If you’re ordering a burger, order the smallest one they have and ask for extra tomato, lettuce and other toppings. Stay away from mayo and use mustard and ketchup instead since they don’t have fat. Hold off on the cheese since it can add another 100 calories and 10 grams of fat.

If you’re ordering fish or chicken make sure to get it grilled and un-breaded. If you’re eating roasted chicken, take the skin off and always steer away from fried fish or chicken. Ask for sauces on the side and use mayo and ketchup sparingly.

First, remove all bread products from your pantry since they spike your insulin just like pure sugar does. Remove anything in your condiments or snack draws that have more than 10 grams of sugar.

Then, for your first two weeks on a low carbohydrate diet, try to keep your card intake to less than 30 grams a day. Check your food labels to get into the habit of tracking your carbs. If there is fiber in what you’re eating, subtract that number from your total carb count, since fiber can’t be digested. Example: If your low carb tortilla says it has 17 grams of carbs, but 10 grams of fiber, it’s got 7 net grams of carbs. You should count 7 grams of carbohydrate.

Enjoy this chance to start to change your diet and to enjoy a low carbohydrate diet and lifestyle.

If the issue at hand is not major, and you just feel that you tend to have an unbalanced diet which consists mainly of fats, you may want to consider changing your snack habits; and that doesn’t mean cutting back on all snacks. It is true that mindless snacking can increase your weight, but thoughtful snacking can actually greatly benefit your health. Smaller meals and planned snacking can actually help control unnecessary eating during the day. Instead of grabbing cookies, a slice of cake or chocolate, try planning in advance, and bringing nuts, raisins and similar foods to work with you. These foods are rich in vitamins and protein, which helps your metabolism reach its full efficiency.

Certainly, you’ve heard that eating green, leafy vegetables is beneficial to your health. Now – you have even one more reason to do so.  A new review of studies suggests that greens may actually lower your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Researchers pooled the results of six trails that met their criteria for design and quality to look at fruit and vegetable intakes and how they affect the risk of diabetes.  They found that, in four of the studies, green leafy vegetable intake accounted for a 14% lower risk of diabetes for those who ate the most servings each week.

Certainly, more research is necessary, but the findings are promising.  Researchers point out that green, leafy vegetables are both rich in antioxidants and that they contain high amounts of magnesium.  This mineral may help protect against type 2 diabetes.

Certainly, with research like this, your health care provider and health care companies like Cinergy Health will urge patients to eat their green leafy vegetables!