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| What is Your State of Health |
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| Written by Gary Regich | |||||
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Use the test below to check out your diet. Are you one who believes that as long as you take vitamins and supplements you can eat all of the "bad" foods? If you are, you will discover that you will not achieve your optimum health with that thinking. Actually, diet, exercise and supplements are all a part of the process for a healthy lifestyle.
Please answer each question honestly.
Score 1 point for each "yes" answer. Maximum score is 20. Minimum score is 0.
1. Do you add sugar to food and drink almost every day?
2. Do you eat foods with added sugars almost every day? 3. Do you use salt in your food? 4. Do you drink more than one cup of coffee most days? 5. Do you drink more than three cups of tea most days (not fruit or herbal teas)? 6. Do you smoke more than five cigarettes a week? 7. Do you take drugs? 8. Do you drink more than one glass of wine, 1 measure of spirits or one pint of beer a day? 9. Do you eat fried food more than twice a week? 10. Do you eat processed "fast food" more than twice a week? 11. Do you eat red meat more than twice a week? 12. Do you often eat foods containing additives and preservatives? 13. Do you eat chocolate or sweets more than twice a week? 14. Does less than a third of your diet consist of raw fruit and veggies? 15. Do you drink less than ½ pint of plain water every day? 16. Do you normally eat white rice or bread rather than whole grain? 17. Do you drink more than three pints of milk per week? 18. Do you eat more than three slices of bread a day, on average? 19. Are there some foods you feel "addicted" to? 20. Do you eat oily fish less than twice a week and/or seeds less than daily? Your scores:
Did you score 0-4 points? - You are obviously a fitness-conscious person and your minor discretions are unlikely to affect you. Provided you supplement your diet with the right vitamins and minerals, you can look forward to a long and healthy life.
Did you score 5-9 points? - You are on the right track, but must be a little stricter with yourself. Rather than giving up your bad habits, set yourself easy experiments. For instance, for one month go without 2 or 3 of the foods and drink you know are not good for you.
Did you score 10-14 points? - Your diet is not good and you will need to make some changes to be able to reach optimum health, but take one step at a time. You should aim to have your score down to five within 6 months.
You will find that some of your bad dietary habits will change for the better as you discover tasty alternatives. The bad habits that remain should be dealt with one at a time.
Remember that sugar, salt, coffee and chocolate are all addictive foods. Your cravings for them will dramatically decrease or go away altogether after one month without them.
Did you score 15 - 20 points? - There is no way you can continue to eat like this and remain well. You are consuming far too much fat, refined foods and artificial stimulants.
You should make gradual and permanent changes to your lifestyle. For instance, take two questions that you could answer "no" (one example would be to stop eating sugar and drinking coffee in the first month). Keep doing this until your score is 5 or less. You may feel worse for the first two weeks, but within a month, you will begin to feel the effects of healthier eating.
In this monthly column, we will continue to provide you with the most up to date and cutting edge information on how to live healthy and stay fit. My desire is for you to be healthy in 2008 and for the rest of your lives.
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