So...you want to eat in a healthier way.  But, you are not quite sure how to go about it.  Well then, this fact sheet is for you.  It features Canada's Guidelines for Healthy Eating along with some practical tips that will help you to better health.

Healthy Eating coupled with being more active is a key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.

Become more active every day.  Begin slowly and gradually work up to a brisker walk, a more strenuous bike ride, a longer swim, more flights of stairs.
Work more physical activity into your daily routines...climb the stairs, walk at lunch, walk to the store.  Find time for being more active by combining physical activity with family time...picnic and hike; bike with the kids; walk the dog; skate, ski, toboggan together.  Participate in activities you enjoy so that being more active is not stressful.

• Enjoy a variety of foods.
• Emphasize cereals, breads, other grain products, vegetable and fruits.
• Choose lower fat dairy products, leaner meats and foods prepared with little or no fat.
• Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight by enjoying regular physical activity and healthy eating.
• Limit salt, alcohol and caffeine.

Most Canadians could cut back on salt by using fewer convenience foods; avoiding highly salted chips, cheeses, pretzels, nuts and crackers; reducing amounts used in recipes; cooking without salt; using other seasonings like pepper and herbs to flavour unsalted foods.

Oatmeal is nutritious.  So is an orange.  Both foods provide important but different nutrients, yet neither food provides all the nutrients needed for good health.

The only sure way to get all the nutrients you need, is to mix and match as many different foods as possible.  Eating like this helps you avoid getting too much of any one nutrient....like fat or sodium.

Boost your breakfast with fibre-filled fruit: grapefruit, orange, banana, peach or pear.

Cereal plus lower fat milk (skim, 1%, 2%) is a low fat way to start your day.  For extra fibre choose a whole grain or bran containing cereal; top with fresh or dried fruit: banana slices, strawberries, raisins, apricots or prunes.

Great breakfast combos:  whole grain toast, a lower fat muffin, or corn bread with a light spreading of peanut butter, lower fat cheese or a dish of lower fat yogurt.

Try pancakes and waffles made with whole wheat flour...skip the butter or margarine but drizzle with syrup.

Want that cup of coffee?  Go ahead, have a cup.  Moderate intakes of caffeine...about the amount in four cups of coffee are not linked to any serious health problems.

Healthy meals today feature more of the starchy foods, fruits and vegetables.  The protein-rich and higher fat meats, cheeses and eggs are eaten in smaller amounts.

Try a fruit salad with lower fat cottage cheese (2% butter fat or less), a whole wheat bun and a glass of lower fat milk!

Make a meal-in-one salad...leafy lettuce and veggies: feta cheese, scoop of garbanzo beans (chickpeas).  Serve it with a slice of rye bread.

Eat more starchy vegetables: regular potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, eggplant, corn, parsnips, peas, rutabaga and don’t be shy about mixing them with other starchy foods like rice or pasta.

Feature pasta or rice combined with two, three...four vegetables and either a little stirfried meat or grated cheese or nuts or seeds.

Enjoy a plain pasta with spicy tomato sauce and a sprinkle of cheese.  Serve with a large green salad.

Use more legumes...dried beans, peas, lentils. Add beans to salad: choose split pea, lentil, minestrone soup; add lentils to rice and past dishes; try something different like falafel (seasoned chickpeas served in pita bread).

Enjoy vegetarian pizza...lots of vegetables and skim milk mozzarella for the topping.

Make a wholesome sandwich with whole grain bread, tuna, salmon, low fat cheese, slice of meat and lettuce and tomato for extra fibre.

Make favourite casseroles healthier by replacing some of the meat with canned beans; use more rice or pasta or potato...add an extra high fibre vegetable like peas or corn.