Am I Eating Healthy?

This page was reviewed or revised on Wednesday, April 18, 2007.

Eating is one of the best things life has to offer. Food helps you celebrate with your family and friends. It nourishes your body. It gives you energy to get through each day. The right balance of food and activity help you stay at a healthy body weight.

You don't have to give up foods you love for the sake of your health. But you do need to aim for variety and moderation. Let Canada's Food Guide help you make your choices.

Canada's Food Guide is based on these guidelines from Health Canada:

1. Enjoy a variety of foods.
2. Emphasize cereals, breads, other grain products, vegetables and fruit.
3. Choose lower-fat dairy products, leaner meats and foods prepared with little or no fat.
4. Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight by enjoying regular physical activity and healthy eating.
5. Limit salt, alcohol and caffeine.

Enjoy a variety of foods from each group every day.

Try something new! Explore the rainbow of foods that make up the 4 food groups. Enjoy foods with different tastes, textures and colours.

The 4 food groups provide you with the nutrients you need to be healthy. You need foods from each group because each group gives you different nutrients. You also need to choose different foods from within each food group to get all the nutrients your body needs.

Choose lower-fat foods more often.

Everyone needs some fat in their diet, but most people eat too much fat. Eating more breads, cereals, grains, vegetables, fruit, peas, beans and lentils will help you cut down on fat. You can also choose lower-fat dairy products and leaner meats, poultry and fish.

Each of the 4 food groups includes foods that contain fat. Eat lower-fat foods from each group every day. Choose smaller amounts of higher-fat foods. If you do, you'll be able to enjoy the foods you love and eat well at the same time.

Putting it all together

Eating is just one way to get the most out of life. It's also important to be active and feel good about yourself.

Eating well means following Canada's Food Guide. Use these ideas to help you make wiser food choices. After all, food is one of life's great pleasures.

Being active means making physical activity a part of your everyday life. It helps you manage your weight and strengthen your heart, lungs and muscles. Find fun ways to be active in your own way. Walk part of the way to and from work. Head outdoors to skate, swim or hike. Play ball with the kids.

Feeling good about yourself means believing in yourself. The best way to do that is to accept who you are and how you look. So treat yourself well.

Healthy bodies come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A good weight is a healthy weight, not just a low weight. A healthy weight helps you stay active and lowers the risk of health problems.

Take a fresh approach to living. Enjoy eating well, being active and feeling good about yourself. That's Vitality!