Nutrition & Fitness Resources

HEALTHY PATIENT = HEALTHY LIFE: The two most important things you can do for your body is to eat healthy and keep moving.

Whether you are already fit and want to maintain, or you have diabetes, hypertension or another nutrition-related disease, what you eat and how much you move affects your health, well-being and longevity.

Arbor Family Health has put together a list of resources and links to help make good nutrition and fitness a bit more simple. And remember, if you have questions, we are here to answer them. Just give us a call! 1-888-711-3785 or call your nearest clinic.

What YOU can do to keep diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension away and increase how long you live:

1) EAT MORE HEALTHY

You may worry that having diabetes means going without foods you enjoy. The good news is that you can still eat your favorite foods, but you might need to eat smaller portions or enjoy them less often. Your Arbor health care team can help create a nutritional meal plan for you that meets your needs and likes. Just give us a call! 225-618-5015.

The key to eating well is to eat a variety of healthy foods from all food groups.

Control your portion sizes: You can use everyday objects or your hand to judge the size of a portion.

  • 1 serving of meat or poultry is the palm of your hand or a deck of cards

  • 1 3-ounce serving of fish is a checkbook

  • 1 serving of cheese is six dice

  • 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta is a rounded handful or a tennis ball

  • 1 serving of a pancake or waffle is a DVD

  • 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is a ping-pong ball

2) GET MORE ACTIVE

Exercise can help you manage your weight and may improve your insulin sensitivity. An easy way to start exercising is to walk for 30 minutes a day (or for three 10-minute sessions if that’s easier). You can also try swimming, biking, or any other moderate-intensity activity that has you working up a light sweat and breathing harder.

Benefits of physical activity:

  • lowers blood glucose levels—keeping diabetes at bay

  • lowers blood pressure—keeping hypertension away

  • improves blood flow

  • increased movement burns extra calories so you can keep your weight down if needed

  • improves your mood

  • increases muscle so your body burns more calories at rest

  • movement and increased muscle can help to prevent falls and improve memory in older adults

  • may help you sleep better

The Diabetes Plate Method of Portion Control

For diabetes prevention and care, and just a really good way for everyone to keep portions under control:

If you’re looking for an easy place to start, then try following the Diabetes Plate Method. This simple guide offers a stress-free way to plan your portions without any counting, calculating, or measuring.

The DASH Diet

Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) is an eating plan to lower or control high blood pressure, but is a flexible and balanced eating plan that helps create a heart-healthy eating style for life for anyone. The eating plan requires no special foods and instead provides daily and weekly nutritional goals. This plan recommends:

  • Eating vegetables, fruits, and whole grains

  • Including fat-free or low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils

  • Limiting foods that are high in saturated fat, such as fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oils such as coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils

  • Limiting sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets.

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Snacks with 100 calories or less

Popcorn Skinny Pop, Orville Smart Pop, Pop Secret 100 cal Pop, Orville Avocado Oil, Jolly Time Healthy Pop 

Almonds (about 28 nuts) Whole natural, lightly salted, dark chocolate, honey roasted 

Healthier Cheeses on Whole Grain Pita Mozzarella (lower in sodium + probiotics), blue cheese (higher calcium content), feta cheese (higher in sodium than other cheeses, but lower in calories), cottage cheese (higher in protein, lower in calories), ricotta (mostly whey protein, contains all essential amino acids = promotes muscle growth)

Baby Carrots + Hummus Good fat, low carb, plant-based protein—stay away from high sodium, artificial flavors and hydrogenated oils

Apple Slices with Peanut Butter Look for the peanut butter with the least amount of ingredients; Crazy Richard’s 100% Peanuts All Natural, 365 Everyday Value Organic Peanut Butter unsweetened no salt. Stay away from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and sweeteners 

20 pistachios Decrease blood pressure, rich in protein and fiber 

Smoked Salmon Pinwheels Low fat cream cheese on sliced smoked salmon—roll up and slice!

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An easy way to start exercising is to walk for 30 minutes a day (or for three 10-minute sessions if that’s easier)!

An easy way to start exercising is to walk for 30 minutes a day (or for three 10-minute sessions if that’s easier)!

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Pre and Post Workout Snack Ideas

Pre-Workout Snacks

45-60 minutes before working out; Think small, unless fueling an intensive workout longer than an hour; palm full of carbs, half palm full of protein, quarter palm full of fat. 

100 Calorie Pack of Nuts Cashews, almonds, walnuts

Banana with 1-2 TBSP Natural Peanut Butter Good source of energy for your muscles with healthy fats to fuel you longer

Fat Free Greek Yogurt with Berries and Chia Seeds All 3 macronutrients! Yogurt is packed with protein, berries contain simple carbs and chia seeds provide healthy fats. Instead of chia seeds, you can add chopped nuts.

DIABETES OPTIONS: Fuel up depending on the intensity of the workout you’re doing (15g of carbs for shorter, less intense workout and 30g of carbs for longer, more intense workouts), check your blood sugar before working out – if reading is greater than 250mg/dl, be cautious of working out. 

1 hard boiled egg and 1 cup of berries

¼ cup of granola with low fat Greek yogurt

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Post-Workout Snacks

Refueling your body post workout is important for muscle repair, rebuilding and glycogen store replenishment. Recommendations for 30-60g carbs, ~20g protein, and just a bit of fat, 5-8g

If your workout was short or moderate, you can wait until your next meal. A more intense workout—longer than 2 hours with heavy weight strength training—is best accompanied with a carb-containing snack within 2 hours of the workout.

Spinach and Egg Omelet 

Trail Mix Look for omega-3 rich trail mix full of lightly salted mixed nuts, dried fruit and dark chocolate chips. Mixes with words like s’mores, unicorn, monster, M&M are the less healthy choices 

Nut Butter Wrap Natural nut butter on a whole wheat wrap sprinkled with cinnamon 

DIABETES OPTIONS: after your workout, your body will use insulin more efficiently. In order to counter act the risk of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, grab a snack about 15 minutes after your cool down

½ cup old-fashioned oats with walnuts and raisins

1 cup of berries with a handful of the following protein choices to support muscle mass; nuts, string cheese, or cottage cheese

For assistance, or to schedule an appointment call 225-618-5015.