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Being healthy and active can
help give you the energy to keep up with the
demands of your busy life, take better care of
yourself, and be there for the people who depend on
you.
If you are overweight and inactive, you are more
likely to get:
You may improve your health if you Move
More and Eat Better! This booklet gives you
tips on how to get moving and eat well even when
your life is busy.
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 Being active and making smart
food choices is good for your health. But that is
not the only reason to move more and eat better.
You can:
-
Have more energy and less stress.
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Feel better about yourself.
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Tone your body.
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Look better in your clothes.
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Set a good example for your children and
your friends.
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Try to do at least 30 minutes of
moderate-intensity physical activity (like brisk
walking) on most days of the week. It is not as
hard as you may think, and you do not have to do
the whole 30 minutes at one time. Try these tips to
get past things that keep you from being
active.
“I don’t have time for physical
activity.”
You can “sneak” it into your day, a few minutes
at a time. Get started by making these small
changes in your daily routine:
-
Get off the bus or subway one stop early and
walk the rest of the way (be sure the area is
safe).
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Take the stairs instead of the elevator (be
sure the stairs are well lit).
-
Walk and talk with a friend at lunch.
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Put more energy into housework and yard
work.
“It’s too
expensive.”
There are lots of ways to be physically active
that are free or low-cost. You can:
-
Find a local school park or school track
where you can walk or run.
-
Walk around a mall.
-
Work out with videos in your home—you can
find workout videos at bookstores or your local
library.
TIP: Most
people do not need to see their health care
provider before getting physically active. If
you have chronic health problems such as
heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes,
osteoporosis, or obesity, talk to your health
care provider before starting a
vigorous physical activity
program. You do not need to talk to your
provider before you start a less strenuous
activity like walking.
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Join a recreation center or fitness center
at work or near your home.
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Walk your dog. If you do not have a dog,
pretend that you do.
“Physical activity is a
chore.”
It can be fun! Try to:
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Do things you enjoy, like walking, dancing,
swimming, or playing sports.
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Walk or take an exercise class with a friend
or a group. This way, you can cheer each other
on, have company, and feel safer when you are
outdoors.
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Be active with your kids—ride bikes, jump
double-dutch, toss a softball, play tag, or do
jumping jacks. Physical activity is good for
them too.
-
Break it up into short blocks of time—taking three 10-minute walks during your day may be
easier than taking one 30-minute walk.
-
Use your daily workouts as time-outs just for
yourself.
TIP: Keep a
physical activity log. Writing down your
workouts in a notebook or on a calendar lets
you see how many times you have been
physically active in a week. You can also use
your log to track your physical activity and
health goals.
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It may be hard to eat healthy
if you do not have time to cook or your kids want
fast food. Try these tips to eat better, save time,
and stretch your food budget:
Help Your Family Eat
Well
Here are some ways that you and your family can
eat better:
-
Eat breakfast every day. Try a
whole-grain cereal like raisin bran with nonfat
or low-fat milk, or whole-wheat toast spread
with jam. Enjoy some fruit with your breakfast
too.
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Teach kids that healthy foods
taste good. Make macaroni and cheese with
nonfat milk and low-fat cheese. Try a peanut
butter (spread thin) and jam or preserves
sandwich instead of a burger and fries.
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Choose nonfat or low-fat milk,
yogurt, and cheese instead of full-fat dairy
products.
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Choose whole-grain foods like
whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, or
whole-wheat pasta more often than refined-grain
foods, like white bread, white rice, and white
pasta.
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Snack on fruits and vegetables.
Keep a bowl of fruit on the table, bags of mini
carrots in the refrigerator, and boxes of
raisins in the cupboard.
- Do not keep a lot of sweets like cookies,
candy, or soda in the house. Too many sweets can
crowd out healthier foods.
TIP: If you
cannot digest lactose (the sugar found in milk),
try nonfat or low-fat lactose-reduced milk. Or
try nonfat or low-fat yogurt or hard cheeses like
cheddar, which may be easier to digest than milk.
You can also get the calcium from
calcium-fortified juices, soy-based beverages,
and cereals. Eating dark leafy vegetables like
collard greens and kale, and canned fish with
soft bones like salmon, can also help you meet
your body’s calcium needs.
Save Time and Money When You Cook
You do not have to spend a lot of time in the
kitchen or a lot of money to eat well.
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Buy foods that are easy to prepare, like
pasta and tomato sauce, rice and beans, or
canned tuna packed in water.
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Plan ahead and cook enough food to have
leftovers. Casseroles, meat loaf, and whole
cooked chicken can feed your family for several
days. (Be sure to freeze or refrigerate
leftovers right away to keep them safe to
eat.)
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Buy fresh fruits and vegetables that are in
season. Buy only as much as you will use, so
they will not go bad.
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Buy frozen or canned vegetables (no salt
added) and canned fruit packed in juice. They
are just as good for you as fresh produce, and
will not go bad.
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Try canned beans like kidney, butter, pinto,
or black beans. They are loaded with protein,
cost less than meat, and make quick and easy
additions to your meals.
- If your local store does not have the foods
you want or their prices are too high, go to
another store or your local farmers’ market.
Share a ride or the cost of a taxi with
friends.
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Food labels may help you make
healthy food choices.*But they can be
confusing. Here are some quick tips for reading
food labels:
Check serving and calories. All the
information on a food label is based on the serving
size. Be careful—one serving may be much smaller
than you think. If you double the servings you eat,
you double the calories and nutrients, including
the percent Daily Values (DVs).
Percent DV: This tells you
whether a food is high or low in nutrients. Foods
that have more than 20-percent DV
of a nutrient are high. Foods that have 5-percent
DV or less are low.
Saturated Fat: Saturated fat is not
healthy for your heart. Compare labels on similar
foods and try to choose foods that have a 5-percent DV or
less for saturated fat. Most of the fats you eat
should be polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.
Keep total fat intake between 20 percent to 35 percent of
calories.
Trans Fat: Trans fat
is not healthy for your heart. When reading food
labels, add together the grams of trans fat and
saturated fat, and choose foods with the lowest
combined amount.
 Cholesterol: Too much
cholesterol is not healthy for your heart. Keep
your intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and
cholesterol as low as possible.
Sodium (Salt): Salt contains
sodium. Research shows that eating less than 2,300
milligrams of sodium (about 1 teaspoon of salt) per day
may reduce the risk of high blood pressure.
TIP: Many food
labels say “low-fat,” “reduced fat,” or “light.” That does not always mean the food is low in
calories. Remember, fat-free does not mean
calorie-free, and calories do count!
Fiber: Choose foods that are
rich in fiber, such as whole grains, fruits, and
vegetables.
Sugar: Try to choose foods with
little or no added sugar (like low-sugar
cereals).
Calcium: Choose foods that are
high in calcium. Foods that are high in calcium
have at least 20-percent DV.
* For more information on reading nutrition labels, visit: www.cfsan.fda.gov.
For information about the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services’ 2005 Dietary Guidelines
for Americans, see www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines.
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In real life, you
cannot always cook your meals or eat at the dinner
table. Here are some ways to make healthy choices
when you are on the go:
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Choose a salad or a grilled chicken sandwich
(not fried) instead of a burger at fast-food
restaurants.
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If you really want a burger, make it a small
one without sauce, and skip the fries—or
share them with a friend.
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Take healthy snacks with you to work. Try
graham crackers, pretzels, baby carrots, or a
small amount of raisins or nuts (but remember that nuts and
raisins are high in calories).
- Balance your meals throughout the day. If you
have a high-fat or high-calorie breakfast or
lunch, make sure you eat a low-fat dinner. If you
know you will be having a higher fat dinner, make
lower fat choices earlier in the day.
TIP: Fried
foods, high-fat foods, and take-out foods can
be part of a balanced eating plan—as long as you
do not eat them every day and only eat small
amounts.
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 Many people
think that bigger is better. We are so used to
value-sized portions in restaurants that
it is easy to eat more than our bodies need. Eating
smaller portions will help you cut down on calories
and fat (and might save you money, too). Here is a
1,600-calorie per day sample menu with sensible
servings:*
Breakfast
1/2 cup cooked oatmeal
1 English muffin with 1 tablespoon low-fat cream
cheese
1 cup low-fat milk
3/4 cup orange juice
Lunch
2 ounces baked chicken without skin (a little
smaller than a deck of cards)
Lettuce, tomato, and cucumber salad with 2 teaspoons oil and vinegar dressing
1/2 cup white rice seasoned with 1/2 tablespoon tub
or liquid margarine
1 small whole-wheat roll with 1 tablespoon
margarine
TIP: Use
margarine instead of butter. Choose a soft
margarine that has no more than 2 grams of
saturated fat per tablespoon and that lists
“liquid vegetable oil” as the first ingredient on
the ingredient list. (American Heart
Association)
Dinner
3 ounces lean roast beef (about the size of a deck
of cards) with 1 tablespoon beef gravy
1/2 cup turnip greens seasoned with 1/2 tablespoon
margarine
1 small baked sweet potato with 1/2 tablespoon
margarine
1 slice cornbread
1/4 honeydew melon
Snack
2 1/2 cups low-fat microwave popcorn
1 1/2 teaspoons margarine
TIP: Keep a food
diary. Writing down what you eat, when you eat,
and how you feel when you eat can help you
understand your eating habits. You may be able to
see ways to make your eating habits healthier.
You can also use your diary to plan weekly menus,
make shopping lists, and keep track of recipes
you would like to try. For more information about
keeping track of food portions, read the Weight-control Information Network (WIN)
brochure Just Enough for You: About Food
Portions.
* Adapted from
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) sample
menus.
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Set goals. Move at your own
pace. Celebrate your successes. Allow for setbacks.
Let your family and friends help you. And keep
trying—you can do it!
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Heart-Healthy Home Cooking African
American Style. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Publication No.
97-3792, 1997. This pamphlet tells how to prepare
your favorite African-American dishes in ways that
will help protect you and your family from heart
disease and stroke, and includes 20 tested recipes.
Available from NHLBI for $3; call (301) 592-8573 or (240)
629-3255 (TTY).
Down Home Healthy Cookin’.
National Cancer Institute (NCI), reprinted 2000. This
pamphlet features 12 recipes for traditional
African-American foods modified to be low in fat
and high in fiber—but still tasty. Available
free from the NCI; call
1-800-4-CANCER or 1-800-332-8615 (TTY).
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Weight-control Information Network
1 WIN Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3665
Phone: (202) 828-1025
FAX: (202) 828-1028
Toll-free number: 1-877-946-4627
Email: win@info.niddk.nih.gov
Internet: www.win.niddk.nih.gov
The Weight-control Information
Network (WIN) is a national information service of the National
Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health,
which is the Federal Government’s lead agency
responsible for biomedical research on nutrition
and obesity. Authorized by Congress (Public Law
103-43), WIN provides the general public, health
professionals, the media, and Congress with
up-to-date, science-based health information on
weight control, obesity, physical activity, and
related nutritional issues.
Publications produced by WIN are
reviewed by both NIDDK scientists and
outside experts. This publication was also reviewed
by Steven Blair, P.E.D., President and Chief
Executive Officer, Cooper Institute and Ellen
Feiler, M.S., Health Education Director, Broward
County Health Department, Florida Department of
Health.
This publication is not
copyrighted. WIN encourages users of this brochure
to duplicate and distribute as many copies as
desired.
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NIH Publication No. 04-4926
June 2004
Revised July 2006
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