3 Nutrition Cheat Sheets

If you are just starting out on the road to healthy eating, these 3 cheat sheets cover most of the basics.

When first learning how to cook higher nutrition meals it can be overwhelming trying to sort out what you should really be focusing on.  You can’t rely simply on product labels because the marketing gurus who design packaging will make you think that everything on the market is healthy (sure the label might say Low Fat, but if the product is loaded with sugar it still might not be a healthy choice).  A friend of mine sent me these nutrition cheat sheets published by the American Dietetic Association and I thought that they did a pretty good job of capturing the essential elements of healthful eating.

General Healthful Nutrition:  This one has a very simple table of Recommended Foods and Foods to Avoid.  Just follow this sheet and you’ll be 90% of the way there.

Cooking Tips For Weight Management:  Echoes some of the information in the General Healthful Nutrition sheet but adds a section on healthful cooking techniques.  The first tip is to sauté foods in broth instead of butter or oil and we started doing this last year.

High Fiber Nutrition:  If you follow any of the Beachbody meals plans that come with programs like P90X, Hip Hop Abs, or Insanity, one common theme is to increase the amount of protein you take in.  Unfortunately if your body is not used to a lot of protein your digestive system can get kind of gummed up.  The answer is more fiber, either through supplements or high fiber foods.  This sheet covers high fiber foods.

If you run across good articles or web links related to fitness and nutrition, post them in the comments section below or send them to me.  I’ll see if I can work them into the site.