Making healthy choices
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Tillsonburg residents can learn about healthy food choices and maintaining a healthy diet during a presentation at Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital, on Thursday, March 21.
The event, put on by the diabetes education program, is part of the monthly speaker series and runs for 90 minutes from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the TDMH Assembly Room.
“It’s to celebrate Nutrition Month,” said Karen Cook, diabetes education program coordinator and a registered dietician at Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital. “The theme this year is ‘put your best food forward: plan, shop, cook and enjoy.’
“What we’re doing is a power point presentation that is like an armchair grocery store tour – it basically goes through the various sections of the grocery store and talks about what foods are good to choose and which ones are not as good to choose.”
The presentation will cover a number of topics including planning and preparing a grocery list, choosing healthier foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean fresh meat, and cooking meals from scratch with fresh ingredients, while keeping it simple.
“There will be a little bit on label reading - what is the best thing to look at on a label, what does a label mean, what information you can find, what sodium levels should you be looking at how much fat and the kinds of fat,” said Cook.
There will be handouts for guests, discussions on some of the myths surrounding food today, and ways to shop and cook healthy meals for both large and small families.
“We’ll also be talking a little bit about budgeting because we all know that food is expensive,” added Cook. “You can probably buy a bag of oranges as cheap as you can buy the bag of potato chips. It’s all about making that choice and where you are going to spend your dollars.”
Cook believes people can incorporate a healthy diet into their often busy and hectic lifestyles. All it may take is a little effort and a being a conscientious shopper.
“It does take planning, and I think sometimes even just sitting down on the weekend, making a menu for the week and making your grocery list off of that menu will save a lot of time and heartache through the week.
“If you’ve done some planning, done some cooking on the weekend and frozen some individual portions or the portions you need for your family, you can have a meal on the table probably within 15 to 30 minutes that’s healthy and nutritious.”
Those wishing to attend the presentation on Thursday must RSVP to Dawn Copeland-Tomlinson, DEP Team Assistant at (519) 842-3611 Ext. 5362.