7 tips to improve your health

If improving your health is at the top of your to-do list for 2009, as it is for many of us, check out this advice from Suzanne Carere, a registered dietitian, and Steve Roest, the president and owner of Toronto's Fitness Institute.

1. Don't eat carbohydrates past 7 p.m.

If you follow this one piece of advice and change nothing else about your health and fitness routine, Carere guarantees you'll lose five pounds within a month-and-a-half.
Why? The body's metabolism revs higher during the day, she says
"As we get closer to bedtime, metabolism slows down. It's at that time of night that we're not going to burn off as many calories as we normally would."

Carbs are not needed as the body prepares for sleep because their sole purpose is to provide energy, which happens when they turn into sugar in the bloodstream, says Carere.

When that energy isn't needed, it's stored as fat.

So, consume your grains, fruits and beans during the day, and cut them out at night.

Carere says it's not as important to limit protein and fat intake past 7 p.m. (a time that she uses as a general guideline) because those foods have various functions in the body, such as muscle repair and skin repair, respectively.

If you're hungry at night, she suggests snacking on veggies and low-fat dip, broth-based soups and sugar-free yogurt.

2. Start your day with a high-carb breakfast

If you cut carbs at night, you'll wake up ravenous. And that's a good thing, says Carere.

"It's called breakfast for a reason. You're breaking the fast. Have a high-carb breakfast, because you want your metabolism to rev as high as it possibly can throughout the day."

A good option is whole-wheat toast or a high-fibre cereal, one with at least 10-per-cent fibre. For example, if your cereal serving has 30 grams of carbs in it, it should contain at least three grams of fibre, she says.

And don't be turned off by a cereal if it has some sugar.

"As long as there's fibre present, it will slow down how quickly the sugar converts to your bloodstream," Carere says.

This is why she says Frosted

Mini Wheats are better for you than Special K.

Add other food groups, too.

"The best thing for breakfast is to try to eat at least three out of four of the food groups so it will last you longer."

3. Rate your foods

Look at every food on a scale of one to five.

On Carere's scale, one means you really couldn't care less about putting the food in your mouth; five means you're going to enjoy every single molecule.

"If it's a three or less on the scale, I won't eat it," she says. "(When you start rating your food), you'll find that most of the time it's not worth the calories for your body."

4. Stop cravings in their tracks

No one is immune to the call of a bag of chocolate chip cookies or that half-eaten pint of Ben and Jerry's in the freezer. But some people know how to ignore the call better than others.

Carere suggests two strategies to add to your nutrition arsenal that should help you beat the cravings that so often leave you feeling guilty and stuffed.
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