The trials and tribulations of choosing a healthy diet

Choosing to eat a healthy diet isn't always easy. All around us there is temptation to eat things that are bad for us. Characteristics of a healthy diet include: low in fat, sodium and cholesterol. A healthy diet is high in vitamins, whole grains, lean proteins and has a variety of fruits and vegetables. The ideal diet also includes low fat or no fat dairy. Reading food labels is extremely important to having a healthy, well balanced diet. Food labels must include; the name of the product, the name and address of the manufacturer, distributer or packer, the net contents, the nutrient contents, the ingredients and essential warnings. The nutrition facts panel contains; serving size ( A single serving that provides the calorie and nutrient amounts listed), servings per container (the number of servings per box), calories/ calories from fat (the total food energy per serving and energy from fat), and nutrient amounts and percentages of daily values. The nutrient amounts include; total fat, milligrams of cholesterol, milligrams of sodium, total grams of carbohydrates and grams of protein.

As I stated above, healthy choices can be hard to make. On a daily basis we are surrounded by unhealthy choices that are made to look appealing. I'm going to take Olive Garden for an example because that's one of my personal favorites. Let me show you what a typical olive garden meal looks like for me:

 I start with some chicken and gnocci soup....

Then I usually have some raviloi di portobello....

That's not including dessert or drinks but lets tally up what I just ate....

The chicken and gnocci soup has 250 calories, 8 grams of fat, 3 of which are saturated, 1180 mgs of sodium, 29 grams of carbs and 16 grams of protein. The ravioli has 450 calories, 19 grams of fat 11 of which are saturated, 960 mg of sodium, 56 grams of carbs and 18 grams of protein.

My meal just cost me 700 calories, 27 grams of fat and 72 grams of carbs. Yikes. The fact of the matter is though, that it tastes good and even knowing the nutritional content won't stop me from eating this every once in awhile.

References:

http://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/images/product/d-chicken-and-gnocchi-soup-dpv.jpg

http://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/images/product/OG_RaviolidiPortobello_Lunch_detail.jpg

Olive Garden, 2014. Nutrition Guide. Retrieved from http://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/olive_garden_nutrition.pdf

Sizer, F. & Whitney, E. (2013). Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.