Balance and Moderation the Key to a Healthy Diet

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As I mentioned in my previous post, fad diets don't work because they are hard to stick with over a long period of time. Consequently, as soon as you return to your old eating habits you are most likely to regain any weight you may have lost and more.

The key to eating healthy over the long-term is balance and moderation in the foods you consume daily. You can eat any food you desire as long as it is in moderation and balanced with the rest of the foods you consume. For example, I love brownies, so when I have a brownie for dessert, I only have one. I also balance the carbohydrates in the brownie by not having bread with my meal.

The first step in learning balance and moderation in your diet is knowing how to classify foods into their basic source of protein, carbohydrates, and fats and knowing how they are used in your body. The second step is mastering portion. Knowing how many calories you consume from each food source and what your serving sizes are will enable you to balance your meals. Eating this way can be easily incorporated into your lifestyle, it's a plan you can stick with over time.

In my next post I'll show you how foods are classified into their basic components of protein, carbohydrates and fats and how your body uses them.