"Can I eat fruit or does it have too much sugar?"
First off, have you ever seen an obese person and thought, “man, you really need to lay off the apples!”, or “put down those strawberries!”. Probably not. There are numerous reasons why this is so. First, fructose, the type of sugar specific to fruit, breaks down in the body much slower than regular sucrose, leaving you with more energy feeling fuller, longer. Fruit also contains fiber, which will help you stay full and to some degree, prevent you from overeating. Finally, fruits have important nutrients and cancer-fighting antioxidants that you do NOT want to skip out on. The short answer is, fruit is great! You wouldn’t want to have only fruit, all day, every day, but as long as you are getting enough protein and vegetables in your diet as well, go for it!
"How can I get my picky child to eat healthy foods?"
Experts agree, the best advice when it comes to getting your child to eat healthy is “NEVER GIVE UP!” Especially if you are trying to introduce a new food into a toddlers diet, it literally may take more than 50 times of you offering the food to the child before they become accustomed to it and accept it. Keep offering your child healthy foods and no matter their age, be sure to have regular family meals. Simply acting as a role model and eating well in front of your child at the dinner table will make a significant impact.
"How can I eat healthy without having to spend a lot of money?"
Have you ever really added up the prices of all the processed junk food available today? Believe it or not, eating healthy is not really expensive at all. It just takes a smart shopper! Fruits and vegetables are fairly low in cost, and canned and frozen are just as healthy as fresh. Next, choose quality, low cost proteins such as eggs and beans. Eggs are very inexpensive and very healthy. Though it is not necessary to come a complete vegetarian, becoming a “flexitarian” and consuming some non-meat meals will help both your waistline and your pocketbook. For more tips and shopping secrets, book a shopping trip with me today!
"Is it true that all processed food is bad for you?"
No. A general guideline is, look at the ingredients list and see if you can read each ingredient and know what each ingredient is. A can of beans or a can of vegetables may have added olive oil but that does not necessarily make it unhealthy. What you do need to avoid in excess are hidden sugars (usually ending in "-ose") like sucrose and also nitrates and nitrites which are used in preserving some meats.
