The November First Friday Lunch and Lecture featured registered dietitian and mother
of three, Laura Lockwood. Lockwood spoke to students about healthy lifestyles. Lockwood
has a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition and Exercise Science.
Lockwood shared that the best way to maintain a healthy lifestyle is to eat a whole-food,
plant based diet. Labels should be consistently checked and ideally should have five
ingredients or less. She added that being able to pronounce those ingredients is a
good indicator of whether or not the food is something of substance. She encouraged
attendees that it is okay to splurge on occasion. “The average person falls of the
wagon [during a diet] within seven days. “It’s okay to have a piece of cake on your
birthday, and then resume healthy eating after,” Lockwood said.
We are all creatures of convenience. It is easy to pull into a drive through and
get something to eat on the go. Lockwood suggested another option, “I keep a bag of
almonds in my purse.” Foods like nuts, fruits, and even sugar replacements, like honey,
are all healthy and often easy to find options.
Lockwood cautioned attendees to be careful of labels. Marketing can often misrepresent
labeling to make foods look healthy. Honey wheat bread is marketed as something healthy;
however, Lockwood pointed out that most bread is wheat bread. The real goal is to
find whole-grain bread. She encouraged attendees to make sure to choose whole grain
wheat, so that you get more than just sugar. Whole grain includes fiber and germ which
is the nutrient.
For ideas, Lockwood recommended “The Laura Lee Balanced Cookbook”, which she said
has recipes that replace sugars and gluten with other foods such as black beans and
sweet potatoes.
Lockwood said fresh is best. She said to choose whole foods, whole wheats, read labels
and always remember living healthy is more sustainable than a crash diet. “We need
to get to a place where we are eating to live and not living to eat,” Lockwood shared.
