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Lesson Plan Eight - Lifestyle
Maintenance Tips
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Nutrition Tip: Barriers that Cause Poor Eating Choices
Physical Activity Tip:
Barriers to Being Physically Active
Behavior Tip: Slow Down your Eating
Handouts:
- American Heart Association Meal Planner
Additional Items Needed:
A demonstration will involve passing out a food
item. This can vary depending on your budget and time. The food could
be a cooked food item or a packaged ready-to-eat food (cracker, cheese
stick, apple slice, etc., just no cookies please!) This part of the
lesson is to supplement the "Behavior Tip" section. When
everyone has been served, ask participants to take a bite of the food.
You will discuss four things: the bite size, the chewing process,
tasting the food, and the texture of the food. Refer to the
"Behavior Tip" section.
Class: (Print
Version) 
Nutrition Tip - Barriers that Cause Poor
Eating Choices
There are many factors in our daily lives that can
interfere with making good food choices. The goal in maintenance is to
have healthy choices become the natural and easy selections. Below are
just a few of the many lifestyle challenges that can interfere with
healthy eating.
Problem: Coming home tired and not wanting to
cook.
Possible solution: Fast, Easy Suppers.
A great meal does not have to be complicated. Start
with meat, fish or beans, add ready veggies and some pantry staples,
and you have a meal. It is recommended that a meal have at least three
foods from different food groups; including choices from each food
group will help provide balance and variety as you plan your meals.
Slow-cooker meals may be a solution to a busy
schedule. In the morning add meat, liquids, seasonings or other
ingredients to the cooker and turn it on. For those who have a
removable liner, the pre-preparation can be done the night before and
kept in the refrigerator until the morning when you're ready to start
cooking. Then at dinnertime, prepare side dishes, such as a fresh
vegetable and sliced fruit or a green salad and rolls. Another benefit
of the slow-cooker meal is that it does not heat up the kitchen.
Planning a week's worth of menus at a time gives you
both flexibility and control. (Handout 1)
Problem: You want to snack after
supper.
Possible solution: Ask yourself if you are
really hungry or just bored. If you are watching television, try
getting up and doing something else. Sometimes a no-calorie,
caffeine-free beverage will curb your appetite. Do some type of
physical activity, such as sit ups or leg lifts, or move to a
different location in the room. Find something to keep your hands and
mind busy, perhaps simple housekeeping chores such as dusting or
vacuuming will do the trick.
Problem: You get the afternoon
"munchies" at work and head to the vending machine for
snacks.
Possible solution: Plan for a healthy snack
break. Bring a piece of fresh fruit and keep it on your desk. Are you
concerned the fruit might get old before you actually eat it? Bring
small, lunch-pack sized, water-packed canned fruit. You can keep them
in your desk without having to worry about spoiling. By bringing
several cans, you will have a week's supply of snacks.
Problem: Your find yourself going out to eat
several times a week.
Possible solution: If you are eating out and
want to eat less fat, choose foods that are broiled, grilled, baked,
boiled, roasted, poached or steamed. Try fish, skinless poultry, lean
red meats, salads, pasta with tomato sauce, fresh fruits and
vegetables, whole-grain items, and frozen ices, sorbets, sherbets and
nonfat yogurt. Stay away from cream sauces and gravies, as well as
batter-dipped or fried foods. Try selecting a salad and an appetizer
instead of an entree. Share an entree and select water instead of tea
or cola. Ask for a take out container at the beginning of the meal. Go
ahead and put half of the meal in the box for another meal time.
Physical Activity Tip - Barriers to Being
Physically Active
Problem: Sometimes Alabama's weather does not
encourage outside activity. (Either too cold or too hot!)
Possible solution: Find ways to increase your
steps during the day while inside. For example, at work, go to the
restroom on a different floor, or take the stairs instead of the
elevator. The same can apply at home; go the long way to get to the
room you need. Find inside exercise possibilities at work, such as
walking meetings or chair exercises. At home, try inside exercises
such as a jumping rope, doing floor exercises, or using exaggerated
movements while doing household chores, like sweeping or mopping.
Problem: Once home from work, I do not want
to go back out to the gym.
Possible solution: Keep a change of clothes
and shoes in the car for the gym. Stop by the gym on your way home.
Problem: Family obligations don't permit time
for the gym.
Possible solution: Do you have young children
at home? Make time to help them with physical activities. You will be
the best role model to teach your children that physical activity can
be fun for the whole family. Do you have older parents or family
members that require more time? Encourage exercises as their health
permits. Perhaps chair exercises are a possibility. Strength building
exercises, as discussed in Lesson 6 can be very beneficial for you
both!
Behavior Change Tip - Slow Down Your Eating
We often eat quickly and are not even aware of
eating habits that can cause overeating. The following make a
difference in how much and how fast we eat.
-
Size of bite - Take a bite of food, chew it, and
swallow it. What size was the bite? Was it the average size you
take? Could it have been smaller? Many people can take smaller
bites of food, instead of gulping a food down. Now take a second
bite that is half the size of the first bite. Taking smaller bites
will help the food last longer. It also gives time for the stomach
to send a message to the brain that it is full.
-
The chewing process - Some stomach problems
would be eliminated if we chewed our foods better. Take a third
bite of food and chew the food about 20 to 50 times (depending on
the food selected). You may be uncomfortable in chewing this long,
but remember, you are relearning a process. Again, this process
helps the stomach tell the brain we are full, as well as being the
first important step in the digestion process.
-
Tasting the food - The fourth bite of food is
for tasting, really tasting the flavors of the food. Describe the
flavors you taste when you slow down, take smaller bites, and chew
more. Hold the fourth bite of food in your mouth to really taste
the food.
-
Texture - Hold the food in your mouth for a few
seconds before you start chewing. Feel the food and feel the
different textures of the food in your mouth. When you chew
slowly, concentrate on the different textures the food becomes and
try to describe them.
The above exercises are to help you stop when
feeling full, not when past full. Many people eat so fast that the
brain and hormones from the small intestine do not talk to each other.
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