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Wednesday 11 May 2011

The cruellest voyage

according to The Guardian, Monday 3 December 2007. In 1992, Kingsley Ofosu fled poverty in Ghana for the promised land of Europe. But the journey had barely begun when he witnessed the callous murder of his fellow stowaways. He escaped, and an article in the Guardian brought his story to the attention of the world. Hollywood and fame followed, but now he is back in Ghana, living in poverty again. Nick Davies, who wrote the original story, visits him in Accra and hears how it all went wrong
'I don't want my son to live the same life I have led. I don't want my family to suffer. We are all in the same world. Some people are suffering and some people are enjoying and I don't know the reason why."That was the final paragraph of a story that I wrote for the Guardian nearly 14 years ago - the words of Kingsley Ofosu, a 23-year-old Ghanaian who had just endured a terrifying ordeal.In search of a solution to his young family's poverty in Ghana, he had stowed away on a cargo ship with his brother and six friends. On board, they found a ninth stowaway, who had crept on to the ship in Cameroon. Six days later, on the high seas, they were discovered by the crew, who were afraid that they would lose their jobs if they arrived in Europe with the migrants. And so, after locking them in a tiny, dark storage room for three days, the seamen set about murdering the would-be migrants.
    Ofosu was the only survivor. As he watched his brother Albert being shot and tossed over the side to join the seven other corpses in the churning sea, he managed to escape from the crew. For three days, he hid in the dark rafters of the hold as the seamen searched for him. Finally, the ship put in to Le Havre to unload some of its cargo of cocoa beans. With extraordinary resourcefulness, he not only found his way out of the locked hold by shinning up a ventilation shaft but had the foresight to break open a sack of cocoa beans and plant his Ghanaian identity card deep among them to prove that his unbelievable story was true. Several months later, I found him in the French equivalent of a Salvation Army hostel in Le Havre, awaiting the trial of the six crewmen - who had been arrested by the town's police - worrying about his family back in Ghana, struggling, because of his lack of French, with simple problems, and in effect homeless and penniless. The Guardian story gave him a handhold on a future. Readers sent him cash and books and even a sewing machine for his wife Agnes back in Ghana. Three different film companies started pitching for his story and eventually one of them signed him up, giving him $10,000 and the promise of more once filming began. We fell into a routine of speaking each week on the phone, slowly solving his problems - a job, a flat to rent, a carte de séjour from the authorities, permission to fly home to see Agnes. When they had a child, he named the baby boy after me. The last time I saw him was in November 1995 in Rouen, at the trial of the six crewmen. Ofosu gave his evidence, clear and strong, though he cried at the memory of his brother's death. Two of the crew were jailed for life, three for 20 years, and one was acquitted. Then Ofosu and I lost touch, until a few weeks ago, when I flew to Ghana with a BBC radio producer and found him in a small flat in a dusty suburb of the capital, Accra. The story of Ofosu's missing years is the natural sequel to the story the Guardian carried nearly 14 years ago. In a way, it's about all of the millions of global hobos now trying to smuggle themselves through the legal and bureaucratic and harsh physical barriers that protect the developed world from their aspirations. It's about bad luck, bad people and the endless underlying weakness of a poor man in a rich man's world. Sitting in the bare living room of his flat in Accra, Ofosu described how, soon after we lost contact with each other, he was dipped into a world of unimaginable wealth. He was flown to Ghana by the film company, Union Pictures, and given a cheque for $67,500. Seven months later, in June 1996, back in France, he took a phone call from Union Pictures, asking him to fly to London. He went out to Le Havre airport where he was staggered to find a private plane that flew him to Gatwick as its sole passenger. In London, he watched a press preview of the film, Deadly Voyage, cried again and gave interviews to journalists before being flown to New York, this time in a luxury first-class seat. As a film-company limousine swept him into the city, he looked up at the skyscrapers of Manhattan. He was installed in a room in a five-star hotel, the Four Seasons, just off Park Avenue. "I was the only black there. Everybody was looking at me." Two days later, he was the guest of honour at the US premiere and, in his wallet, he still carries the much-folded photograph of himself sitting between Omar Epps, who played his part in the film, and Danny Glover, the black American actor who had been recruited as an executive producer to give the film credibility with an American audience that was unused to watching movies with African heroes. The film company laid on a limo to take him wherever he wanted, although when he told them he wanted to visit the Bronx because he had heard there were a lot of Africans there, they refused. And then, suddenly, he was on his own again, back in Le Havre, trying to realise his dream of a new life for himself and his family, struggling at every step. He started work in a restaurant, cutting up potatoes in the kitchen. After just one day, the boss phoned him to tell him a fire had destroyed the place. He went to the prefecture to ask permission for Agnes and his two young sons to join him. They wanted birth certificates and marriage certificates, so he had to spend precious money flying back to Ghana to obtain them. When he got back to Le Havre, the prefecture told him that the paperwork was not enough: he must be in full-time work. And there was none. Worse, as a migrant, Ofosu was entitled to unemployment benefit for only three months. Two years earlier, he had registered at a college in Le Havre to learn French and start a three-year course in civil engineering. Soon, without work and with the film company's money seeping out of his bank account, he had to give up his studies and go back to Ghana to think again. A year later, he returned to France, this time to Paris, where he stayed with a Ghanaian friend in Fontenay-sous-Bois. Now, in spite of being fluent in three languages and two-thirds of the way to being qualified as an engineer, he ended up working night shifts cleaning junk-food kitchens. Meanwhile, he kept reaching out to open doors to his future - yet each one stayed locked against him. At the end of the trial in Rouen, the court had ordered that he be paid €100,000 in compensation for what he suffered. Yet, no money had arrived. Now, three years later, in 1998, he received a letter from the French ministry of justice asking for his bank details so that the payment could be made. He sent them. No money came through. Eventually, he went to the Ministry of Justice building with their letter, but the guards would not let him in. He found a lawyer, who wrote to the ministry asking for the money. Many months passed. There was still no money. He found his way to a different French government building. "What do you want?" asked the guard. "I want my money," he said. "It doesn't work like that," said the guard, turning him away. Twelve years after the compensation order, he has still not received his €100,000. He also believed he was owed more money by Union Pictures. They had agreed to pay him 1.5% of the production budget for the film. The cheque for $67,500 that they had given him in Ghana was based on the best available estimate of that budget, but Ofosu had since heard from one of those involved that the real budget could have turned out to be much higher. They had also agreed to pay him 10% of the net profits from the film. He had seen none of this. He hired a lawyer in Paris, who wrote to Union Pictures, pointing out that his contract gave Ofosu the right to an independent audit of the film's accounts and asking for the figures so that any final payments could be made. Union Pictures wrote back to say they didn't have the figures. The film had been funded by the BBC and the American cable channel HBO, and neither had sent them reports on costs and sales: "Please be assured that we are doing our best to extract the information from both the BBC and HBO." Months passed. Years passed. Kingsley heard nothing more. He wrote to the BBC and to HBO. They wrote back - without the information he needed. Twelve years after the production of Deadly Voyage, he has still not received the information to which his contract entitles him, nor has he received any further payment that he may be owed. In 2004, struggling from one low-paid job to another, he decided to gamble everything in a final attempt to build a life in Europe. He realised that he could buy second-hand electrical goods in France very cheaply and sell them in Ghana for something like five times the amount. So he spent the last remains of his film money and the little he had saved from his work on filling a shipping container with old television sets, computers, video players and fridges, sent them to Ghana and succeeded in selling them for a healthy profit. Encouraged, he set out to do the same again, this time filling six containers with second-hand clothes and shoes as well as electrical goods. It proved to be a disaster. Ofosu put everything he had into filling the containers. A friend in Ghana came in as his partner, undertaking to pay for the import duties and harbour costs. At the last moment, the partner pulled out. The containers were marooned at the port of Tema, just outside Accra, and Ofosu couldn't afford to get them out. With each passing day, the cost of harbour storage rose alarmingly. He asked friends for money, but they had none. He wrote to the only wealthy people he knew - his old friends at Union Pictures and HBO, who had once been willing to pay for private jets and limousines for him - but they declined to help. Eventually, he found a businesswoman in Accra who agreed to pay the harbour dues and recoup her investment from the sale of the goods. She and Kingsley signed a legal agreement, but then it turned out that she couldn't afford the harbour bill. After months of delay, she paid for just two of the six containers to be released, sold the contents and then told Kingsley she had managed to earn less than a quarter of what he had expected. Aghast, he persuaded her to sign a new agreement, allowing him to sell the remaining four containers himself on the condition that he used the income to pay her the balance of what she claimed she was still owed. He found two dealers who agreed to pay for two more containers to be released from the port. They then vanished with the contents, informing his mother that they would come back and do her serious damage if Ofosu tried to find them. And the businesswoman went to the police, alleging that he had stolen the containers and breached her agreement with him. He spent 30 days in a police cell before he got bail and is waiting for the case to come to court. In the meantime, the remaining two containers have sat so long in the port that they have been seized by the government. Now he has nothing. I tried to intervene with Union Pictures. To make matters more complicated, the company has gone bankrupt, but its former head, Bradley Adams, alerted to this story, has sent a series of messages to the BBC and HBO urgently requesting their costs and sales reports. So far, neither company has delivered. A few years ago, on a trip to Ghana, Ofosu was approached by a young man who told him he was thinking of stowing away on a ship to go to Europe. Ofosu recalls telling him: "My brother, let me tell you something. Everybody hates enemies, but I do not advise even my enemies to stow away. It's very, very dangerous. In Europe, what you think is there, is not like that. It's not the place we thought. Life is hard." The rich man's world is well-defended, with its complex bureaucracy, its harsh limits on state benefits for migrants, its lack of the kind of family loyalties that still work as a safety net in a country like Ghana, its casual racism and its infamous "carrier liability" laws that first inspired the crew to murder Ofosu's fellow stowaways to avoid the repercussions of the fine that would have been imposed on the ship's owner if they had allowed them to reach Europe alive. Ofosu and I sit outside his flat, with his wife and his four children, including Nick, now 12, who is clearly amazed at this strange Englishman whose name he shares. Over and over again, Ofosu's conversation returns to that same anxiety which troubled him when I first met him - this family of his and their uncertain future. And when he asks himself the question, he still can't think of any good reason why some people are suffering and some people are enjoying, even though we all live in the same world. · Revert to Type, where Nick Davies visits Kingsley Ofosu in Accra, is on BBC Radio 4 tonight at 8pm.  The Guardian, Monday 3 December 2007 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/dec/03/immigration.uk)

Friday 6 May 2011

Healthy Eating

Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible– all of which can be achieved by learning some nutrition basics and using them in a way that works for you.
Healthy eating begins with learning how to “eat smart”—it’s not just what you eat, but how you eat. Your food choices can reduce your risk of illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, as well as defend against depression. Additionally, learning the habits of healthy eating can boost your energy, sharpen your memory and stabilize your mood. You can expand your range of healthy food choices and learn how to plan ahead to create and maintain a satisfying, healthy diet.

Healthy eating tip 1: Set yourself up for success  

To set yourself up for success, think about planning a healthy diet as a number of small, manageable steps rather than one big drastic change. If you approach the changes gradually and with commitment, you will have a healthy diet sooner than you think.
  • Simplify. Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories or measuring portion sizes, think of your diet in terms of color, variety and freshness—then it should be easier to make healthy choices. Focus on finding foods you love and easy recipes that incorporate a few fresh ingredients. Gradually, your diet will become healthier and more delicious.
  • Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time. Trying to make your diet healthy overnight isn’t realistic or smart.  Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a salad (full of different color vegetables) to your diet once a day or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking.  As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
  • Every change you make to improve your diet matters. You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to completely eliminate foods you enjoy to have a healthy diet.  The long term goal is to feel good, have more energy and reduce the risk of cancer and disease. Don’t let your missteps derail you—every healthy food choice you make counts. 

Think of water and exercise as food groups in your diet.

Water. Water helps flush our systems of waste products and toxins. Yet many people go through life dehydrated—causing tiredness, low energy and headaches. It’s common to mistake thirst for hunger, so staying well hydrated will also help you make healthier food choices.
Exercise. Find something active that you like to do and add it to your day, just like you would add healthy greens, blueberries or salmon. The benefits of lifelong exercise are abundant and regular exercise may even motivate you to make healthy food choices a habit.

Healthy eating tip 2: Moderation is key 

People often think of healthy eating as an all or nothing proposition, but a key foundation for any healthy diet is moderation.  Despite what certain fad diets would have you believe, we all need a balance of carbohydrates, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to sustain a healthy body.
  • Try not to think of certain foods as “off limits.” When you ban certain foods or food groups, it is natural to want those foods more, and then feel like a failure if you give in to temptation. If you are drawn towards sweet, salty, or unhealthy foods, start by reducing portion sizes and not eating them as often. Later you may find yourself craving them less or thinking of them as only occasional indulgences.
  • Think smaller portions. Serving sizes have ballooned recently, particularly in restaurants. When dining out, choose a starter instead of an entrée, split a dish with a friend, and don’t order supersized anything. At home, use smaller plates, think about serving sizes in realistic terms and start small.  Visual cues can help with portion sizes—your serving of meat, fish or chicken should be the size of a deck of cards. A teaspoon of oil or salad dressing is about the size of a matchbook and your slice of bread should be the size of a CD case.

Healthy eating tip 3: It's not just what you eat, it's how you eat 

Healthy eating is about more than the food on your plate—it is also about how you think about food. Healthy eating habits can be learned and it is important to slow down and think about food as nourishment rather than just something to gulp down in between meetings or on the way to pick up the kids.
  • Eat with others whenever possible. Eating with other people has numerous social and emotional benefits—particularly for children—and allows you to model healthy eating habits. Eating in front of the TV or computer often leads to mindless overeating.
  • Take time to chew your food and enjoy mealtimes. Chew your food slowly, savoring every bite. We tend to rush though our meals, forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures of what is in our mouths. Reconnect with the joy of eating.
  • Listen to your body. Ask yourself if you are really hungry, or have a glass of water to see if you are thirsty instead of hungry. During a meal, stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly.
  • Eat breakfast, and eat smaller meals throughout the day. A healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism, and eating small, healthy meals throughout the day (rather than the standard three large meals) keeps your energy up and your metabolism going.

Healthy eating tip 4: Fill up on colorful fruits and vegetables 

Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day—the brighter the better.Fruits and vegetables are the foundation of a healthy diet—they are low in calories and nutrient dense, which means they are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber.
Fruits and vegetables should be part of every meal and your first choice for a snack—aim for a minimum of five portions each day. The antioxidants and other nutrients in fruits and vegetables help protect against certain types of cancer and other diseases.

Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day—the brighter the better.

The brighter, deeper colored fruits and vegetables contain higher concentrations of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants—and different colors provide different benefits. Some great choices are:
  • Greens: Greens are packed with calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, vitamins A, C, E and K, and they help strengthen the blood and respiratory systems. Be adventurous with your greens and branch out beyond bright and dark green lettuce—kale, mustard greens, broccoli, Chinese cabbage are just a few of the options.
  • Sweet vegetables: Naturally sweet vegetables add healthy sweetness to your meals and reduce your cravings for other sweets. Some examples of sweet vegetables are corn, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes or yams, winter squash, and onions.
  • Fruit: A wide variety of fruit is also vital to a healthy diet. Fruit provides fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. Berries are cancer-fighting, apples provide fiber, oranges and mangos offer vitamin C, and so on.

Don’t forget to shop fresh and local whenever possible

The local farmer’s market, fruit stand or Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group are great ways to get access to fresh, local produce. To find local growers, farmer's markets, and CSAs in your area, visit Local Harvest.

Healthy eating tip 5: Eat more healthy carbs and whole grains

C:\Users\Robert Home\Pictures\HG new format\Healthy_sandwich.jpgChoose healthy carbohydrates and fiber sources, especially whole grains, for long lasting energy. In addition to being delicious and satisfying, whole grains are rich in phytochemicals and antioxidants, which help to protect against coronary heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes. Studies have shown people who eat more whole grains tend to have a healthier heart.


A quick definition of healthy carbs and unhealthy carbs

Healthy carbs (sometimes known as good carbs) include whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables. Healthy carbs are digested slowly, helping you feel full longer and keeping blood sugar and insulin levels stable.
Unhealthy carbs (or bad carbs) are foods such as white flour, refined sugar and white rice that have been stripped of all bran, fiber and nutrients. Unhealthy carbs digest quickly and cause spikes in blood sugar levels and energy.

Tips for eating more healthy carbs

Whole Grain Stamp
  • Include a variety of whole grains in your healthy diet, including whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, and barley. Experiment with different grains to find your favorites.
  • Make sure you're really getting whole grains. Be aware that the words stone-ground, multi-grain, 100% wheat, or bran, can be deceptive. Look for the words “whole grain” or “100% whole wheat” at the beginning of the ingredient list. In the US, check for the Whole Grain Stamps that distinguish between partial whole grain and 100% whole grain.
  • Try mixing grains as a first step to switching to whole grains. If whole grains, like brown rice and whole wheat pasta, don’t sound good at first, start by mixing what you normally use with the whole grains. You can gradually increase the whole grain to 100%.
Avoid: Refined foods such as breads, pastas, and breakfast cereals that are not whole grain.

Healthy eating tip 6: Enjoy healthy fats & avoid unhealthy fats

Good sources of healthy fat are needed to nourish your brain, heart and cells, as well as your hair, skin, and nails.  Foods rich in certain omega-3 fats called EPA and DHA are particularly important and can reduce cardiovascular disease, improve your mood and help prevent dementia.

Add to your healthy diet:

  • Monounsaturated fats, from plant oils like canola oil, peanut oil, and olive oil, as well as avocados, nuts (like almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans), and seeds (such as pumpkin, sesame).
  • Polyunsaturated fats, including Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, found in fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and some cold water fish oil supplements. Other sources of polyunsaturated fats are unheated sunflower, corn, soybean, and flaxseed oils, and walnuts.

Reduce or eliminate from your diet:

  • Saturated fats, found primarily in animal sources including red meat and whole milk dairy products.
  • Trans fats, found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, baked goods, and other processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Healthy eating tip 7: Put protein in perspective

Sizzling SalmonProtein gives us the energy to get up and go—and keep going. Protein in food is broken down into the 20 amino acids that are the body’s basic building blocks for growth and energy, and essential for maintaining cells, tissues, and organs. A lack of protein in our diet can slow growth, reduce muscle mass, lower immunity, and weaken the heart and respiratory system. Protein is particularly important for children, whose bodies are growing and changing daily.

Here are some guidelines for including protein in your healthy diet:

Try different types of protein. Whether or not you are a vegetarian, trying different protein sources—such as beans, nuts, seeds, peas, tofu and soy products—will open up new options for healthy mealtimes.
  • Beans:  Black beans, navy beans, garbanzos, and lentils are good options.
  • Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and pecans are great choices.
  • Soy products: Try tofu, soy milk, tempeh, and veggie burgers for a change.
  • Avoid salted or sugary nuts and refried beans.
Downsize your portions of protein. Most people in the U.S. eat too much protein. Try to move away from protein being the center of your meal. Focus on equal servings of protein, whole grains, and vegetables.
Focus on quality sources of protein, like fresh fish, chicken or turkey, tofu, eggs, beans or nuts. When you are having meat, chicken, or turkey, buy meat that is free of hormones and antibiotics.

Healthy eating tip 8: Add calcium for strong bones

Add Calcium for Strong BonesCalcium is one of the key nutrients that your body needs in order to stay strong and healthy. It is an essential building block for lifelong bone health in both men and women, among many other important functions.
You and your bones will benefit from eating plenty of calcium-rich foods, limiting foods that deplete your body’s calcium stores, and getting your daily dose of magnesium and vitamins D and K—nutrients that help calcium do its job.
Recommended calcium levels are 1000 mg per day, 1200 mg if you are over 50 years old. Take a vitamin D and calcium supplement if you don’t get enough of these nutrients from your diet.

Good sources of calcium include:

  • Dairy: Dairy products are rich in calcium in a form that is easily digested and absorbed by the body. Sources include milk, yogurt, and cheese.
  • Vegetables and greens: Many vegetables, especially leafy green ones, are rich sources of calcium. Try turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, romaine lettuce, celery, broccoli, fennel, cabbage, summer squash, green beans, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and crimini mushrooms.
  • Beans: For another rich source of calcium, try black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, white beans, black-eyed peas, or baked beans.

Healthy eating tip 9: Limit sugar and salt

If you succeed in planning your diet around fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and good fats, you may find yourself naturally cutting back on foods that can get in the way of your healthy diet—sugar and salt.

Sugar

Sugar causes energy ups and downs and can add to health and weight problems. Unfortunately, reducing the amount of candy, cakes, and desserts we eat is only part of the solution. Often you may not even be aware of the amount of sugar you’re consuming each day. Large amounts of added sugar can be hidden in foods such as bread, canned soups and vegetables, pasta sauce, margarine, instant mashed potatoes, frozen dinners, fast food, soy sauce, and ketchup. Here are some tips:
  • Avoid sugary drinks. One 12-oz soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar in it, more than the daily recommended limit! Try sparkling water with lemon or a splash of fruit juice.
  • Eat naturally sweet food such as fruit, peppers, or natural peanut butter to satisfy your sweet tooth.

How sugar is hidden on food labels

Check food labels carefully. Sugar is often disguised using terms such as:
  • cane sugar or maple syrup
  • corn sweetener or corn syrup
  • honey or molasses
  • brown rice syrup
  • crystallized or evaporated cane juice
  • fruit juice concentrates, such as apple or pear
  • maltodextrin (or dextrin)
  • Dextrose, Fructose, Glucose, Maltose, or Sucrose

Salt

Most of us consume too much salt in our diets. Eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure and lead to other health problems. Try to limit sodium intake to 1,500 to 2,300 mg per day, the equivalent of one teaspoon of salt.
  • Avoid processed or pre-packaged foods. Processed foods like canned soups or frozen dinners contain hidden sodium that quickly surpasses the recommended limit.
  • Be careful when eating out. Most restaurant and fast food meals are loaded with sodium. See Healthy Fast Food for tips on making healthier fast food choices.
  • Opt for fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned vegetables.
  • Cut back on salty snacks such as potato chips, nuts, and pretzels.
  • Choose low-salt or reduced-sodium products.
  • Try slowly reducing the salt in your diet to give your taste buds time to adjust.

Healthy eating tip 10:  Plan quick and easy meals ahead 

Healthy eating starts with great planning. You will have won half the healthy diet battle if you have a well-stocked kitchen, a stash of quick and easy recipes, and plenty of healthy snacks.

Plan your meals by the week or even the month

One of the best ways to have a healthy diet is to prepare your own food and eat in regularly. Pick a few healthy recipes that you and your family like and build a meal schedule around them. If you have three or four meals planned per week and eat leftovers on the other nights, you will be much farther ahead than if you are eating out or having frozen dinners most nights.

Shop the perimeter of the grocery store

Shop the perimeter of the grocery storeIn general, healthy eating ingredients are found around the outer edges of most grocery stores—fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry, whole grain breads and dairy products. The centers of many grocery stores are filled with overpriced, processed foods that aren’t good for you.
Shop the perimeter of the store for most of your groceries (fresh items), add a few things from the freezer section (frozen fruits and vegetables), and the aisles with spices, oils, and whole grains (like rolled oats, brown rice, whole wheat pasta).

Cook when you can

Cook When You CanTry to cook one or both weekend days or on a weekday evening and make extra to freeze or set aside for another night. Cooking ahead saves time and money, and it is gratifying to know that you have a home cooked meal waiting to be eaten.
Challenge yourself to come up with two or three dinners that can be put together without going to the store—utilizing things in your pantry, freezer, and spice rack. A delicious dinner of whole grain pasta with a quick tomato sauce or a quick and easy black bean quesadilla on a whole wheat flour tortilla (among endless other recipes) could act as your go-to meal when you are just too busy to shop or cook.

Related articles

Healthy Eating on a BudgetHealthy Weight Loss and Dieting
How to Lose Weight and Keep It Off
Healthy RecipesHealthy Dietary Fats
The Truth About Fat, Nutrition, and Cholesterol

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good food

Avoid fresh meats, which angry up the blood. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move. Go very light in the vices such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain't restful. Don't look back. Someone might be gaining on you.
moreover eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale.

Food Quotes


Food is any substance consumed by living organisms, including liquid drinks. Food is the main source of energy and of nutrition for animals, and is usually of animal or plant origin. These are the substances that provide carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins as an energy source to organisms. It is anything which, when taken into the body, serves to nourish or build up the tissues or to supply body heat. The type of food you dream of or perhaps even eat will provide great insight into the type of emotional assistance required in waking life.
What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn't much better than tedious disease.