How to eat healthy

mylovetori wrote:

so I just decided to get into shape but I'm not sure on how to eat and what's good for me and what's not.

When you say "get into shape", what do you mean?
Simply losing weight to get into a healthy BMI range?
Getting your waist to hip ratio below 0.8?
Getting your body fat percentage to or below 31%?
Slimming? Toning? Building muscle? Increasing strength?
Increasing cardiovascular fitness? Shorter recovery time? Better endurance? Faster speed?
You can do any (or all!) of those, though building muscle isn't easy for women. (And it's VERY unlikely to happen
while you're eating at a deficit to lose weight. But you can maintain the muscle mass you have, and get stronger.)


To set your macronutrient percentages, or see that what you're eating is in the healthy ranges,
see this table from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
carbs, 45 - 65% of calories (4 cal per gram)
fat, 20 - 35% of calories (9 cal per gram)
protein, 10 - 35% of calories (4 cal per gram)

Here are some other resources to help you learn about a healthy diet.
http://www.nutrition.gov/
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/?s_cid=cdc_homepage_topmenu_002

.
Here's a newbie help post where I've compiled links to helpful info.
Start with the first one: sexypants
Second, accurate logging.
Then the one about goal setting.
That has a link to this calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine, which will tell you not only your BMI (to see that
your goal weight is in a healthy range), but also how many calories and how many servings of the various food groups
you should eat to maintain that weight. You can either eat to maintain your goal weight, and eventually get there, or find
what you'd eat to support your current weight, then subtract 250 cal/day in order to lose 0.5 lb per week, which is a reasonable
goal when you only have 30 lb to lose. As you hit plateaus, cut another 50 calories & give it a couple weeks.

ShannonMK9 wrote: »

Start with logging what you eat currently, that gives a starting point for tips on food.

Yes, this is a great place to start. I think most people can see what are good choices and what aren't and where they are getting excess calories and could cut when they do that.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

The above is a decent place to start if you want to think about nutrition, as are the MFP macro goals (protein, fat, carbs--think of protein in particular as a minimum) and the basic idea that eating veggies and fruit are a good addition if you aren't already.

For starting out, JUST worry about calories. After you get the hang of tracking and noticing what you're eating, you can adjust how to spend your calories. Cows milk in my coffee wasn't worth it, so I switched to almond milk. I now buy greek yogurt with 7g of sugar and 12g protein instead of the 27g sugar and 3g protein. You just start to notice where your nutrients are lacking and can change your food consumption accordingly.

I feel better than I have in years.
1. I eat within my calorie goal for the day.
2. I eat foods that keep me full: nutrient dense
3. I strive to meet my goals daily for protein, calcium, fiber, iron, potassium and fat. I do not pay attention to sodium carbs or sugars.
4. I try to drink at least 40 oz of water a day. More if I exercise or if I'm just thirsty. This is to prevent water retention.
5. I try not to drink calories. I prefer to eat my calories.
6. I only eat stuff I enjoy.
7. If I have enough calories left over I have a treat.
8. I have lost 30 lbs so far.