#TransformYourLife: Everything you need to know about nutrition


Did you know that to lose weight, you MUST eat fewer calories than your body uses? Calories are the amount of energy in the food you eat. Some foods have more calories than others. Eating more calories than your body uses makes the body store the extra calories as excess fat.

Did you know that a pound of fat is about 3,500 calories? To lose 1 pound of fat in a week, you have to eat 3,500 fewer calories (that is 500 fewer calories a day), or “burn off” an extra 3,500 calories by exercising. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat fewer calories and be active. Example: If you cut 250 calories from your diet each day and exercise enough to burn off 250 calories, that adds up to 500 fewer calories in one day. Do this for 7 days and you can lose 1 pound of fat in a week.

As we get older, nutrition seems difficult to wrap our brains around despite learning much about it in high school. Why? I think because FOOD has become so closely intertwined with every aspect of life that we don’t seem to realize the excessive indulgence.

FACT: Food is to fuel for the body. The quality of fuel put and consumed by the body determines how way we LOOK and FEEL

Main Food Groups:
Carbohydrates – Go Foods
They are Energy giving foods
Also known as starchy foods, they provide the body with fuel it needs for physical activity and for proper organ function, and they are an important part of a healthy diet. But some kinds of carbohydrates are far better than others.
Examples: Potatoes, Rice, Oatmeal, bread, pasta etc.

Protein: Grow Foods
They are the body’s building blocks and are essential in tissue repair, forming cells, making antibodies
Examples: meats, beans and nuts

These are important for cell functionality. Examples of good fats are those from nuts, fish and seeds and the bad fats to avoid are ice cream, cheese, butter.
Use of terms such as “Low Fat”, “reduced fat” or “Fat free” sometimes are not necessarily healthy because they compensate for taste by increasing other unhealthy items such as sodium/salt.

Vitamins: Glow Foods
These are preventive foods with insurmountable benefits including protect body from disease and yes they literally make our skin glow :)
Examples: fruits and vegetables.
Water -I’m adding a new food group to this list :)
Water is life and is extremely underrated..DRINK IT!

See more at: http://janemukami.com/blog

Cut back calories by doing the following:

1. Make better decisions of what you eat by paying close attention to the nutrition information labels found on food items from grocery stores.
2. Eat 4 to 5 smaller meals a day.
Ever wonder why a new born baby is fed 2 to 3 hours? Perhaps that’s the same frequency he/she was fed while in the mother’s womb and until he/she was introduced to society’s “feeding clock” of 3 meals a day.
Eating smaller, healthier meals throughout out the day keeps you energized and ensures there are no extra calories to get ‘saved’ as extra weight. It also increases your metabolism since you’re feeding the body on a regular basis.
3. Eat your heaviest meals in the earliest part of the day and lighter meals as the day progresses. Frequently eating a huge meal for dinner is not a good idea.
4. Consume meals that are high in vegetable, protien and not carbohydrate heave. Avoid items like alcohol, cookies, ice cream, fried foods etc.
5. Water – drink as much as you possibly can
Doing the above will help you slowly start eating clean vs. dieting. Eating clean is sustainable and helps keep your habits consistent while still working towards weight loss. It is second nature for most people to eat anything, at anytime and however much.

Get off the SEAFOOD Diet where you SEE FOOD and EAT IT. We eat to live….and not live to eat and changing your diet is a MUST if you are SERIOUS about losing weight and being healthy!



Jane Mukami


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