Healthy eating tips

[ background music ] female voice 1: the hardest thing is just coming home from a day of work and making dinner. female voice 2: planning dinner. that’s the big one. female voice 3: the hardest thing about eating healthyis the junk food. male voice 1: especially the propaganda on tv. they suggest some of the kind of food.

female voice 4: it’s hard to eat fruits and vegetablesbecause some of them, i don’t like. female voice 5: it’s difficult for me just trying tomanage a household, manage work, and manage this house. ms. natalie webb: does that sound familiar? eating tasty food is one of life’s most enjoyableexperiences, but all the planning and shopping and cooking ofhealthy foods can seem overwhelming at times. [ background music ]female voice 1: i think it’s a combinationof time and creativity.

ms. webb: and if you add a teen to the mix? female voice 1: it’s a lot more difficult to control. they have money. she works. she has change in her pocket. she can stop and get things. ms. webb: the whole business can seem downrightimpossible, right? female voice 2: you feel like, “i don’t feel likecooking this week,” and it’s, like, “okay. i give in.

we’re going to go to mcdonald’s.” ms. webb: well, i have some good news. my name is natalie webb. i’m a nutritionist and a registered dietician. my message is simple. healthy foods can be fun, easy, and personal. now, what we all want is food that tastes good, isquick and easy to prepare, nutritious, and economical, but can we get everything we want?

absolutely. [ background conversation ]clarice: natalie, come on in. ms. webb: okay. thanks.clarice: did you have any problems with the directions?[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: clarice is a single mom who lives with herdaughter, alexis, and other family members. they know the importance of eating healthy, but theywant to make it a part of their daily lives. i’m going to give them some of my best tips forgetting more of what they want without having to make big changes

in who they are. one of the most important things is to have a plan, sowe need to get our menus together for about a week. i like to say you can paint your own picture of ahealthy life. i have a great minestrone soup that you can do on theweekend. it’s packed with a lot of great vegetables. when you plan your meals, you want to choose foodsthat make up a healthy diet.[ background conversation ]one of the first things that we have to do is get a list together. alexis: hey, mom. i’m hungry.

clarice: well, what do you want to eat? alexis: how about a smoothie? clarice: okay. i think we have all the ingredients. alexis: natalie, would you like one? ms. webb: yeah, i’d love to have one, thanks.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: one way alexis and her mom eat healthy andhave fun is by making different kinds of smoothies, a great way toget extra

calcium and fruit. all it takes to make a smoothie is fat-free or low-fat yogurt or milk, fruit, and ice. put it all in the blender, and blend until it’s foamy. how easy is this? i like to make a batch ahead of time and pop them inthe freezer for later. [ background conversation ]clarice: natalie, we’re going to have a problem with

alexis and the peas. ms. webb: so she’s not a pea fan?clarice: no, not at all. ms. webb: okay. well, we can make a substitution. how about corn or green beans? clarice: yeah, either one of those will work.[ end background conversation ]ms. webb: it’s okay if your family doesn’t love everynutritious food. the important thing is to keep trying. even small, healthy changes can add up to a bigdifference. [ background conversation ]alexis: here you go, guys.

clarice: oh, those look good. ms. webb: thank you. guys, do you like fried chicken? alexis: oh, yeah.clarice: yeah. who doesn’t? ms. webb: well, i have a great one that’s oven baked,instead of fried, so a lot less fat, and it uses corn flakes tomake it nice and crispy. you want to try it? clarice: yes, let me see it.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: besides reminding us to mix new,

healthier foods with ones we’re used to buying, making a list saves us time and money. when something unhealthy catches your eye, it’s easy to walk right on by, if it’s not on ourlist. [ background conversation ]alexis: cupcakes. let’s get cupcakes. clarice: no, they’re not on the list. alexis: yes they are. see, cupcakes. ms. webb: not quite. we’re going to make sure we’re going to fill up ourbasket with

some healthier food choices for us, so it’s a goodthing that we had a snack before we came in here. we have our list to keep us on tack.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: with about 30,000 items in the averageamerican supermarket, you’re going to face a lot of toughchoices, so use this simple battle plan. armed with your list, start with the produce, move onto the canned goods and the grains, and finish with thefrozen foods, dairy, and meat.

[ background conversation ]ms. webb: all right, you guys, we’re in my favorite section of the store. the great thing about this soup is that it’s packedwith a variety of vegetables for us. what’s on our list that we need to make sure that weget? clarice: we have green beans. we have broccoli, cabbage, and celery. ms. webb: well, the great thing is that all thosethings are in season, and when we look for foods that are in season,they’re

going to be lower in cost and they’re going to have great flavor. alexis: okay.ms. webb: i’ll get the cabbage alexis: all right.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: if the fresh fruit or vegetable you’relooking for isn’t in season, try frozen or canned — and here is when youbecome a detective. your mission? finding healthy canned or packaged foods.

your clues? the information on the nutrition label. [ background conversation ]clarice: tomatoes. we need a pound of diced, canned tomatoes. ms. webb: a pound of diced, canned tomatoes. there’s lots of varieties here to choose from. one of the things you want to be careful about is theones that are flavored. they often add sugar.

the one way to find that out is to look at theingredient list. you’ll see that we have tomatoes. we have tomato juice. then we have high fructose corn syrup — another name for sugar — so it’s going to be a way that sneaks in a lot of calories.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: a lot of times, sugar and salt sneak intoall kinds of canned foods, but just like everything else in thecan, they leave clues on the nutrition label.

what do we look for? check your servings. how many servings are you getting? how much fat, sugar, and salt are in each serving? we want foods low in saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol, as well as foods that are low in sodiumor salt. we don’t want to sugarcoat it. look for foods and drinks low in added sugars. you can tell if a food is low in fats, sodium, andsugar by

cluing in to the “percent of daily values” column. five percent dv or less is low, 20 percent or more ishigh. next, check the list of nutrients. pay special attention for potassium, fiber, vitamins aand c, calcium, and iron. foods with 20 percent or more dv of these healthynutrients are a great choice for your family. [ background conversation ]clarice: we need some kidney beans. ms. webb: kidney beans, okay.

there are lots of options here. here’s some kidney beans right here for us.clarice: okay. ms. webb: kidney beans are a great source of fiber forus. it’s a good source of protein. we’re going to have meatless meals, like havingminestrone soup. it has very similar nutrient content, just like if wehad meat, or fish, or poultry. but there’s a surprise in here for us. let’s take a look at the label and see what the

surprise might be. when we look at the sodium — 360 milligrams of sodium — that’s a lot.clarice: that is pretty high. ms. webb: it is very high. and especially for people that are salt sensitive, wehave the tendency to retain more water with that. it causes our blood pressure to go up, and we need tobe careful about how much salt we have. look at — this one is no salt added,

and we turn it over, look at the sodium content, 10 milligrams. alexis: much better. ms. webb: much better.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: the same detective work kicks in when we getto the cereal aisle, and sometimes it’s even more of a challenge,because our choices can be even more confusing and tempting. [ background conversation ]alexis: okay. corn flakes for the chicken. oh, look, mom, your favorite cereal —

marshmallowy goodness in every bite. clarice: we’ll just stick with this. alexis: but they’re so colorful. ms. webb: when it comes to cereal, there’s a lot ofoptions for us. when we look at cereal, they’re going to be fortifiedwith vitamins and minerals, just what we need. it’s great as a breakfast. we know breakfast is an important meal for us to have, especially before you head on out to school, but also,it’s a

great snack. we want to be careful about how much sugar is added,but this is also a great place for us to get more fiber. so when we look at the boxes, we want to make surethat they have whole grains in there.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: the whole grains aren’t the only clue. some foods advertise whole grains and still don’t have a lot of fiber. we also want to check the nutrition panel for at least2⽠grams

of fiber per serving. [ background conversation ] ms. webb: so when we look at fiber, 5 grams. clarice: okay.ms. webb: this definitely will make the match. this is lightly sweetened, so for that sweet toothwhen you want a sweetened cereal, go for the lightly sweetened. alexis: but there’s no colors. ms. webb: we can add strawberries. they’ll be red.alexis: yay. female voice 1: cereal, i love eating cereal. female voice 2: a bowl of cereal and a ham sandwich.

female voice 3: bacon and grits. female voice 4: at school — because my bus gets thereearly — they have breakfast in the cafeteria. female voice 5: they usually serve pancakes withsausages, french toast sticks. female voice 6: i’m not probably as good as i shouldbe, but i usually grab some fruit in the morning. female voice 7: i take a large cappuccino with me towork, and then i maybe remember to take an orange or an apple,but more

often, i don’t remember. and then i usually don’t eat anything, except maybe afew pieces of candy from the woman who has the office a coupledoors down from me, and then i come home famished. [ background conversation ]ms. andrea gomez: [ foreign audio ] ms. webb: mornings are a crazy time for most families, with everyone getting ready for work and school. helman and andrea gomez know that the key to a healthystart is a good breakfast, which they prepare for their threechildren

every day. [ background conversation ]mr. helman gomez: [ foreign audio ] [ foreign audio ] [ end background conversation ] ms. webb: breakfast doesn’t have to be limited toeggs, cereal, or a muffin. some days, helman even bakes a fish and vegetables for breakfast. for those of us who don’t have much time to cook, apeanut

butter sandwich on whole wheat will do nicely — oreven heat up a slice of last night’s veggie pizza. there are so many fun ways of mixing up foods:substituting one for another, making a breakfast food for dinner, or adinner food for breakfast. just don’t get stuck. the point is to fuel up your kid’s day with healthyfood, whatever your choice. female voice 1: healthy eating, to me, is

really important because, since i do sports, it reallyplays a dominant role. female voice 2: having a lot of whole grains. female voice 3: i would say a variety of things, alittle bit from each food group. female voice 4: eat your vegetables and fruit, anddon’t eat junk food that much. female voice 5: eat a lot of salads, a lot ofvegetables.

female voice 6: balance. [ background conversation ]ms. webb: hey, what’s next on the list? clarice: we have carrots, carrots to go in theminestrone soup. ms. webb: okay. great.we have carrots right here. a couple of things that i wanted to point out to youis that when it comes to frozen vegetables, they’re just as nutritious as fresh. clarice: i thought i was cheating if i wasn’t usingfresh vegetables and i went and got something that wasfrozen.

ms. webb: oh, absolutely not. it’s a shortcut, and when they pick fresh vegetables,right before they freeze them, they freeze them within ashort period of time. it locks in the nutrients. here’s some peas, alexis, your favorite. alexis: eww. ms. webb: should i pick up a pack for the soup? alexis: oh, please, no.[ end background conversation ]

ms. webb: remember the parenting advice “pick yourbattles”? it holds true for picky eaters. considering our choices, why make an issue over peas,or broccoli, or meat? alexis: is there something else we could use? ms. webb: we could substitute some corn instead. alexis: much better.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: our goal is to provide healthy food that our family will enjoy.

next to the last stop, the dairy aisle. [ background conversation ]clarice: we need some milk for the chicken. ms. webb: that actually reminds me of something. this is one area that, typically, teen girls fallshort. it’s that you don’t get enough calcium-rich dairyfoods. it’s not only important during our teen years, butit’s also important for us as adult women. how many do you think we actually need to have eachday? alexis: maybe about three?

ms. webb: you’re right on the money, three every day. do you get three? alexis: probably not. not on a daily basis. clarice: she’s lactose intolerant, so she doesn’tdrink a lot of milk.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: if you’re lactose intolerant, it doesn’tmean you have to be dairy intolerant. it’s actually a matter of degree. you can drink lactose-free milk, or a less expensivealternative

is lactase tablets or drops. you can have aged cheese, like cheddar cheese, or youcan have low-fat or fat-free yogurt. but we all need those three servings each day. they’re really important for strong bones. after buying dairy products, we end our shopping tripat the fresh meats and poultry aisle. why the last stop? because we want those items to stay cold as long aspossible.

also, be sure to always wrap meat, chicken, and fishin plastic, and keep them separated from the rest of the items inyour cart. let’s stop and talk about fish for a minute. fish is so good for us, but it can seem confusing ifyou’re not used to it. when you buy fish, check the flesh. it should be firm and shiny, and spring back when youpress it. dull flesh may mean that the fish is old. check the smell.

fish should smell fresh, not fishy. fish may seem exotic and complicated, but preparing itis quick and easy, and it’s delicious. andrea is baking some cod, but you could use catfish, flounder, salmon, or any kind of fishfilet for this recipe. all she does is mix tomatoes, onions, cilantro, andlime juice. pour it over the fish, and pop it in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes.

yum, that looks great. eating healthy doesn’t have to be complicated, and it’s a lot more about quality than quantity. in fact, you’d be surprised at the size of a healthyportion of rice, compared to what many people think. a portion of rice or pasta is about a half a cup,which is equal to about the size of a computer mouse or a quarter of your plate. a serving of fish or chicken should be about the

size of a deck of cards, and a serving of vegetable is a half a cup — again, about the size of a computer mouse. having a few extra fruits and vegetables isn’t such abad thing, but you really want to pay attention to portionsizes with treats and sodas. [ background conversation ]ms. webb: okay. alexis, in your bag, you selected some root beer. alexis: yup.

ms. webb: let’s take a look at the label and see how many calories it is. what’s a serving? alexis: a hundred calories per serving. ms. webb: and the serving size is? alexis: about eight fluid ounces. ms. webb: pour in this glass how much you think about eight ounces is. [ pouring sound ]

alexis: here. this is actually eight ounces. alexis: oh, wow.i missed it by quite a bit. ms. webb: do you know how much sugar is in aneight-ounce serving? alexis: maybe about one or two teaspoons? ms. webb: a little bit more than that. actually, it’s about seven teaspoons, and this isseven teaspoons of sugar in this bag. alexis: wow, that’s a lot of sugar.[ end background conversation ]

ms. webb: there are lots of delicious alternatives tosoda. we can combine 100 percent fruit juice with seltzer,add a flavoring to low-fat milk like chocolate orstrawberry, or, even better, choose water. [ background conversation ]clarice: alexis, come over and help me with the corn flakes. alexis: okay, mom.[ end background conversation ] ms. webb: after our shopping trip, clarice and alexisget to work on their new chicken recipe. cooking together is a great chance to bond and havefun.

it’s a pretty easy recipe. they just dip skinless chicken in low-fat milk andseasonings, then they shake it with some crushed corn flakes andspices. [ background conversation ] while the chicken refrigerates, they make the minestrone soup, a yummy mix of vegetables,beans, and pasta. ms. webb: first they saute onions and celery, and thenthey add the rest of the ingredients to the pot.

bring it to a boil. then they let it simmer on its own for 45 minutes. it’s a great recipe to make on the weekend and freezefor later in the week. after the chicken rests in the fridge for an hour,clarice takes it out and pops it in the oven. that’s it. no messy frying pans to clean, and no unhealthy fats in your diet.

male voice 4: first the seed, then the grain. thank you, god, for sudden rain. first a flower, then the bread. thank you, god, that we are fed. amen. female voice 1: amen. ms. webb: cooking and eating with our families is morethan just sharing a meal. we’re sharing our lives with each other.

food creates a common ground in which to strengthen relationships and create memories. [ background conversation ]clarice: it’s not quite like grandma’s old-fashioned vegetable soup, but it comes close. female voice: i think it would be better witha few more peas in it. alexis: oh! ms. webb: we’ve talked a lot about healthy strategieswhen it comes

to eating, but a healthy lifestyle is also about physical activity. regular exercise, at least 30 minutes a day for adultsand 60 minutes for children, is critical for our overallhealth and fitness. it makes us feel good about our body, mind, andspirit. studies show that when parents join their girls inexercise, everyone benefits. female voice 1: i play soccer. i usually playbasketball with my dad.

female voice 2: i jog and i play tennis. i play tennis weekly. she dances. i’ve been looking into — and i asked her — when ibought rollerblades, so we could go rollerblading together,would she go with me, and the verdict is still out. female voice 3: shopping is exercise. female voice 4: i run sometimes. female voice 5: they say jumping is exercise, and ilike doing

double dutch. female voice 6: just playing outside with my brotherand my siblings, just going to the park. female voice 7: i get on the treadmill. i was lifting weights. female voice 8: i go to yoga. i take yoga classes. female voice 9: my favorite form of exercise is dance. female voice 10: volleyball.

female voice 11: for exercise, i walk my dog. male voice 1: i like to go to the park and just walk. sometimes, we do biking. ms. webb: it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. the key is to turn off the tv and the computer and getmoving as often as you can. the important thing is to make exercise a regular partof your family routine. female voice 1: so they can live longer.

female voice 2: not to have bad bones, and not be strong all the time. female voice 3: i just want to make sure everything’sall right with my body. i don’t want anything wrong with me. female voice 4: to prevent the body from getting a lot of diseases, like diabetes, heart diseases.

male voice 1: all of us gained weight, so we decidedto think it over again and try to start with a new menu. female voice 5: especially being african-americansalso, high blood pressure is always an issue, so you want tomake sure that you don’t have the high salt content, because we’re more prone to high blood pressure. female voice 6: probably because you probably livelonger and you feel better about yourself, and you feel betterand you have more energy.

female voice 7: i don’t want to be in danger for allthose health-related risks that comes with being that large,so knowing that could happen. when i was younger, i was large and on the round side. i don’t want to go back to that. female voice 8: feed your brain.it makes your ability to learn easier. female voice 9: it gives you such good self-esteem,like a big self-confidence booster, just to eat healthy and stayfit. ms. webb: what are the main things to remember aboutcreating a

healthy lifestyle? most important, it can be fun and easy, and it doesn’thave to take a lot of time. even a few small steps can lead to big, positivechanges. you can start with a plan. shop with a list. watch the nutrition facts labels for added sugar,salt, and fats.

look for whole grains and fiber in breads and cereals. try adding more fruits and vegetables to your mealsand snacks, and remember, calcium is really important. look for low-fat and fat-free products. when you can, try to cook and eat together as afamily. it is important and fun family time. and lastly, we all need a lot of exercise. growing kids should get at least an hour a day, andit’s great for everyone when parents join in the fun.

you and your family can make choices that work foryou. you can paint your own picture of a healthy life. i’ll see you at the park.