March is Nutrition Month and this year’s campaign is focused on the challenges women face with healthy living.

Challenge #5: Maintaining a healthy weight.

*[Image Goes Here]*     One of the biggest challenges women face is maintaining a healthy body weight and body image. Menarche, pregnancy, menopause and aging contribute to weight gain and increased fat storage in women. Being overweight increases the risk of developing several life-threatening diseases. At the same time women face huge social pressures to maintain lean bodies like those promoted in the media. Many women strive unsuccessfully to lose weight often using dangerous methods to do so. It is important that women identify if they are a healthy body weight and if not, take healthy steps to correct any weight problems.

Solution: Know what a healthy weight is by checking the “healthy body quiz” at www.dietitians.ca/eatwell. If you need to lose weight know that diets don’t work. In most cases, weight is lost initially but regained along with a few extra pounds. Dieting often promotes feelings of failure, depression and lowered self-esteem. Successful strategies for achieving a healthy weight include adopting life-long healthy lifestyle habits such as:

• Eating breakfast every day to get energized and prevent hunger attacks which may lead to overeating or snacking on less nutritious choices later in the day.
   
• Eating meals that include a variety of foods from each of the four food groups in Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating.
   
• Focusing on high fibre foods such as breads, cereals, grain products, vegetables and fruit, and legumes.
   
• Choosing lower fat foods more often such as lower fat dairy products and leaner cuts of meat. Cutting back on high fat snacks, rich desserts, sauces and gravies, and salad dressings and spreads.
   
• Preparing foods with little or no fat and choosing cooking methods such as baking, braising, broiling, roasting, steaming, micro-waving or poaching.
   
• Including meals featuring meat alternatives such as soy products, legumes, and eggs.
   
• Combine healthy eating with regular physical activity.

Challenge: Finding time to eat well on the run.

Solution: Stock up on some tasty foods that are easy to grab on the go such as raw fruit and vegetables, yogurt, milk, cheese, whole grain muffins or crackers, and bite-sized cereals. Take along a travel mug or thermos of soup.

Challenge: Finding the time to be active for 60 minutes per day.

Solution: Spread physical activity throughout your daily routine. Get started by:  *[Image Goes Here]*

• Walking for 10 minutes several times per day – walk to the store or mailbox, walk during your lunch hour, or join a friend for a morning or evening walk.
   
• Walking briskly, jogging, cycling, swimming, skipping or dancing for 20 minutes or more.
   
• Substituting an activity break for a coffee break – bend, stretch, and flex to keep your muscles relaxed and joints mobile for 10 minutes at a time.
   
• Trying 10 minutes of muscle strengthening or weight resistance activities such as sit-ups, push-ups or weights while you watch TV or before you go to bed.
   
• Taking a break and play actively with your kids for 10 minutes or more.

Information adapted from the Dietitians of Canada 2003 Nutrition Month Campaign. Visit the Dietitians of Canada website www.dietitians.ca/eatwell or www.tbdhu.com for recipe ideas, nutrition tips, fact sheets, and healthy eating solutions.

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