At the heart of healthy eating are the choices we make over time. Healthy eating is being flexible and allowing ourselves to enjoy small amounts of foods that may not be so healthy, sporadically.  Healthy eating is one of the tools in our Self-Management Tool Box, but we all know that changing our eating habits is not easy.  Thankfully, healthy eating doesn’t mean that we have to give up the foods we like or that we have to buy “special” foods.  It simply means learning to make healthier food choices.  Consuming healthy food options has lot of benefits, such as:

1. Being less tired and having more energy
2. Helping control and/or maintain weight
3. Helping control blood sugar, fat and cholesterol
4. Keeping bones and kidneys functioning properly
5. Maintaining the chemical balance in our bodies
6. Helping prevent side effects from medications
7. Helping us control blood pressure
8. Possibly preventing some forms of cancer

Eating a variety of foods is not difficult if we just remember the plate method that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed. Here is the plate for most people.

The plate should be about 9’’ across. The plate is divided in half. Then, each half is divided in two, but notice that the four sections are not of equal size. That is because at each meal, your plate should be:

• On the left side of the plate, a little more vegetables than fruit Dairy Fruits Grains Vegetables Proteins
• On the grain and proteins side, a little more grains than proteins (Grains should be from whole grains, like whole wheat bread and brown rice, etc. Proteins should be from either lean animal or plant sources)

Here are a few guidelines to help us make healthy food choices:

• Eating a variety of foods
• Eating our meals and snacks regularly
• Watching portion size
• Eating breakfast

To be an effective self-manager, it is up to us to find ways to make healthy changes that are best for us, identify any problems and work to resolve them.