What should I be eating?

I'm beginning a slightly new direction with this post. I am going to change this blog from being about gardening to about how to live a healthy lifestyle. Everyone knows that in order to have a healthy lifestyle, then need to do things like quit smoking, minimal if any alcohol, proper rest (7-9 hours per night), plenty of exercise and proper food for good nutrition. It's in the implementation that we often fall short. How do we do what we know is good for us?

When I was in nursing school, we had to take one semester of nutrition and in it I learned that we needed to divide our calorie intake by the percentage of our daily caloric intake should be in carbohydrates, fats and proteins. The percentage at the time was suggested at 30% fats, 30% proteins and 40% carbohydrates. From a recent study that I saw, these percentages should be changed to 40% fats, 30% proteins and 30% carbohydrates if our intention is to lose weight.

The reason, according to the study is that it takes more energy to burn fats than it does carbohydrates. Because digesting fats take more energy, the process takes longer. Yes, fats have 9 calories per gram and carbohydrates only have 4 calories per gram and you would think that because carbohydrates have only 4 calories per gram, because you can eat more, you will feel satisfied longer but that is not the case. When you eat more of your calorie intake as fats, you will maintain an even blood sugar level longer because it's taking the fats longer to digest. If you take more calories as carbohydrates, your blood sugar rises faster, your insulin kicks in and cleans up the excess sugar storing the 'extra calories' as fat and suddenly you're hungry again. Not only that but that 'sugar stored as fat' will be harder for your body to use. It will want to go for lean muscles tissue before it goes after that fat. You will not only be hungry again but you will be decreasing your metabolism because you are feeding on lean muscle tissue. Worse yet, your pancreas will be working over time to produce insulin and can wear out. This is one of the chief causes of Diabetes type II.

By switching the percentages, you will slowly be feeding your body the fuel it needs and your body will maintain the energy it needs to maintain a good metabolism.