible books, online articles and even many of the latest health and fitness magazines.

- Many 'weight loss shakes' and 'low/no fat foods are a marketing ploy! Of course, there are some fantastic choices available to us in instant snack or meal ideas (mostly natural food based), but it pay to read the nutrition label of anything you are putting in your mouth. Many of these foods/shakes increase their sugar content despite being low in fat. If you are eating high amounts of sugar regularly, particularly if you are not doing a lot of exercise, you will find that the body does not burn up the sugar and it will be stored as fat anyway. Have a closer look at the inclusion of other important nutrients such as the list of Vitamins (the more the better!), minerals such as Calcium and Iron.

- If you are interested in finding out more information on healthy eating, healthy cooking and types of important nutrients you should be consuming each day (which is the best and most effective way to improve your eating habits forever!), consider signing up for one of the many introduction or short nutrition courses available through many education institutions, health shops or online education sites. http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/ and similar will be able to provide you with information, links, recipes and resources.

- Many Personal trainers and Group fitness instructors will offer 'trips' to the supermarket and workshops to help show you how to shop the 'healthy' way and what to look for when selecting your weekly shopping. http://www.mydietitian.com.au/articles/food_labels.html is a great resource to help you understand what to look for when trying to make sense of a nutrition label..which are often very confusing even for the trained eye!!!

- Nutritious eating doesn't have to be expensive or taste bland. Check out many of the recipes or snack ideas that are packed with nutrients, are easy to prepare and delicious to eat on some of these great websites... www.healthyfoodguide.com.au/recipes www.livestrong.com , www.womenshealthandfitness.com.au .

Remember - your best tool in eating healthier, maintaining a healthy weight and feeling full of energy everyday is educating yourself!!
Xxxx