As Americans we each have our own individual thoughts about healthy eating and food. These thoughts, feelings, values, and emotions have a major impact on our eating styles and our daily food choices. An American Dietetic Association survey recently divided Americans' views about healthy eating into three categories: "I'm already doing it", "Don't bother me", and "I know I should, but ..".

The "I'm already doing it" group considers diet and nutrition very important and makes a real effort to maintain a healthy weight. They generally read food labels and try to use fresh foods.

The "Don't bother me" group doesn't give much thought to eating healthy. Those individuals don't try to make changes to improve their eating habits. Unfortunately, this group accounts for a large percentage of Americans.

People in the third group - "I know I should, but... ", believe nutrition is important, but feel they could do better. These people have difficulty making healthy eating a priority in their lives and may fall victim to weight cycling. In other words, they follow the latest fad diet and lose weight, only to regain it when they return to their usual eating habits. They tend to take the same approach to exercise.

Think of which group you may fall into. Then evaluate your eating habits. It's important to keep in mind that healthy eating does not mean you have to sacrifice your favorite foods or spend too much time planning meals. What it does mean is using your common sense to make sure that your diet contains a variety of foods from the food guide pyramid and that no one food or food group is eaten in excess. Eating should be fun, and good nutrition can be too.

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