A Healthier You Starts in the Kitchen

It is said that a healthy lifestyle is made 20% in the gym and 80% in the kitchen. Thus, it is crucial that you are not only staying physically active, but also putting the right things into your body. Researchers are constantly finding out new things about how food can affect us. It is very evident that certain foods can cause harm and in some cases chronic disease, while others can help prevent them. Often times, we don't notice the poor choices we make in terms of diet, simply because we may be unaware of certain nutritional information, or of our specific body composition and what we should be consuming. However, once you educate yourself with the correct information, altering your diet into a healthy one won't be a difficult task at all. The thing to understand is, you can work out 8 hours a day, but if you aren't eating the right amount of the right things, your body won't respond how you want it to. Also, take this into perspective; a 7 year old child can eat macaroni and cheese every day and be fine, but that is not a good idea for any fully developed person. You have to take into account your body composition and individual metabolism to find the right amount of macros that you should be consuming daily. The easiest way to do so is following the food guide pyramid and trying to make the best choices on the foods and drinks you consume Lets look at a regular day, and some of the choices you may be faced with throughout, if you were eating at Panera Bread for every meal. It may be unrealistic, but many of the foods that they serve are common regardless of where they come from. In addition, it is a great way to determine good choices from bad ones. Many people think that skipping breakfast is a good way to curb calories. According to a 2011 study by the market research company NPD group, about 18% of males and 13% of females skip breakfast daily. What those men and women don't know is that eating breakfast is actually one of the most important