Eating healthy is important all year long but March is “National Nutrition Month”, and reminds us of the importance of healthy eating. Good nutrition is beneficial to your overall healthy and can help you maintain a healthy weight along with reducing your risk for chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes. This month gives you a chance to make changes to your current lifestyle and include healthy eating habits.

This month try something new:

• Include protein, fat and carbohydrates every time you eat. Including a combination of these three macronutrients provides your body with the perfect balance it needs to function optimally.

Carbohydrates get bad rap but they are your body’s main fuel source. Carbohydrates include fruit, vegetables, legumes, beans, dairy products, whole grain breads and cereals and brown rice. The best carbohydrate choices are vegetables and can be consumed in unlimited amounts.

Protein is essential for your muscles and when combined with carbohydrates it helps keep your blood sugar stable.

Fats are just as important to eat as protein and carbohydrates. Fat is not going to make you fat if you’re picking the right type of fat. Healthy fats include olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds, salmon and sardines. These fats can help lower triglyceride levels and raise HDL (good) cholesterol, ultimately reducing your risk of heart disease.

• Eat breakfast everyday. Breakfast revs up your metabolism and balances your blood sugar level. A balanced blood sugar increases your energy, focus and in turn stabilizes your mood.
• Practice portion control. Pay attention to serving sizes-a general rule for starches is a half cup cooked cereal, grain or starchy vegetables. A serving of fruit is about the size of a tennis ball. A serving of protein- 3 ounces of meat or about the size of a deck of cards. A fat serving- 1 teaspoon or about the size of 4 dimes stacked. A serving of dairy- 1 cup.
• Practice the “plate method”.  Half of your plate should be filled with non-starchy vegetables, one fourth should be filled with whole grains and one fourth should be filled with lean protein.
• Get Moving. Increasing your physical activity improves your overall health and helps you maintain a healthy weight.