A couple of weeks ago, our Healthy For Life class was asking me some questions about nutrition. For the most part, everyone knows what is a healthy choice, and what’s not so healthy, but it was more the ‘grey area’ foods that people had a lot of questions about.
I thought it would be a great idea to actually go to our local grocery store so we could look at some food labels, compare different foods, and discuss what are good choices and what are not so good choices.
We spent the majority of the time going over how to properly read a food label, and to fully understand what we are looking at and putting into our bodies. A lot of the ladies were surprised as to how much sugar was in a lot of foods and sauces. Showing them how to understand and read a label, makes it easier to compare brands and try to make healthier choices.
We also went over a huge part of nutrition that a lot of people struggle with, which is eating enough protein. Majority of people undereat protein, so we went over lots of different options, what cuts of meat are best, what kinds to avoid, and how they can incorporate some kind of protein source into every meal.
Another discussion was about how companies can market foods to look ‘healthy’ or contain lots of protein. Things like instant microwave meals that have “Fit Meals” on the label, or granola bars that have “high in protein’ in big letters on the package. It’s easy for you to see that and automatically assume the ingredients are healthy and that is something you should be eating. If you take the time to look at the label and actually understand what it’s telling you, we realized that they are definitely not good for you, and contain a lot of not so good ingredients. This is why it’s so important to understand what you’re putting into your body.
After we had gone through the whole grocery store, the ladies had a much better understanding as to how to make better choices, good healthy options, meal ideas and a better understanding of knowing what they are eating. Plus it was lots of fun!
