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• Eat 3 meals every day, and if desired, 2 snacks.

• Select only 100% fruit juice. Limit juice to no more than 1 cup per day.
• Select 6 + glasses of water per day.
• Limit caffeine-containing beverages to 1 cup per day.
• Eliminate sugar-laden beverages:
  fruit punch, soda, kool aid, Capri sun, etc. You can select the "diet" varieties, as sugar-free diet soda, diet Snapple, crystal light, etc.

• Limit starch to 1 serving per meal (1 cup brown rice, 2 slices bread, 1 cup cereal, 1 cup corn or peas, etc)
• Limit starches that convert to sugar easily - white bread, white rice, sugar coated cereals, etc.
• The best cereals are whole grain - bran flakes, special K and other high-fiber cereals.

• Select 2-4 servings a day. One serving is 1 piece or ½ cup.
• Select fresh fruit, or fruit canned in water or its own juice.
• Limit fruit juice to 1 cup (100% fruit juice) a day. The best choices are tomato and grapefruit juice.
• Limit dried fruit (raisins, dried apricots, etc.)

• Select 3-5 servings per day (1 cup raw, or 1/2 cup cooked).
  Ex: broccoli, kale, cauliflower, eggplant, green beans, zucchini,
  tomatoes, lettuce, collard greens, etc.

• Select lean sources of protein, as skinless chicken, turkey, ham, lean beef; eggs, beans, split peas, black-eyed peas, tofu, and peanut butter. Select 2-3 servings a day.
• Bake, roast, grill or broil foods, do not fry.
• One serving is the size of a deck of cards or a fist full (3-4 ounces) or 1 cup beans, split peas, or black eyed peas, or 2 tbsp. peanut butter or 2 eggs.

• Select skim or 1% low-fat milk only. Select 2-3 cups a day.
• Select lite or non-fat fruit flavored yogurt.
• Select low-fat hard cheese (American, Swiss) and soft cheese (cottage, ricotta).

• Select vegetable oils, olive oil, etc. Eliminate hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.

• Select grilled chicken, salad with low-fat dressing or broiled burgers. Skip the fries, coke, shakes, etc.
• Limit fast food meals to once a week.

• Vegetables as desired.
• Limit your other snacks to 2 per day. Example of one serving: 1 piece fresh fruit, 2 cups lite popcorn, 7 (3-ring pretzels); 12 baked tortilla chips, 1 cup non-fat or lite yogurt or ¼ cup (1 handful) nuts.

• Do 1 hour or physical activity a day.
• Includes: Walking, stair climbing, dancing, jump rope, treadmill, bike, aerobic tapes.

• Get a scale. Check your weight once every other week.

• Three of these six -- proteins, carbohydrates and fat -- provide calories necessary to fuel the body.
• The other three -- water, vitamins and minerals -- don't themselves produce calories but nevertheless play important roles, including helping the other three nutrients do their job.

• Build, repair and maintain muscle and all other tissue
• Forms the core of your bones and teeth, the filaments of your hair and the basic material of your fingernails
• Long term to achieve Weight loss
• Is needed to transport nutrients in and out of your cells
• Is important in maintaining a healthy immune system
• Is a good source of iron and calcium
• Helps stabilize blood sugar

• Simple sugars, which include white and brown sugar, molasses, honey.
• Fruit, vegetables and milk
      • Complex carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and vegetables.

• Whole-grain complex carbohydrates as brown rice, whole-wheat bread and whole-wheat pasta.
• Refined complex carbs, such as white rice and enriched white bread, which have had most of their essential nutrients and the fiber removed during milling. If your white bread or cereal is labeled "enriched," then B vitamins and iron has been put back, but not the fiber.

• With a low GI Index--foods, 20-49, most of the time
• With a moderate GI index--50-69, some of the time
• With a high 50-69, rarely.

• Insoluble fiber, a woody-looking substance, absorbs water as it moves through the digestive tract, keeping body functions running smoothly by speeding up elimination. This helps prevent constipation and may protect you against colon cancer. That's because it speeds up the transit of cancer-causing substances through the colon, thereby decreasing the time the bowel is exposed to potential carcinogens. Good sources of insoluble fiber include whole-grain breads and cereals, wheat bran cereals and the skins of fruit and vegetables. It also fills you up, adding bulk to your meal, without adding any calories.
• Soluble fiber looks like a gel when it's combined with water. Soluble fiber in your diet helps stabilize your blood sugar, which is important in helping to protect against diabetes and hypoglycemia, as well as reduces your risk of heart disease by helping to lower blood cholesterol. And waist-watchers, take note: not only does soluble fiber keep you satisfied longer by taking longer to chew and be digested by the body, it can, because of its gel-like consistency, easily replace certain high-fat ingredients in your cooking. For example, try substituting chopped prunes or unsweetened applesauce for butter or oil to get a moist cake without a lot of fat.

• Omega-6 oils are derived mainly from vegetable oils, as safflower, sunflower, corn, canola, soybean, sesame.
• Omega-3 oils come from marine and fatty fish ( such as anchovies, rainbow trout, salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring), walnuts and walnut oil, flaxseed and flax oil, pumpkin seeds as well as canola and soy oil.

• Help produce hormones
• Promote cell growth
• Is a good source of fat-soluble vitamins
• Is a good source of energy
• Slows down digestion
  and the emptying of food from the stomach, and so produces a longer-lasting sensation of fullness after a meal

• Berries, including Strawberries and Cherries
• Apples, Oranges, Plums, and Apricots.
• Peaches, Pears and Grapefruit

• Tomatoes, Celery and Peppers
• All lettuces
• Artichokes and Asparagus
• Black-eyed peas and Split peas
• Azuki beans, Butter beans, Black beans, Garbanzo beans, Soybeans and Navy Beans

• All bran cereals
• Muesli cereals (without dried fruit)
• Whole grain breads
• Whole grain pastas
• Barley and Bulgar

• Fresh Tomato juice
• Grapefruit juice
• Tea/coffee, and water

• FRUITS
  Grapes, pineapples, mangos, kiwis and watermelon
• VEGETABLES
  Beets, carrots, corn on the cob, lima beans, yams, sweet potatoes, potatoes (white, red), peas and onions.
• GRAINS
  Basmati rice, brown rice, wild rice, buckwheat, low sugar cereal, oatmeal, most pasta, pita bread, popcorn, whole wheat bread (100 % stone-ground), pumpernickel bread, and sourdough bread.
• DAIRY
  Custard
• BEVERAGES
  Apple juice, orange juice, black cherry juice, and blueberry juice.
• SWEETENERS
  Unrefined brown sugar, unrefined raw honey, unprocessed blackstrap molasses, and barley malt

• FRUITS
  Raisins, ripe bananas, and papayas (Use portion control as they’re high in sugar).
• VEGETABLES
  French-fries, parsnips, baked potato, cooked carrots, and sweet corn.
• GRAINS
  French bread, bagels, corn chips, cornflakes, rice cakes, crackers and crispbread, donuts, hamburger and hot-dog buns, white rice, muffins (due to processed flour), white bread, pancakes, puffed rice or wheat, pretzels, shredded wheat, and toaster waffles.
• DAIRY
  Ice cream
• BEVERAGES
  Soft drinks, sport drinks and all sodas (with added sugar).
• SWEETENERS
  Corn syrup and solids, sucrose (table sugar), glucose and glucose polymers (maldodextrin-based drinks), honey, maltose, and high-fructose corn syrup.
  
  

From: Willett, W. The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating.
Simon & Schuster, August 2001

• Whole Grain Foods (at most meals)
  The body needs carbohydrates mainly for energy. The best sources of carbohydrates are whole grains such as oatmeal, whole-wheat bread, and brown rice. They deliver the outer (bran) and inner (germ) layers along with energy-rich starch. The body can't digest whole grains as quickly as it can highly processed carbohydrates such as white flour. This keeps blood sugar and insulin levels from rising, then falling, too quickly. Better control of blood sugar and insulin can keep hunger at bay and may prevent the development of type 2 diabetes.
• Plant Oils
  Olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut, and other vegetable oils, as well as fatty fish such as salmon are good sources of healthy unsaturated fats. These healthy fats not only improve cholesterol leels (when eaten in place of highly processed carbohydrates) but can also protect the heart from rhythm problems.
• Vegetables (in abundance) and Fruits (2 to 3 times)
  A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can decrease the chances of having a heart attack or stroke, protect against a variety of cancers, lower blood pressure and guard against cataract.
• Nuts and Legumes (1 to 3 times)
  Nuts and legumes are excellent sources of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Legumes include black beans, navy beans, garbanzos, and other beans that are usually sold dried.
• Fish, Poultry, and Eggs (0 to 2 times)
  These are important sources of protein. Eating fish can reduce the risk of heart disease. Chicken and turkey are also good sources of protein and at the same time they are low in saturated fat. An egg is also a much better breakfast than a doughnut cooked in an oil rich in trans fats or a bagel made from refined flour.
• Dairy or Calcium Supplement (1 to 2 times)
  Dairy products are the main source of calcium, however, they contain a lot of saturated fat. Thus, use no-fat or low-fat dairy products or take calcium supplements to get your daily calcium.
• Red Meat and Butter (Use Sparingly)
  These sit at the top of the Healthy Eating Pyramid because they contain lots of saturated fat. If you eat red meat every day, switching to fish or chicken several times a week can improve cholesterol levels. So can switching from butter to olive oil.
• White Rice, White Bread, Potatoes, Pasta, and Sweets (Use Sparingly)
  These all-American staples are at the top because they can cause fast and excessive increases in blood sugar that can lead to weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic disorders. Whole-grain carbohydrates cause slower, steadier increases in blood sugar that don't overwhelm the body's ability to handle them.
• Multiple Vitamin
  A daily multivitamin, multimineral supplement can fill in the nutrient holes that may sometimes affect even the most careful eaters.
• Alcohol (in moderation)
  Many studies have shown that an alcoholic drink a day lowers the risk of heart disease. Moderation is very important, since alcohol has risks as well as benefits. For men, a good balance point is 1 to 2 drinks a day. For women, it's at most one drink a day.

1. A medium size bowl of cereal with low fat 1% or 2% milk:
   Oatmeal, all bran with few raisins or fruit, old-fashioned oatmeal, special K, or any other high fiber cereal. No cheerios, cornflakes, sugar cereals.
   
2. 1 egg or 2 egg whites with whole wheat toast. Slice of Canadian or turkey bacon or low fat cheese. Glass of low fat milk. Can add chocolate syrup.
3. Low fat milk or yogurt blended with fruits (smoothie). One whole wheat toast with peanut butter.
   No waffles, pancakes, bagels, doughnuts or white bread allowed.
   

1. Whole wheat or multigrain bread or pita filled with turkey, tuna, grilled chicken with low fat mayo or mustard , tomato and lettuce.
   
2. A bowl of non-cream based vegetable or chicken soup with a slice of whole wheat bread. Low fat yogurt or fruit. Diet drink, water or low fat milk.
3. A medium portion of pasta with tomato sauce, + vegetables. Low fat yogurt or a fruit. Diet drink or water.

• Watch your portion size. Limiting daily calorie intake is the single most important key to controlling weight. One serving is the size of a deck of cards or a fist full (3-4 ounces).
  Weigh-in regularly.
• Keep your weight and your child’s weight from creeping up. Weigh-in regularly.
• Eat fewer bad fats and more good fats. Fats from nuts, seeds, grains, fish, and liquid oil (including olive oil, canola, soybean, corn, sunflower, peanut and other vegetable oils) are good for you, especially when you eat them instead of saturated or trans fat.
  Go easy on: saturated fats such as butter, margarine, whole fat dairy products, red meat, bacon fat or lard.
  Avoid: Trans fat such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oils or vegetable shortening.
• Eat lots of vegetables but hold the potatoes.
• Eat fewer refined carbohydrates and more whole-grain carbohydrates. True whole grain products should list as the main ingredient whole wheat, whole oats, whole rye, or some other whole-grain cereal.
• It is important to read food labels closely as "made with wheat flour" may be a whole grain product or it may be an advertising gimmick—as the silkiest, most refined white cake flour is made with wheat flour. Bran cereals and wheat germ also aren’t technically whole-grain foods.
• Take a multivitamin for insurance!
  
  

Nutritional Handbook

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