Corey McMickle

We’re truly living in a time completely different than before. What was once a childhood chore to scrounge up extra money by mowing the neighbors grass has led to people mowing everyone else’s yards except for their own and making a full time job out of it. There was a time where a chord spanned the length of the house and held you and whoever you were on the phone with still in contact as you fold the laundry. Now we’re able to drive into oncoming traffic as we sit in our cars texting and driving wirelessly. There was also a time when kitchens weren’t solely on the television being remodeled.

Let’s be honest, what’s the going rate for a decent home cooked meal at your house in a week? Once, twice, three times a week? Regardless, you can’t put a price on a home cooked meal, but when you try, most of the time the price is being paid through your health. As much as I can tell you to hit heavy weights and train your butt off, you’ll honestly never be able to out-train a fork. So why not start your fitness in the kitchen rather than the gym.

Fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, oils and protein foods; all these are what you should be plating in front of you and your family. So why are we settling for a whopper and fries? Convenience! You know what else is convenient? McDonald’s is located directly in front of our hospital…

Like I mention in prior articles, I’m not a certified nutritionist. For me to spit out a meal plan to accommodate everyone would cost me a fortune in lawsuits because I told that one person to eat something that they were deathly allergic to. What I can do (safely anyway) is send you in the right direction.

Choosemyplate.gov. Here’s the staple of figuring out what food falls in what category, and how much in general you’ll need to consume for a healthy nutrition plan. Take fifteen minutes off of your “Facebooking” and get to know what food groups are falling to the wayside in your diet. Basically that’s the hardest part, but another crucial part is timing. When you eat has a huge impact on a lot of scenarios throughout the day as well.

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Truer words have never been spoken. How do you expect to sleep for six plus hours and assume you’re in peak condition to function, simply by skipping out on breakfast? Get your metabolism going with grains, dairy, and some fruits. Grains help with providing key carbohydrates and often consist of ingredients that’ll help curb your hunger until lunch. The fruit and dairy help replenish amino acids and with the carbohydrates from fruits they’ll; hopefully, help keep your sweet tooth in check. Hmm, three items off the list in one meal? Tough.

Lunch time, who doesn’t love a salad? A good salad can tackle your vegetables, oils, and if you’re not too old school, maybe your protein as well. Be reasonable with the salad dressing because that; alongside some nuts or seeds, can tackle your oil intake easily.

Even if you shy away from topping any meat from your greens, there’s always dinner.

Here’s where the meats and beans are meant to be consumed, with the family. Don’t go crazy with the sides. No one is holding a gun to your head making you bake that potato with your meat. Focus on a reasonable size meat and highlight on an area you may have avoided early today… OTHER THAN GRAINS! I prefer people tend to trim their carbohydrates later in the day. Studies have shown that late night carb-binges lead to people still having a misconception that they’re full and aren’t willing to scarf down breakfast.

I understand I had to be extremely broad with this piece, but it was something I knew I had to address as I was filling my own shopping cart last week. Starving yourself is never going to make you healthy and not informing yourself on proper food purchases is just as defecating, Hopefully you take the first step towards a nutritional and healthy life.