ADULT NUTRITION:
INTRODUCTION

Maintaining a healthy weight is all about energy balance, eating only the number of calories that you burn off through your normal activity and exercise. The way we stay healthy is to make sure we receive the maximum amount of nutrition from the calories we consume.

For example, a candy bar has about 250 calories, as does an orange and a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter. It will take the same amount of energy to burn off the calories in each of these snacks, but the candy bar provides little nutritional value and will metabolize rapidly giving you an initial rush of energy that will quickly fade, leaving you less energetic than before. The orange and toast with peanut butter, for the same amount of calories, will give you an initial boost in energy (the sugar from the orange), but it will last for a longer time as the fat and fiber from the toast and peanut butter metabolizes more slowly and keeps your blood sugar even.

Fruits and vegetables are a wonderful way to help you maintain your energy balance equation, providing lots of nutrition with modest calories. To help ensure that you are eating enough fruits and vegetables remember to follow the “Strive for 5” rule.

Learn more about what a serving of fruits and vegetables looks like and tips on how to fit more servings into your day.

Making healthy food choices isn't all that difficult. The idea is to maintain a balance between your calorie intake and the amount of calories you burn off, and to get the best nutritional "bang for your buck" for the calories that you do consume. Learn to make your calories count.

Today's portion sizes play a big part in eating too many calories. Over the years, the portion sizes of traditional American diets have increased significantly. Learn more about the difference between portion size and serving size, and how to learn how much we are really eating.