Constipation: Nearly 70 percent of subjects suffer from constipation due to low intake of fiber found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Taking a fiber supplement, such as Metamucil (sugar free), three times a day helps.
Heart disease: More women die from heart disease than any other health problem. High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets promote intake of unhealthy amounts of cholesterol, trans fats, saturated fats and protein that increase the risk of heart disease.

Dr. Richard Fleming, a nuclear cardiologist and founder of Fleming Heart and Health Institute in Omaha, Nebraska, does not agree that carbohydrates make people fatter than other foods. He maintains that obesity is caused by over-consumption of calories and it doesn’t matter whether those calories are carbohydrates, fats, or proteins.
His research shows that high fat content of the Atkins diet promotes hearth disease by raising blood fats and triggering inflammation in the inner lining of the arteries. Blood flow to the hearth decreased by an average of 40 percent after one year on the Atkins diet and there were increases in inflammatory markers in the blood, called C-reactive protein, that’s predictive of hearth attacks. Many hearth disease researchers think inflammation of the wall of the arteries supplying the hearth is the leading cause of coronary artery disease and hearth attacks. A low-saturated fat diet given to the control group improved blood flow to the hearth by more than 40 percent. Dr. Fleming concluded that high-protein/low carbohydrate diets are too dangerous even for a short time.

Research from the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Hospital (2003), led by Dr. Frederick Samaha, helped promote the Atkins diet craze in America. A one-year follow-up of the original Atkins subjects showed that their weight loss was the same as those on mixed diet, but hearth disease risk factors remained lower. This the first study showing that staying on the diet for more than a year had positive health effect, but that the difference in weight loss was temporary. The most recent Atkins study from Duke University gave subjects extensive food supplements that may have prevented side effects.

Read Next The Downside of Low-Carb Diets 2

Exercise: The real reason most women diet is to improve appearance. They mistakenly equate weight loss with looking good. Unfortunately, you lose nearly as much muscle tissue as fat when you lose weight through diet without exercise.
Vigorous exercise is difficult on low-carb diet because carbohydrates are the main fuel during exercise above 65 percent of maximum effort. Exercise increases muscle mass, a tissue that burns many calories and makes it easier to maintain lost weight. Also, increased muscle mass gives you a sexy, active, healthy-looking body.
Steve Blechman noticed a dramatic and abrupt increase in energy level during exercise when he increased the carbohydrate content of his diet.

People wanting to lose weight should look at the habits of people who successfully lost weight and kept it off. The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) established by scientists from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver includes more than 2,900 people who lost an average of 66 pounds and maintained the required minimum weight lost of 30 pounds for an average of five years. The profiles of these people were remarkably similar – they exercised for 60-90 minutes per day and cut down on calories and fat intake. Nearly 80 percent ate breakfast every day. Less than one percent of these “successful losers” followed low-carbohydrate Atkins-type diets.

Nutrients: Limiting complex carbohydrates, particularly fruits and vegetables, may have long-term health consequences because of deficiencies in vitamins E, A, thiamin, B6, folate, calcium, zinc, magnesium, potassium and fiber. In a study of nearly 60,000 people, Harvard scientists found that women who ate diets high in fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, cereals, fish and low-fat dairy products lived longer than those who ate few of these foods. The study showed that eating a variety of healthy foods was more important than avoiding unhealthy foods. Nutrients in fruits, vegetables and whole grains fight free radicals that help trigger hearth disease, cancer, diabetes and aging. Free radicals are like biological rust that breaks down cell membranes and attacks vital genes in the cell.

Bone loss: Osteoporosis (decreased bone density) is a serious health issue for women that can lead to debilitating or deadly fractures later in life. Inadequate calcium intake, lack of exercise and irregular reproductive hormones can contribute to bone loss and can weaken bones – even in young women. Low-carbohydrate diets (severe carbohydrate restriction) are 65 percent above normal. During the maintenance phase of the diet, calcium losses averaged 55 percent above normal. Following a diet that accelerates calcium loss increases the risk of bone fractures.

Kidneys: Low-carb/high-protein diets speed the loss of kidney function in people with early problems, but not in people with normal kidneys. Unfortunately, 20 million Americans have reduced kidney function but don’t know it because there are usually no symptoms. So, people on high-protein diets may be unknowingly damaging their kidneys. Women with high blood pressure or diabetes and older adults are more likely to have impaired kidney function and should not follow the Atkins diet.

Low-carb diets promote kidney stones: The diet disturbs acid-base balance, which promotes kidney stones, particularly among young women. Diets high in animal proteins and calcium oxalate double the threat of developing kidney stones. Also, diets low in fruits and vegetables deprive the body of nutrients that counteract the negative effects of the diet. The incidence of kidney stones among women has increased along with the popularity of low-carb diets. Also, sexually activity increases the risk of urinary tract infections. Sexually active young women also get more kidney stones because of antibiotics used to treat urinary tract infections. Antibiotics deplete the body of organisms that normally protect against developing kidney stones.

The body prefers to use carbohydrates as fuel and save fats for emergencies. Millions of years of development encouraged our genes to maintain and preserve fat stores. The body makes it easy to store fat, but makes it very difficult to lose it. For centuries, this served us well because people on the edge of starvation could survive for days on their own fat stores if they couldn’t find any food.

Our genes controlling metabolism and fat storage are identical to those of our ancestors thousands of years ago. Only, ancient humans didn’t have ready access to processed foods loaded with saturated fats and simple sugars, junk foods and the availability of fast food restaurants. Their diets were high in protein, monounsaturated fats and complex carbohydrates.
The problem with simple sugars is that they stimulate insulin.
The pancreas secretes this hormone in response to high blood sugar levels. Insulin is essential for transporting sugar into the cells, but it also promotes fat storage. Insulin stimulates fat storage in fat cells by turning off an important chemical called hormone sensitive lipase that breaks down fat so the body can’t use it as a fuel. It also promote a chemical called acetyl CoA carboxylase that stimulate fat storage. An important goal of low-carb diets is to keep insulin release to a minimum. This allows your body to use more fat for energy and helps you lose weight.

The Atkins diet helped people lose more weight than people following a low-calorie mixed diet or a high-carbohydrate diet. Surprisingly, the Atkins diet reduced markers of heart disease, such as blood triglycerides and insulin resistance. Critics of the diet say weight loss caused the decrease in triglycerides rater than composition of the diet. The researchers counter by saying that weight loss is the purpose of the diets, so it is a positive finding that low-carbohydrate diets improve markers of heart disease.

People loss weight on low-carb diets mainly because they take in fewer calories than they use through metabolism and physical activity. Also, they lose more water while on the diet because they deplete carbohydrate stores from muscle tissue and the liver. The body stores carbohydrates as glycogen (blood sugars linked together). Each gram of glycogen is bound to three grams of water. Low carbohydrate intake depletes the glycogen stores, which causes considerable water loss.

Low-carb diets are high in protein, which help suppress appetite. Proteins are made from amino acids, which can be converted to sugar in the liver. Protein act like blood sugar timed release capsules to maintain energy levels and prevent hunger. The body produces chemical called ketones that suppress appetite (and give you bad breath). Also, high protein intake stimulates thermogenesis in which the body loses energy (calories) as heat rather that storing it as fat.
So, Atkins-type diets may work better than normal weight loss plans because ketones and sustained blood sugar levels suppress appetite and the high protein intake boosts metabolism and helps people burn more calories.

Not that these are bad, another fact is absorbed a measure of their wisdom, but in the end, it is the sense of deprivation that dooms so many diets.

Bam! The calorie commando punches out their nostrums: “If it doesn’t taste good, no one will eat it, if it isn’t easy, no one will stick to it, get rid of bad fat that’s all calories, use fat that’s good for you. No crisco, manteca, margarine or shortening, but dairy butter- I’ll use it for pie crust. It has it’s place. Just enough for flavor, not for cooking.
For omelets, I use three seconds of spray on a non-stick pan, seven calories per second.

Cut just 100 calories out of your diet per day and in one year you’ll also lose 10 pounds

I could make a kids eat any vegetable with a special techniques I use to cook okra, what you need are just a little changes. It’s all very much a question of portion control.

Now that she is immune to temptation. As a girl, she moved to the states from the Dominican Republic, and has Hispanic relatives here who still sit him down and feed him the delicious if decidedly non dietetic old fashioned way

Here are some simple guideposts for staying slim for your women without diet pill

1. Drink enough liquids.
Good news! You don’t have to drink just plain water to satisfy your thirst and stay hydrated, many non-alcoholic beverages help fulfill your needs. Just remember that many drinks are high in calories, so choose low-calorie, low sugar beverages most of the time.

2. Partake in daily physical activity.
Instead of watching TV from a chair, hit the dance floor, jump in the pool for a swim or just go for a stroll. It’s the frequency and duration of physical activity that counts, not the intensity

3. Monitor your food choices carefully.
What you eat and how much you eat are, of course, critical factors in maintaining a healthy weight. If you need to lose weight, eat fewer calories by serving yourself smaller portions and eating slowly until you feel satisfied.

4. Eat a diet lower in fat without diet pill.
The Food and Drug Administration’s dietary guide lines recommend consuming no more than 25-35% of your calories from fat. So limit fried foods, and substitute low-fat items for high fat ones.. This doesn’t mean that you’ll never be able to have an enchilada again, just alternate your favorite foods with low calorie and low fat ones

5. Consume more fruits and vegetables.
the newly released dietary guidelines now recommend 9.5 cup servings of fruits and vegetables a day. A serving fruit of vegetable juice can count as one of your nine daily servings

6. Start with a healthy breakfast.
Nearly 80% of successful dieters eat breakfast everyday. If you skip breakfast, you will be more likely to make up for the calories later on with a poor eating decision that’s fueled by hunger.

7. Think smaller.
pay attention to what you are eating and how much, and make sensible choices when it comes up to meal sizes. Stop eating when you feel full. Also, learn what counts as a serving according to the US Department of Agriculture’s new food pyramid, and see if our servings fall into the recommended range.

8. Plan ahead.
meal plans are great tool when it comes to healthy eating by helping you think ahead. Developing weekly meal plans and sticking to a shopping list helps keep you on track.

9. Stop dieting your diet
We all love the idea of a quick fix, but accordingly to the American Dietetic Association, the problem with fad diets is that they often do not teach balanced eating habits necessary for a lifetime of weight management and often exclude vital nutrients. Create good habits and stick to them without having diet pill.

10. Fight hunger.
It takes time for your hunger persists, have a healthy drink and wait fifteen minutes. Start meals with a glass of water or a beverage, as researchers have shown that drinking liquids right before a meal helps you to eat less. Then eat slowly and savor the taste of your food. Have a great conversation. And remember you don’t have to eat everything on your plate

Source : Women Lifestyle, Fashion, Health, Beauty and Personality

As such, products such as spreadable fats are touted to bring down the risk of circulatory diseases; pea soup with St.John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) is trumpeted as “lifting the consumer’s mood”; while chewing gum with phosphatidyserin (PS) is praised for it’s chemical compound’s reputed ability to strengthen the brain’s power of concentration.

Functional foods claimed to deliver that certain extra benefit to human health can, in fact, be found in practically all varieties food.
Acting as a pioneer, Nestle broke the ground for the first functional foods market segment several years ago, with it’s pro biotic LC1 yogurt brand winning significant market share in just a short time.

On a worldwide basis, the functional foods market holds impressive growth potential. It’s volume is estimated at approximately 5 to 10 per cent of what the total global nutrients and foodstuffs market. At present, milk products still represent the vast majority of foodstuffs promising “fitness, health and well-being”. However, there are signals from other product groups that they are set to claim their share of this already established market place.

The meat category, having embraced the general trend towards healthy foods, is seeing more and more companies, putting out dietetic or calorie-reduced meat products, including those specifically targeted at senior citizens, which is a constantly growing segment in many countries population.
A great number of these products stress the use of iodized salt, pro biotic cultures in uncooked sausage varieties, or Omega-3 fatty acids.
Ever since the Intermediate food industry exhibition held in Dusseldorf germany, last year, ransoms-based preparations have been showing up and more often in the meat industry’s overall range of products. Botanically speaking, ransoms (also known as ramps, wild leek, or wild garlic) is a sprig herb and, as “wild garlic” meats, hams and bratwurst-style fried sausages

In other way, protein is a smart addition for weight management loss program because it’s effect on carbohydrate cravings.
Carbohydrates will becomes hard hard to control as the leading of cycling carbohydrate eating that triggered by the brain. Protein could block the effect of that brain triggering, so it will reduce the cravings that caused by eating the carbohydrate as you eat the protein of women health to lose weight.

And where to find the protein sources? It could be found in dairy ad meat products, like milk, beef, chicken, turkey, cheese, fish, cream, pork, and lamb.
But you must ensure that you choose predominantly white meats such as fish and the white flesh of beef or chicken as they are in saturated fats

For women health, the most important products resources that normally has high complete proteins is vegetables, excepts for soybeans.
But don’t despair if you never tried soy products or not particularly enjoying soy milk or tofu.
Nowadays, many variety ways now to eat those products in exciting and delicious way with low cholesterol and calories, and it will be the excellent choice to provide energy that sustains to control your hunger which is particularly useful when you try to lose weight

Better diet by stricter the weight loss program
The stricter a diet weight loss program will completely eliminate the entire food groups; by eating just one food like cabbage soup means the less effective it will be in the end. You will get tired of the allowed food, when you already feel really deprived, you’re likely to call it quits altogether.

By cut the calories drastically, will lose weight faster
Actually you will send your body into “starvation mode” when you take your caloric intake down too low. One thing you should know is that when you are starving, your body will maintain your weight, therefore, the metabolism of your body will slow down and unfortunately you may not lose weight

Eating late at night is good to lose weight.
It doesn’t really matter when you eat, your body keep turns any extra calories into fat whether you’re eating in the morning or at midnight, all things considered.
But eating a light snack like cheese and crackers before bed will be a good idea to help your better sleep.

I should get rid of my favorite less-than-healthful foods.
Treating yourself to your old favorites now and again will make you stay motivated and less likely to give in to a binge. Make sure that you get back on track after your treat. The moderation is always key to successful for a long-term weight loss.

Being fat is BAD.
Actually, body needs to include some fat on any diet program. We absolutely need it, as it makes dishes more satisfying and palatable. Some fats like omega-3 fatty acids are even good for you, which are found predominantly in fish and shellfish.

Skipping meals will help me lose weight.
The fact is, skipping meals may actually cause you to gain weight! The body metabolism plummets and you will get over-hungry. You will be under-shooting your daily calorie requirement and will pacifier on you. That’s why eating breakfast, the meal we skip most, can actually help us lose weight.

By drinking a lot of water can help me lose weight.
Drinking water in and of itself will not lead to weight loss. Water is key to a healthy lifestyle and drinking enough has tons of benefits itself, but when people lose weight due to drinking water, it’s most likely because they’re substituting if for high-calorie juices and sodas.

Excess weight can be a severe strain too on feet, hips and legs. By floating the body makes possible a very comfortable and could relieving this stress, injury-free exercise session at any weight or level of conditioning.

But heavy people can count on the muscle toning they need because of the resistance of water. As long as they stay do exercise within a comfortable level of exertion, it will not risk strain on the heart, because of water aids circulation.

You will amazed and delighted by how quickly inches melted away when consistently doing exercise in the water.

From the reports generated found that people who doing this exercise never suffered the discomfort they used to associate with workouts. As comfort is an important factor because most people will feel discouraged and a good number will simply quit if exercising is unpleasant.

As health experts have always said, there is no substitute for diet and exercise. Cruz decided to heed their message, riding bycycle to work at the Hotel Bel Air. He lost some 30 lbs, routed the bad cholestrol and his gall-bladdfer pain. disappeared.

Jennifer, Cruz’s childhood sweetheart and wife of 27 years, pitched in with an offer to hire him a personal trainer, despite the arm-and-a-leg it can cost in Los Angeles. Fortunately for the Cruz family finances, he didn’t have to accept her offer. A personal trainer was soon supplied free by producers of a Discovery Health Channel lifestyle show called Discovery Health Body Challenge. Cruz’s public TV show, Cruising In The Kitchen, designed to give his Pastrudude.com business a boost, caught their eye and they invited him and a group of otheroverweight citizens for an extreme on-air makeover. The cameras followed them around for four month of supervised diet and exercise. Cruz did well, losing another 43 punds, “I looked different,” he says. “My gut was gone. Just gone.”
After the show, he kept at it and eventually got down to 180 lbs, exactly 100 lbs less than the old pastry dude.

Back at the West LA restaurant, the beautiful people eagerly asked how he got so slim. That was how Calorie Commando Catering was born, with the mission of providing the best heart-healthy, low calorie food in Los Angeles.
In a savvy aside, Cruz confesses that the economics of catering are so much easier to plan than those of a restaurant. In catering you don’t incur expense until you’ve landed the client, while a restaurant can sink under its fixed costs if nobody walks in the door.

The reason for this is that no matter how clever our scientists are there is still much they have not discovered about the way vitamins and the body interact. Every day we hear they have found either a new nutrient or another factor in how our bodies assimilate nutrients. If we eat foods that are as close to the state nature produces them we are most likely to get the nutrients we need together with all the other factors our bodies need to use them. This is crucial to any cancer diet.

A shining example is iron. Our bodies need Vitamin C in order to assimilate iron. However, there are still iron supplements on the market that do not have Vitamin C included in their mix. Now, parsley is a very rich source of iron and, you guessed it, is also full of Vitamin C. To further complicate matters, Vitamin C is heat affected and water soluble, so cooking, particularly in liquids destroys it - hence my assertion that eating foods - in this case parsley - in their natural state is best. Of course this won’t work for all foods - potatoes for example - but it is a good strategy to keep in mind when trying to maximize nutrition.

The other reason for eating foods in as near natural state as possible, is that cooking destroys the natural enzymes for your cancer treatment. Enzymes not only play a crucial role in digestion, and therefore influence the quality of the nutrients we get from our food, but some enzymes, particularly pancreatic enzymes, play a direct role in the fight against cancer.

So how do we include raw foods when designing a cancer diet?

The obvious answer is salads. Using as wide a variety of salad vegetables and incorporating as many different coloured salad veggies, is an excellent way to increase your intake of live enzymes.

But even with hot meals, many raw veggies can be added as a garnish. Eg parsley chopped up over scrambled eggs. Herbs stirred in a casserole after the heat is turned off. A couple of rings of capsicum on top of cooked fish. Use fruits to dress up a steak or a roast. Let your imagination go! Look for colour and variety and you will easily find dozens of ways to include raw foods.

Snacks are another way of getting raw veggies into the diet. Cut up celery and carrots into one inch/2cm lengths. Even broccoli and cauliflower are nice and crunchy as a snack. If you must dip them in something try a little cottage cheese rather than a fat laden dip!

By keeping your mind open and imagination engaged, you will soon be getting many more raw foods into your daily diet, giving yourself and your loved ones an edge in the cancer fighting stakes.

Article written by Marilyn Bennett’s partner Glenn was declared cancer-free after 11 months using a nutritional approach. They are now on a mission to “spread the word” re the many things they discovered we can all do to fight cancer. Please visit www.cancer-einfo.com.

Age and Gender
Maybe you should know that cholesterol levels increase with age and women generally have a lower level than men from age 50 to 55.
But once a woman starts menopause, the cholesterol level starts to increase. But make sure that age does not threaten your heart health by sticking to a healthy lifestyle and diet and keep on monitor your cholestrol levels.

Lifestyle Issues
Eating fast foods and convenience foods sometimes results in eating too many fats and salts, which is bad for your cholesterol levels. A more sedentary lifestyle also contributes to unhealthy cholesterol levels.
Make a visit to a nutritionist or dietician who can help you better to understand eating for the right reasons and for optimal health lifestyle.

Some regular exercise will effectively for your heath lifestyle and lower cholesterol, maintain your body strength to it’s best functions. 20 minutes aerobic exercise will be enough, including walking. Simple activities that get you moving and that you enjoy enough to repeat are almost always adequate.

Heritage
Genetics play a key role in a person’s health including the amount of cholesterol you might have.
If your family battles with high levels of cholesterol and/ or heart disease, bring it to your doctor, work harder and start earlier in adopting a healthy lifestyle and eating plan.

“I was out of control,” she says. “I was a big fat women, she’s a sexy fat women-but all the fat was out front like pregnant pastry chef”. The her body rebelled. “I got stabling pains in my liver. The doctor said my gall bladder was going bad. He said I had to lose weight.”

Headaches were accompanied by blood pressure climbing so high the doctor said she was headed for stroke. “My cholestrol could have lubricated a Formula One racer,” she recalls.

Diana, was suffering from an all-American health problem that has balooned so much in recent times that no less than 140 bills designed to stop obesity are under consideration by 25 state legislatures.

“When have focused on smoking, now it is about time we fight obesity,” New York State Assemblyman Felix Orriz (D) told the Washington Post. The legislator said would like to slap hefty taxes not only on fatty foods, “but also modern icons of sedentary living-movie tickets, video games and DVD rentals.” Proceeds would fund anti obesity programs. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G says that some $117 billion are spent annually on obesity-related women health care. “If we’re really interested in holding down medical costs and improving the health of citizens,” he says, “we have to do something about obesity.”

They quickly added that the study results should not be interpreted as a license to “rush out to the nearest fast-food store and stuff your face,” as one researcher put it.

“There’s a stay-tuned message here,” said Dr. Henry Black, a preventive cardiologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and one of the study investigators.

The federally funded study, reported in a series of three papers in Wednesday’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, involved nearly 50,000 women ages 50-79 and was part of the landmark Women’s Health Initiative. The participants were recruited in the 1990s and followed for an average of eight years.

Some women continued their usual eating habits. Others were randomly assigned to a low-fat diet group and took part in group sessions and other behavior-modification techniques to help them cut down on dietary fat and eat more vegetables, fruit and grains. But they were not asked to avoid saturated fat, lose weight or exercise, which some experts believe might have made a difference. Most of the women were overweight.
The data did contain some hopeful signs: Although the trend was not statistically significant, the women who were watching their fat intake had a slightly smaller chance of getting breast cancer; their average cholesterol was lower; and their risk of developing colon polyps was lower. So it’s possible continued follow-up will reveal benefits, Black said.

It’s also possible that “eating right your whole adult life, not just after menopause, would have made a difference,” he said.

Another study investigator, research nutritionist Linda Van Horn of Northwestern University, said that if the study had been designed today, it probably would not have looked just at total fat intake.
Instead, it would have examined overall dietary patterns, such as increasing fruits, vegetables and whole grains while replacing saturated fats with unsaturated ones and cutting salt.
“Reducing total fat alone isn’t enough,” said Van Horn. “Nutrition is a very complex science.”

Van Horn said the researchers would continue tracking the women and analyzing the data in an attempt to find out what factors may make a difference on women health.

Among other things, she said, they will compare women who lowered fat in their diet in part by shifting to fat-free cookies (which contain a lot of sugar) to women who shifted to “apples and oranges and whole-grain bread.” They will also look at weight loss, physical activity, age and adherence to the diet.

The goals of the diet were to reduce fat intake to 20 percent of daily calories, to increase intake of fruits and vegetables to at least five servings a day and to increase grains to at least six servings a day. Although the dieters did better than the control group, none of those goals was met.

Both investigators called the results of the study disappointing. “We expected and hoped a low-fat diet would prevent breast cancer,” said Black.

One possible explanation for the findings, Black said, is that the women who volunteered for the study were not “eating huge amounts of fat” to begin with, and those in the diet group were able to reduce their fat consumption by only 8 percent when compared with the control group. There were even smaller decreases in consumption of saturated fat and trans fat, and only tiny increases in consumption of fruits, vegetables and grains.

Another possibility is that the women in the control group were also eating more healthfully, even though they weren’t asked to. Public knowledge about healthy eating was increasing in the period after the study began, Black said, and the country’s average cholesterol level was coming down.

“Research is always filled with surprises,” said Van Horn. “That’s why we do it.”

She added: “If you ask me if I still think diet is important–absolutely. Do I think the nutrients in fruits, vegetables and grains are important for the immune system? Absolutely. But we didn’t design the study to answer those questions.”

As reported by Judy Peres to Chicago Tribune Health

Don’t want to change the way the food is prepared.
Don’t want to change the way the food tastes.
Don’t know how to make proper substitutions.

And what about planning a healthy meals, is it hard enough for you? Here we try to give you some ideas :

1. Take the vow
Don’t let yourself come up with excuses for why you can’t make a meal plan. Set aside time daily to make a plan and stick to it.

2. Check out local grocery store ads
Plan your meals for the upcoming week on day the ads come out. Plan healthy meals one week at a time and include a variety of foods.

3. Start small
The first couple of weeks start with simple meals. After that, try new recipes that contain healthy foods you’ve never had before.

4. Look in the refrigerator and pantry
Check to see what you already have at home, so you don’t double up on things. Healthy meal planning is a great way to organize your food pantry.

5. Make substitutions
Substitute ingredients in a recipe. If a recipe calls for eggs, substitute them with Egg Beaters or egg whites.

6. Portion Control
Plan 4 to 6 smaller healthy meals for each day. Prepare one serving per person or enough for leftovers for just one meal.

7. Get the family involved
Let the whole family help with the healthy meal planning and preparation of the meals.

8. Post your meal plan
Post your meal plan on the refrigerator or pantry. The more you see it, the more likely you’ll stick to the plan.

9. Recycle your healthy meal plans
Keep your old meal plans and use them again later on down the road.

10. Make it a habit
Don’t give up after a couple of weeks. Set a time each week to write out your meal plan.