Welcome to the first edition of BioHealth Diagnostics' on-line health forum for women. It is such an honor to wish every one of you a happy and healthy New Year!

To start, I've selected the classic subject of weight management. It is a complex, as well as a simple subject. Some of you might say, "Another diet program!" Some of you might wish to get your mind off the subject of weight management and still lose weight. Brand New Year, brand new me, with commonly recycled New Year's resolutions: "The holiday feasts are over; my pants are tighter. I need to loose this weight! I need to try something other than last year's diet fad! I need a new nutritional program and this time I will really do it!" Let's use our New Year's resolutions to review the basics on how to eat healthier.

The first question most clients ask me is "So, what do you eat?" Instead of simply detailing my diet, in the next few articles I'd like to share with you how I think about nutrition, my clinical approach to diet and nutrition.

HOW you eat is as important as WHAT you eat. A little voice in your head might say, "I know how to eat! Are you telling me that there is something wrong with gobbling my whole wheat, grilled vegetable, and non-fat turkey wrap, while I'm merging on the highway?" or " Trying to juggle my spoon into my low-fat, plain yogurt with my wet nail polish!" Exactly how many things can we do at the same time? "…but, if I get just one more thing done today, I can do five more things tomorrow!"- It is insane! Eating while simultaneously doing other activities interferes with digestion and health.

We can make more conscious choices about what we eat today. But will we remember the flavors and the consistency of our meal? How about the manner in which the food got into our stomach from the plate? Will we be aware of when we are full? Do we eat automatically, because we know we should, or do we forget to eat all day and then eat the equivalent of three meals in one sitting at 10pm? Well, well, well. Let's stop for a moment and take a deep breath 1…2…3…4…, hold it. 1…2…3…4, and slowly breath out, 1…2…3…4. Where are we running to? If we don’t nourish our bodies properly, soon we will not have bodies with which to do all these activities.

Believe it or not, by simply paying attention to the HOW part of eating, you will experience health benefits. You will experience satisfaction from what you eat, have more control over how much you eat, and may lose some undesired fat. And, you won't have to change a single thing in your diet! How easy is that? The question is, "Are you willing to do it?" Is this something you dare to try as a New Year's Resolution? Will you change your thinking, and take this first step? Even if you pick one thing out of the following list you are winning!

INTELLIGENT EATING HABITS
- Eat in a settled atmosphere
- Never eat when you are upset
- Always sit down to eat
- Schedule time of meal into your busy schedule
- Use utensils to eat
- Avoid ice-cold and boiling-hot foods and drinks
- Don't talk while chewing food
- Chew food into a puree before swallowing
- Swallow food completely before you put another bite into your mouth
- Eat at a moderate pace, neither too fast nor too slow
- Wait until one meal is digested before eating the next. (i.e. intervals of 2-4 hours for light meals, 4-6 hours for large meals, or after over-eating)
- Drink 8 oz. Of water or non-caffeinated, non-sugar drinks such as herbal teas 15 minutes prior to a meal
- Sip room-temperature water with your meal
- Eat freshly cooked meals and uncooked fruits and vegetables whenever possible
- Experience all six tastes at every meal - bitter, sweet, sour, salty, astringent (legumes), pungent (spicy)
- Leave 1/3-1/4 of your stomach empty to aid digestion - two handfuls of food is the approximate desired meal size
- Eat dinner by 7pm
- Sit quietly for a few minutes after your meal

…to be continued in the next issue