Actabit Nutrition News A monthly newsletter about healthy nutrition By Hope Elpis, Actabit.Com =========================================== In this issue: >> How to choose a healthy diet =========================================== Weight loss success depends on the diet you choose. Before starting a diet, review it carefully. Does the diet include intake from all food groups? If the diet significantly reduces or eliminates food from one or more food groups, you risk not getting all the nutrients required for health. Balanced diet is rich in fruit and vegetables and contains whole grains, dairy, meat and beans. The diet must be low in saturated fats and added sugars. Some ads promise very rapid weight loss. However, slow but steady is the best way to lose weight. Accepted standard is 0.5 to 1.0 pound per week. You cannot lose weight without changing your eating habits and increasing your activity level. To shed pounds, you need to burn more calories than you get from food. To lose a pound, you need to burn 3500 calories. When trying to create a calorie deficit, you may think that skipping meals is a good way to go. However, it is not so. When you skip meals, your metabolism slows down. You should eat four to five small meals a day. To lose excess pounds and then maintain a healthy weight, choose a diet that includes a great variety of food, eat several small meals a day, never skip breakfast and adhere to an active lifestyle. Till next time. Yours, Hope hope@actabit.com