From Paige Waehner,
Your Guide to Exercise.
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Whatever your goal is, nutrition is a big part of it.  You need a healthy diet to help you lose weight and keep your body in top shape to perform all the things you do in a day.  So, how do you know if your diet is healthy?  You should take a look at the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid to figure out if you're getting the recommended number of servings of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, etc. 

Your first step is to analyze your diet to find out how many calories you're eating and whether you're getting all your nutrients. Once you've compared your diet to the USDA's recommended diet, you might need to make a few changes. Rather than trying a trendy diet that might not be safe, try to make small changes in your diet each day.  For example, if you usually skip breakfast, make it your goal to eat something every morning. Skipping breakfast can actually slow your metabolism down, which won't help if you're trying to lose weight.

Here are easy ways to Cut 100 or More Calories each day.

Experts also recommend that you eat smaller meals 5 or 6 times throughout the day to keep your blood sugar on a nice even level. Also, eating more frequently actually speeds up your metabolism. You never thought you'd have to eat to lose weight, did you? The trick is to:

• Keep track of what you're eating...no more mindless munching!
• Be aware of emotional eating or nibbling out of boredom. Find out what triggers this type of eating and keep yourself busy during those urges to munch.
• Stay hydrated. Often a feeling of hunger is actually your body telling you it's thirsty.  Drink up!
• Eat lots of fruits and veggies...the fiber will help you feel full and your body will thank for all the vitamins and minerals.
• If you're starving, eat! When you wait to long, you may end up eating more food to satisfy that gnawing hunger.

More Resources:

• How Much Protein Do You Need?
• Nutrition

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