by David Garred,
Club Manager Dusit Resort Sports Club.
A marriage made in heaven
Hi, welcome back. This week I would like to share with you a little
something that I picked up in an industry journal.
The article was titled “Dietary Guidelines for Americans”.
Recently, the Federal Government has put increasing emphasis on physical
activity, calling for 30 minutes or more of moderate activity on most
(preferably all) days of the week. The guidelines urge Americans to “balance
the food you eat with physical activity - (and) maintain or improve your
weight.”
The Health and Human Services Department estimates that some 300,000 deaths
each year result from diseases involving poor diet or inadequate physical
activity. Among preventable causes, only smoking is associated with more
deaths in the United States.
Do you have a low fat diet, full of grain products, vegetables and fruits?
Are you active for 30 minutes on 4 or more days of each week?
This is somewhat of a commitment, according to a recent survey by the
American Dietetic Association (ADA). For example, although the survey showed
that 98% of men who called the ADA’s Consumer Nutrition Hotline thought
restaurants should offer healthful menu items, only 54% said they frequently
or always select such items. About 66% of men surveyed said they would go
out to eat at least once or twice a week.
These results are consistent with conclusions drawn from ADA’s 1995 “Winning
Strategies,” a national survey of men’s nutritional attitudes and
behaviours. About 82% of the men surveyed said they were very concerned
about nutrition, but only half had indicated that they had made changes in
the previous year.
One reason that men - and women, for that matter - often eat out may be they
don’t have time to shop for and prepare healthy meals.
So, what can we do to encourage this growing awareness? Well, in a place
such as Thailand, the risk we run in eating out many times is the over
ingestion of fat, giving us an unbalanced diet. Along with believing that we
have no time for exercise.
Even a simple phrase like “Mi oww gnam maan” - I don’t want oil, will start
to restore the nutritional balance in your favorite restaurant.
Obvious things like steamed vegetables, “Phak thom” and steamed rice “Chow
suway” with as much avoidance (limiting to once a week is practical) of
anything that contains coconut milk, will go a long way to helping.
This, with 30 minutes or more of activity on most days of the week, and you
will be feeling better before you know it.
The average working week goes at around the 50 to 60 hour mark, let’s say
60. Take a look at this:
These estimates are done on the average week. Take a look at your own
schedule, how much time do you make each week to look after yourself?
What do you do with your “Misc.” time?
Carpe’ diem
